Ricky Rubio could see return to Wolves practice by end of week

Ricky Rubio could be back at practice with the Wolves by the end of the week. (David Sherman/Getty Images)

Minnesota Timberwolves fans might find a sigh of relief soon.

Less than a few weeks after the team saw the season debut of Kevin Love, who had been rehabbing a broken hand suffered during the preseason, the Wolves are now likely to see the return of point guard Ricky Rubio, who could be cleared for practice after Wednesday's road game against the Los Angeles Clippers, according to Jerry Zgoda of The Minnesota Star Tribune:

Rubio is scheduled to return to his Vail, Colo., surgeon on Monday for a three-day visit after which the Wolves hope he will be cleared for contact practice when the team returns from this trip after Wednesday's game in L.A.

Rubio had surgery in March to reconstruct two torn ligaments in his left knee. Team officials were optimistic that he would be able to start the season but it was soon determined that he would be ruled out until the new year. Rubio had torn his ACL in a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, bumping knees with Kobe Bryant with 16 seconds left in the game.

But it appears that timetable has been moved up and the sophomore guard could potentially be back in a game before Christmas. Zgoda reports that Rubio has already been engaged in shooting drills on his own. According to a tweet in September from Darren Wolfson of ESPN, Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor had said that he expects Rubio to be back before Christmas, so all indications now are that the owner is correct and that Rubio could be ahead of schedule.