BILBAO, Spain -- Ricky Rubio has already signed a contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves and the holdup keeping him from leaving Barcelona is related to his buyout agreement, multiple sources told ESPN.com.

"This is just a bump in the road for (the Timberwolves)," said one source.

Rubio's Transition to NBA

Based on his Euroleague performance, Ricky Rubio should be able to help Minnesota as a rookie by upgrading the Timberwolves at point guard, writes Kevin Pelton. Story Insider

Rubio's Spanish club won the ACB championship Tuesday, after which Rubio said:

"We are talking with Barcelona and we will soon see."

That fueled speculation Rubio might not come to Minnesota for the 2011-12 season. But two sources told ESPN.com Rubio has already signed with the Timberwolves. He still must receive a letter of clearance from FIBA, the sport's international governing body.

Earlier this month, The Associated Press and The (Minneapolis) Star Tribune reported that Rubio, the No. 5 pick in the 2009 NBA draft, had reached an agreement to join the Timberwolves after two seasons with Barcelona.

The Timberwolves did not confirm those reports, which followed years of speculation that Rubio, 20, did not want to leave Europe or pay the multimillion-dollar buyout of his Barcelona contract out of his own pocket.

Rubio said he was "very happy" after Barcelona won the Spanish league title, according to the Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo. "This title is the most widely appreciated. At last I have it and we must all be proud of it."

On Wednesday, a source close to Rubio told ESPN The Magazine's Ric Bucher that he is unaware of any change to Rubio's plans to play in the NBA next season.

Timberwolves president David Kahn called Rubio "a virtuoso and somebody special" after drafting him in 2009. Kahn and agent Dan Fegan had an agreement to bring Rubio to the NBA that summer, but Rubio withdrew from that deal at the last minute after deciding he did not want to pay a $6 million-plus buyout.

With the passing of two seasons, Rubio's buyout from Barcelona has decreased to $1.4 million. The Timberwolves can contribute up to $500,000 of that amount under current league rules.

Rubio averaged 6.5 points a game on 39 percent shooting this season at Barcelona, where he dealt with a foot injury and fell out of the starting lineup. The Timberwolves believe Rubio will flourish in the NBA, where guards have more freedom to create than they do in the stricter offensive schemes common in the European game.

"He's gotten bigger and he plays outstanding defense, and because he's a pass-first guard he's going to be liked by everybody who plays with him," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said last year. Krzyzewski coached Team USA against Rubio and Spain in the Beijing Olympics.

Rubio dominated the junior circuit in Europe and turned professional at 14. His flashy style and baby face made him an instant sensation in Europe.

Although Rubio's stock dropped this season, the woeful Timberwolves -- winners of a combined 32 games the past two seasons -- remain in need of a point guard to feed the ball to Kevin Love and Michael Beasley.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Alan Hahn Alan Hahn
Alan Hahn

RT @JerryZgoda: Spanish media contact tells me Ricky Rubio will hold a news conference tomorrow morning in Barcelona and announce he's headed to the NBA.

Nalod wrote:Im not holding any "Kahn is stupid" or "rubio will suck" moments cuz we just don't know.

My guess is the Timberwolves are closer to a title than we are!

Kahn might be a lot of things but to succeed you have to have a vision and take chances. Dolan does not do this. He prefers paying 110% on proven talent.

No Im not a Timberwolve fanboy, but I like what he is doing.

Kahn is an idiot!!! I don't care that Rubio eventually signed. Kahn doesn't really have a plan per se. Anyone can suck and keep getting high picks. It takes a real smart GM to actually put together a title contender. Of course eventually he'll have collected a lot of young talent, but will it be a winning team is hard to say.

Anyone ever think teams and coaches improve or remain idiots for life?

Anyone think getting Beas for free hurt or helped?

Anyone see the potential of what they are doing? They are taking chances and when you do that you do make mistakes. All teams and GM's do. We take huge stake in one or two players.

Melo gets hurt big time you lose 3-4 years after the deal we did.

Look, I don't know the future but when you stack up picks and players you create some luck.

I think what they are doing has a higher ceiling than what we are doing.

Trust me, Im not rooting for Knicks to lose and call me "Right".

Rubio is going to have a hard time. That won't mean he is a bust. That will take 2-3 years of non improvement to call.

At this time, and it can change, I don't see a contending team on broadway either.

Dolan rolls down Times Square and sees bad broadway shows make money cuz people want to see stars on stage.

Nalod wrote:Kahn is building assets. Their coach sucked last year.

Anyone ever think teams and coaches improve or remain idiots for life?

Anyone think getting Beas for free hurt or helped?

Anyone see the potential of what they are doing? They are taking chances and when you do that you do make mistakes. All teams and GM's do. We take huge stake in one or two players.

Melo gets hurt big time you lose 3-4 years after the deal we did.

Look, I don't know the future but when you stack up picks and players you create some luck.

I think what they are doing has a higher ceiling than what we are doing.

Trust me, Im not rooting for Knicks to lose and call me "Right".

Rubio is going to have a hard time. That won't mean he is a bust. That will take 2-3 years of non improvement to call.

At this time, and it can change, I don't see a contending team on broadway either.

Dolan rolls down Times Square and sees bad broadway shows make money cuz people want to see stars on stage.

Beas might fall asleep at the wheel and never be heard again. Anything can happen.

Our ceiling was higher before the trade. No, not cuz the team was contending, but we had assets and picks.

"Smart fans", I dunno about that but its dumb to close your eyes too!

Solace wrote:

mikesknicks wrote:Both Nalod and Bonn1997 pass what ever you are smokin cause it got you buggin! The Timberwolves are closer to winning a title then the Knicks?????
Your logic was because they have assets? wow and they say new york fan are some of the smarts fans?

I actually agree with them, because of one simple premise. I cannot envision a scenario where the Knicks can win with the current lack of assets and a team centered around an injury-prone star ("Amear"), an aging injury-prone former star who is now nothing special (Billups) and the most overrated player I've ever heard of based on the opinions on this board (Carmelo). We have no other assets; none. We have very few picks in the next few years. The hope of this team becoming good is riding on the collective bargaining agreement, which will almost definitely make it even harder to sign a free agent, and Carmelo being one of the top players in the league, which he is not. He's barely top 15, IMHO, but we act like he's better than LeBron and Wade.

As for the Wolves, they simply suck with a lot of good assets, picks, and young players. They have potential, which is sadly more than we have right now.

I'll enjoy rooting for a Knicks playoff team again, but despite the ridiculous overenthusiam displayed on these boards, I'm not going to stop lamenting the great roster with tons of potential we had that Dolan intentionally blew up so we could trade for someone would likely have signed here anyway.

Of the 30 teams in the NBA, I would say our long-term prognosis is now among the worst. Early last year, it was among the best. Thanks, Mr. Dolan.

Wow, what a downer of a post. I don't deny that there is truth in it, but the grass sure is greener, eh? I wasn't for the Melo trade, but now it's what we are. Regardless of how many top 15 or whatever players we have, you can probably agree that we need to play as a team, right? How many top 15 players does Dallas have? I count a solid One. We have two players that are all stars, and Melo is something special. He is playing with another all star. I'll give you that Billups is a bit old, but just to be our PG and third scorer, he is great. On defense, all three aren' great but Melo showed he can play it well. Stat has been a very good help defender, at times anyway with his blocks.

Maybe we don't need many more assets? We have to see how this draft plays out. Really, everyone here, before predictions are made have to see how it plays out. As well as what we can pick up in FA. Yes, the new CBA is going to be key. We are not sitting bad though, we have two all stars and two great shooters in Williams and Walker, a very smart rookie in Fields, a player that can be something in Douglas (what he can be I don't exactly know...) and let's not forget J. Jordon. He may not be much, but with two all stars on the team, he may be what we need at the center position. (Damn, wish we still had Mos.)

I would never trade places with the Wolves, even if they make some good moves they are still 3 or 4 years away from making any noise. We are making noise next season and then in 2012 when we have salary cap space, things can change and quick. With some FA signings in 2012 (or one in Chris Paul), that can easily put us over the hump.

Guess we'll see...