While Colin Cowherd took to the airwaves this morning and scoffed at the news FC Barcelona PG Ricky Rubio — the no. 5 overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft — would finally join the Timberwolves next season (a “4 on a scale of ten” insists morning radio’s most respected NBA talent scout), the Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s Michael Rand has another way of looking at it.  “Luke Ridnour. Jonny Flynn. Sebastian Telfair. Ramon Sessions. Randy Foye. Kevin Ollie. Mike James. Marko Jaric. Troy Hudson. Marcus Banks. Anthony Carter…those are the fellas who have started games at point guard for the Wolves since Sam Cassell’s one glorious year in 2003-04.”

Congratulations to David Kahn. He’s said all along Rubio would be here. And, really, he’s brought him over at the perfect time — two years after drafting him, but still before a new CBA, which means he’ll be under team control for four years (two guaranteed, two option years) at a set scale. Would you rather have paid Rubio two guaranteed years already while the Wolves were lousy and he was a teenager, or get him now, when he’s 20 and theoretically has a better chance to grow and succeed over the length of the deal? While it’s true Rubio might have added some spice to the past couple of seasons, he wouldn’t have fixed 15- and 17-win teams and would be that much closer to free agency. Big-picture, getting Rubio over here has to buy Kahn at least one more year to see if the master plan of accumulating assets can translate into a genuine roster with potential.