Rickey Rubio would prefer to know if there will be a lockout before committing to joining the Minnesota Timberwolves for next season. The NBA's labor agreement expires June 30.

The Timberwolves would prefer to know before the draft whether the 20-year-old point guard, their top pick from 2009, will buy out his contract in Spain. The draft is June 23.

"That is the question," Wolves owner Glen Taylor said this morning. "He's asking how that (lockout) might affect him, if we don't play or if we will play. And our answer is, 'We won't know the answer to that question. You're going to have to make your decision before that.'

"We (NBA owners) are negotiating with the players right now. We're hopeful we'll play. But I don't want to guarantee him that because there's no way that I know that."