Guard Ricky Rubio is leaving DKV Joventut in Badalona, Spain, but he might not be coming to the NBA. Real Madrid director general Jorge Valdano is considering making an offer to Joventut, which is experiencing economic problems and needs more than the $500,000 NBA teams are willing to pay for a buyout of Rubio’s contract. European clubs have no such spending limits or salary caps.

Rubio’s buyout increased from 4.75 million euros to 5.75 million euros last week – small change for Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, who in recent days has spent nearly 200 million euros on soccer players Cristiano Ronaldo (80 million), Kaká (66 million), Karim Benzema (31 million) and others, and is considering Bayern Munich’s request of 100 million euros for French midfielder Franck Ribery. But revenue streams for soccer are far greater than basketball at Real Madrid; after Kaka’s signing was announced, the club added 75 million euros worth of sponsorship, covering the cost of the transfer and his first season’s salary. Real Madrid cannot similarly justify shelling out Rubio’s price. But Unicaja (Malaga, Spain) and Greek and Turkish clubs might.

“The buyout clause makes going to the NBA unfeasible,’’ Rubio’s father, Esteve, said in a Madrid radio interview last week.

Though basketball is almost an afterthought at Real Madrid, the club indicated a commitment to the sport by hiring Italian Ettore Messina as coach.

Tom Thibodeau is expected to join the team once summer league games begin tomorrow, although the Celtics [team stats] associate coach remains unsigned.

Ainge said Thibodeau talked to representatives from Detroit and Minnesota about head coaching openings on both teams, though he has not officially interviewed with either team.
Ainge has delayed signing Thibodeau to a new contract while both positions remain open. Celtics coach Doc Rivers has called Minnesota on his valued assistant’s behalf.