After days of trade rumors and speculation, most of which revolved around Ricky Rubio, Tom Thibodeau and the Timberwolves chose to stand pat as the NBA trade deadline passed Thursday afternoon.
“You’re talking to everyone,” said Thibodeau, the Wolves coach and president of basketball operations. “There’s different things that are thrown around, but we didn’t feel anything was close or made sense for us.”
Reports surfaced Monday and persisted over the last few days that Minnesota was talking to the Knicks about a potential swap of Rubio for Derrick Rose. The Associated Press’ Jon Krawczynski reported New York also wanted reserve big man Nemanja Bjelica in the deal.
But the 2 p.m. deadline came and went and nothing came to fruition.
“I’m not going to comment on any speculation on what might have happened,” Thibodeau said. “There’s all kinds of proposals that are thrown at you. If something made sense, we would have done it, but it had to make sense and it had to make us better, and if it didn’t just be patient, continue to work.”
This was Thibodeau’s first trade deadline as the head of a front office, but it was far from Rubio’s first experience on the block. Thibodeau preached professionalism from his players throughout the process.
“Come in, do your job. Understand what your job is,” Thibodeau said. “We all have a job to do. (General manager) Scott (Layden) and his staff, they have to gather information. That’s part of this. It’s being professional.”
Thibodeau didn’t have plans to talk about Rubio about the situation even after the deadline passed.
“We’re professionals, but we’re human beings, too,” Rubio said. “So we have feelings. But I know this is a business, so it has to be like that.”
Wolves forward Shabazz Muhammad’s name was also tossed out in a few different rumors. Muhammad will be a restricted free agent this summer, but he said he never felt as though he was going to be dealt.
Rubio has had his name tossed into the rumor mill more times than you can count, but did say this time felt different than years past. Still, after all of the rumors, Rubio remains on the roster as easily the longest-tenured current Timberwolves player.
“It seems like a game, right?” Rubio said. “I don’t know. … When things are not working, they’re trying to change things. My name has come up the last two, three years and you have to deal with it.”
On Tuesday, Rubio tweeted, “Never stress over what you can’t control.” That’s good advice, but it’s tough for even Rubio to follow. He sees the rumors. He knows they’re out there.
In the end, Rubio acknowledged the situation is out of his hands and in the control of Layden and Thibodeau. And he knows by now that “until it goes down, you don’t believe it.”
“So I’m still here,” Rubio said. “I have my apartment here, after practice I will go to my apartment and take a nap and everything is like it was before.
“Your name is out there, so it is what it is. Tomorrow we have another game and I have to come, suit up and play hard.”
Thibodeau will roll with the Wolves’ current core for the last 25 games, as Minnesota (22-35), which enters the final 25 games of the campaign 3.5 games behind Denver for the eighth-and-final playoff spot in the Western Conference, attempts to make a hard charge toward the postseason.
“I love our team, I love the way we’re working,” Thibodeau said. “I think we’re improving.”
