Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio seems amused by the constant rumors surrounding Kevin Love's possible destinations for next season, but he would like to speak with his teammate before Love makes a decision.
"Of course I want him to stay," Rubio told Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. "He’s my teammate and I want to know how he feels and if he wants to stay or whatever, but it’s something that I think we had a good relationship and we can talk as friends."
Rubio, speaking from a training facility in Treviso, would prefer to have a friendly conversation with Love rather than an aggressive sales pitch. He hopes reminding Love of the work they've done together will entice the coveted power forward to stay with the Timberwolves, but either way, he wants to hear it from Love.
I don’t want to convince him if he doesn’t want to stay. But I want him to stay and I’m going to tell him what I think, which is we’ve been improving every year and he’s a great player, he helps us a lot. I think we need to make the next step. … The media says it’s pretty settled, but I don’t know what he thinks. What I’ve been hearing is from the media, not from him, so I don’t trust that. It can be an opinion from you guys. I just really want to talk to him as a teammate.
Here's a sampling of the kind of magic Rubio and Love create when they share the floor:
Rubio insists he would stay with the team even if Love leaves, but he recognizes the concern and uncertainty that comes with losing a key piece of the roster. He doesn't want to see Minnesota rebuild again, but Love's departure could force management to head in that direction.
"If he leaves, it’s going to be painful because he’s a main guy," Rubio said. "But it depends what we get back for him. We’ll see what we can do."
