The first two-and-a-half months of this segment have been fun, but the real coverage of the 2013 maybe-mistake that was trading Trey Burke started Saturday at Target Center.
If you’ve missed what we started here at the beginning of the 2013-14 NBA season, here are a few previous jottings about the Wolves NBA Draft decision to trade Burke to the Jazz in favor of starting point guard Ricky Rubio, and the ensuing choice of Shabazz Muhammad with their top first-round pick they received for Burke.
This week in the ever-evolving series, Burke and the Wolves meet for the first time since that infamous night.
TREY BURKE: At least on this evening, Burke was bested by the duo of Muhammad and Rubio, as the Jazz fell against Minnesota 98-72 after putting up an absurdly anemic 23 points in the first half.
Burke wasn’t good, as the rookie point guard shot just 2-of-10 from the field while logging just two assists in 27 minutes.
The two games prior to Burke’s Target Center debut, he posted the second and third double-doubles of his career, and Utah coach Tyrone Corbin continues to be impressed by the 21-year-old reigning NCAA player of the year.
Still, Burke’s record against his “former team” currently reads 0-1, so the head-to-head says Minnesota made the right choice, though the rest of the season says otherwise.
RICKY RUBIO: On a night in which the Wolves grabbed 60 rebounds to Utah’s 42, Rubio grabbed eight, while also picking up six points and nine assists.
Ricky’s all-around game is looking solid, as he’s now dished out seven-plus assists in 12 of his last 15 games and grabbed eight-plus rebounds three times this month, but the elephant in the room continues to be his inability to score, as he’s failed to reach double-digits in points the past seven games.
Opinion continues to grow surrounding Rubio being a draft bust, and questions are beginning to float around regarding the possibility of a trade surrounding the Spaniard.
SHABAZZ MUHAMMAD: The game against the Jazz was so out of hand that even Shabazz got into the action, seeing the second-most extensive playing time of his NBA career.
The UCLA rookie played seven minutes, going 1-for-5 from the field in his first appearance since returning from the D-league.
Shabazz’s stint with the Iowa Energy was a success, but it was more of the same from him at the NBA level, as he is now 5-of-21 from the field in 49 NBA minutes with just one assist, logged against Utah Saturday.
SUMMARY: All three get a shot at one another again Tuesday, as the Wolves travel to Utah for the second-half of Utah and Minnesota’s home-and-home miniseries. Burke’s revenge is in the air, as the Jazz are 7-6 this season at home with Burke in the lineup.
