Ricky Rubio's well-documented six seasons in Minnesota are over.
The Wolves and Utah have agreed to a deal that will send Rubio away and bring back a future first-round pick.
Most importantly, it frees up Rubio's $14.1 million salary for this coming season, money they can use to sign a starting point guard such as Toronto's Kyle Lowry or Indiana's Jeff Teague when the NBA's free-agent negotiating period begins at 11 p.m. Central Friday.
The Wolves now have more than $32 million to spend, if they choose to spend all of it on one or more free agents before they're due to give young stars Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns huge contract extensions in the next 16 months.
The Jazz will send Oklahoma City's lottery-protected, first-round pick in 2018 to the Wolves and in turn absorb Rubio's salary into their cap space.
Utah had $16 million in free cap space that they had to use by Friday midnight or lose. Jazz center Rudy Gobert's huge new contract begins July 1, thus gobbling up any extra space the Jazz had.
"We'd like to thank Ricky for his time in Minnesota over the course of the last six-plus years," said Timberwolves coach and president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau in a news release. "Ricky has been a consummate professional over my time in Minnesota and has done tremendous things in the community. We appreciate all he's done for the organization and wish him the best of luck in Utah."
The trade ends Rubio's uneven six seasons in Minnesota after the team and basketball boss David Kahn drafted him fifth overall in 2009 and then waited two seasons for him to come from Europe to the NBA.
He became something of a matinee idol in those six seasons because of his flashy passing and unselfish play as well his good looks and charming Spanish accent. But his career was sidetracked by suspect jump shot as well as a torn knee ligament that ended his rookie season in March 2012 and by a serious ankle injury that cost him much of the 2014-15 season.
Rubio finished last season strong, showing both an improved shot and scoring assertiveness in the season's final weeks after February's All-Star break.
Trading Rubio gives Thibodeau more money to pursue a starting point guard who can, with his outside shooting, better space the floor for stars Jimmy Butler, Towns and Wiggins.
Lowry is a three-time All Star who played with Butler on the 2016 U.S. Olympic team that Thibodeau helped coach and is considered the best free-agent point guard among a class that also includes Teague, Utah's George Hill, New Orleans' Jrue Holiday, San Antonio's Patty Mills, New York's Derrick Rose and Sacramento's Darren Collison, among others.
At his introductory news conference on Thursday, Butler said he'll actively recruit with dinner or a nice bottle of wine free agents whom he knows well. He and Lowry won a gold medal together in Brazil last summer.
"I'll be talking to a lot of really good players _ much better than myself, I will tell you that _ and get them here to join what we have," Butler said. "I know that, with the support I've already felt from this city, they're definitely going to love it. Getting here, with this young core, winning these games, anybody's going to want to be a part of that."
Chosen 14 slots lower than Rubio in that 2009 draft, Teague has played eight NBA seasons, his first seven in Atlanta and last season with the Pacers.
NBA teams can negotiate and reach verbal contract agreements with free agents starting late Friday night, but because of the league's annual moratorium they cannot officially sign players until Thursday.
