The Milwaukee Bucks have been a huge disappointment this season, and with the trade deadline coming up they could be in the market for some big moves. The Bucks have reportedly been listening to offers for Greg Monroe and Michael Carter-Williams, but it had been unclear what they were looking for in return. It seems as though Ricky Rubio of the Minnesota Timberwolves may be a popular target for the Bucks as head coach Jason Kidd wants him badly, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
Wojnarowski reports that the Bucks head coach has "long been enamored" with the Timberwolves point guard and would love to make a trade for him. The Timberwolves aren't expected to deal Rubio before the trade deadline, but they are expected to look into trades for him this offseason. Carter-Williams would likely be part of any trade that went down, but he has been told that he won't be traded before the deadline, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
Some people believe that, despite the Bucks telling Carter-Williams he's safe, he may still be moved, according to Gary Woelfel of the Journal Times. The Bucks, however, likely won't trade their 24-year-old point guard unless it's for someone they really like. Kidd and Milwaukee have basically made it clear that Carter-Williams isn't their point guard of the future and they are looking to upgrade. Rubio is the guy Kidd has his sights set on, and he will likely do everything he can to acquire him this offseason.
Rubio has reportedly drawn a lot of interest in the weeks leading up to the trade deadline and will likely have a lot of suitors this offseason should he be made available. The amount of interest in Rubio is interesting because he hasn't played all that well in his four-plus NBA seasons and his jump shot has not shown any improvement.
There are plenty of positives to acquiring Rubio, like the fact that he is one of the best passers in the NBA and his contract is not too bad for the next three seasons (about $14.1 million per year), but his ceiling isn't all that high. In today's NBA, shooting is at a premium, and that is something that Rubio just doesn't do well. He can run the show extremely well, and he plays some good defense, but it is a bit surprising that a guard that is a career 37 percent shooter from the field and 31 percent shooter from three is garnering all this interest. Having said that, if the Timberwolves do decide to move on from Rubio, the Bucks seem like a good landing spot because Carter-Williams is still young, very talented and cost-controlled for three more years.
