The Sacramento Kings have previously been linked in rumors to Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio, and it seems that infatuation is still going strong. The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Minnesota is shopping Rubio, and the Kings remain very interested.

The Sacramento Kings have had a strong interest in acquiring Rubio, but there’s no traction on a deal between those two teams, league sources said. So far, the Timberwolves are trying to exhaust the market elsewhere for a better return of assets than the Kings can offer.

Woj reports the Wolves want a transition guard to start now and eventually back up Kris Dunn. I imagine the Kings are floating Darren Collison, but he isn't named in the report.

If nobody else steps up with a better offer, the Kings could be back in the mix as the deadline nears.