Ricky Rubio is out. Jeff Teague is in.
Tom Thibodeau was never sold on Ricky Rubio as the answer in Minnesota, and with Jimmy Butler and Andrew Wiggins handling the ball plenty he wanted a point guard who could shoot the three and space the floor. That is Teague, who shot 35.7 percent last season from deep and is a good spot-up shooter.
As had been expected, Minnesota and Teague quickly reached a deal after free agency opened, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.Free agent Jeff Teague has agreed to a 3-year, $57M deal with Minnesota, league sources tell ESPN.
(In no way should you think this contract was all worked out before the official start of free agency, nope, nobody does that.)
Teague was excellent on the pick-and-roll last year and traditionally is strong in transition. He’s a defensive downgrade from Rubio, but a solid defender still. If Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns take defensive steps forward — as you should expect from a 22 and 21 year old — that end of the floor should improve for the Timberwolves
That salary is on the high end for Teague, but not out of the range of what he could get on the open market.
Minnesota has their point guard, and really their entire starting lineup (outside of a better stretch four). They aren’t in slow-growth mode anymore, they should be a playoff team next season quickly moving up the ranks in the West.
