Per ESPN’s Marc Stein, the front offices of the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Detroit Pistons are discussing a trade that would essentially be a point guard swap. Stein reports that Ricky Rubio of the Timberwolves and the Piston’s Reggie Jackson are the focal points of the talks, along with a few auxiliary pieces.
For young teams like Minnesota, chemistry is very important – Reggie Jackson has a history of not being a conduit for great chemistry. As for the on-court repercussions, Reggie is averaging right around his career high in usage – 28.6 for the year. Rubio has a 13% usage rate, very conducive for a team a lots of young talent who need the opportunity to develop. The immediate development of Kris Dunn would be the natural order of things if Minnesota were to move on from Rubio, adding Jackson would be the antithesis of that.
As for the Piston’s, they predicate their offense on having four shooters surround the paint presence of Andre Drummond. Rubio is not what one would call a shooter – shooting a putrid 24% from three this season. Although, the auxiliary pieces reported in the trade would presumably be that of players with a shooting touch. Stein details the deal,
The Wolves have been openly trying to move Rubio for some time and reportedly are willing to attach swingman Shabazz Muhammad to offers featuring the veteran Spanish point guard.
Although he’s in just the second year of a five-year, $80 million contract, Jackson is widely believed to be available via trade in the wake of Detroit’s recent 9-14 struggles. The Pistons went 11-10 to start the season while Jackson was out with a left knee injury.
Rubio has two seasons left on his contract after this season — valued at $29.2 million — compared to Jackson’s three remaining seasons.
However the deal unfolds, if at all, there will be a major period of adjustment as both teams would be inheriting players with veritable flaws. The fit for either player is questionable. In the NBA, teams leverage their assets in the form of trades to get better, this seems like two teams aiming to rid themselves of players that have outstayed their welcome.
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