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Ricky Rubio: Kevin Love talk last season 'hurt the team and hurt himself'

Howard Smith / USA Today

With Kevin Love out of the picture, and the Timberwolves ushering in a youth movement, Ricky Rubio will have to take on more of a leadership role in Minnesota this season.

If Rubio and the Wolves don't reach an agreement on an extension by the October 31 deadline, the 23-year-old point guard will be a restricted free agent next summer, but Rubio doesn't want to think or talk about his contractual status after seeing the effects of Kevin Love's situation hanging over the team last season.

“Of course we had a lot going on last year and the media was talking, they were wondering if Kevin wanted to be here, blah, blah, blah, and that hurt the team and hurt himself,” Rubio said, via NBA.com.

“Now that he’s not here, the media’s not going to talk about that anymore. I think that’s going to be good for him and for us.”

The never-ending Love discussions may have been tough to deal with behind the scenes last season, but it's a stretch for Rubio to say it hurt Love or the team on the court.

Love turned in a career year in 2013-14, averaging 26.1 points, 12.5 rebounds and 4.4 assists while playing in 77 games and having a tremendously positive impact on the team's success. The Timberwolves outscored opponents by 6.1 points per 48 minutes with Love on the court, but were outscored by 5.6 points per 48 with Love on the bench, according to NBA.com.

Injuries to Nikola Pekovic, Chase Budinger and Kevin Martin, general inconsistency, and Rubio's atrocious shooting certainly contributed more to Minnesota's demise last season than talk of Love's possible departure.

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