Ricky Rubio's (ankle) camp has been pushing for a trade for quite some time, Chad Ford of ESPN reports.

Rubio's (ankle) camp has been pushing for a trade for quite some time, Chad Ford of ESPN reports. President/coach Flip Saunders refuted Ford's report Wednesday. "That's totally untrue," Saunders said.

Analysis:

Rubio averaged 10.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 8.2 assists, 0.1 blocks, and 2.3 steals on 37 percent field goal shooting in 32 minutes per game this season. That's good production, but he played in just 22 games, sitting out most of the season with a high-ankle sprain. With Rubio out, the Timberwolves were able to evaluate their team without him in the lineup, and if they like the way Andrew Wiggins plays with Zach LaVine more than they do Rubio, it's possible a trade could materialize at some point. The Timberwolves landed the first-overall pick for the 2015 NBA Draft at Tuesday's lottery. Ford is on record as saying that the Timberwolves have no preference between Karl-Anthony Towns or Jahlil Okafor, the consensus top two picks. The Timberwolves could go against conventional thought and draft a guard like Emmanuel Mudiay or D'Angelo Russell, which could mean a trade involving Rubio. At this point, it's all speculation, but the fact that Ford was willing to put his name on the story means there may be smoke where there's fire.