Oakland, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio will have surgery on his left ankle Monday, the team announced Saturday.
Rubio has missed 43 games after badly spraining his ankle on Nov. 7 against the Orlando Magic. The surgery isn't considered to be serious and the Spaniard is expected to be ready for training camp next season.
"We have closely monitored the status of Ricky���s ankle injury during the rehabilitation process. Ricky recently experienced ongoing soreness in his left ankle and it became apparent that it was not responding according to its anticipated timeline for recovery," Wolves coach Flip Saunders said.
Rubio, who signed a four-year contract extension in November, averaged 10.3 points, 8.8 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game in his fourth NBA season.
"He is an integral part of our future and we are taking every precaution to ensure that he will be able to perform to the best of his ability next season. This decision was one that was reached between Ricky, his representatives, the Timberwolves organization and the foremost practitioners in this field of orthopedics," Saunders said.
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