Cavs: 3 players Ricky Rubio could have good chemistry with from jump

The Cleveland Cavaliers look to have a young lead guard on the rise in Darius Garland, who had a bounce-back campaign in Year 2. He showed out last season with 17.4 points and 6.1 assists per contest after what was a fairly underwhelming rookie campaign, because of a number of factors.

Garland appeared to be fully himself in 2020-21 though, and his handle, shiftiness and deep range were on display throughout this past season for the Cavaliers. His playmaking and vision were too, and with both his shot-making and passing abilities in mind, I’m pumped to see how he continues to take further strides for Cleveland next season and beyond.

But it was a priority for the Cavs to go out and get a quality backup point guard option this offseason, either via free agency or trade, and they did address that need.

A few hours before the 2021 NBA Draft, the Cavaliers sent Taurean Prince, a 2022 second-round pick via the Washington Wizards and cash to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Ricky Rubio, whose had plenty of success as a lead playmaker. He’s had 9.1 assists per-36 minutes for his career, for further context, and he is fresh off having an incredible run in the Summer Olympics in Tokyo for his native Spain.

With Garland being the future for Cleveland and coming off a de facto breakout year, Rubio is not going to typically be the starting 1, aside from potential injury absences. He’s going to be in his age-31 season in 2021-22, and Garland is a far better shooter/scoring option, but even so, I do still believe Rubio should have a crucial role in leading the offense off the bench.

Although D’Angelo Russell injury struggles did have some to do with it, Rubio did still have 6.4 assists per contest last year with Minnesota, and his passing acumen is still seen throughout games when he’s in there.

I do think with his outstanding vision and heady play, that Rubio can help out a number of Cavaliers players when he’s in games, to that point.

But three in particular, I could foresee him having good chemistry with practically from the jump, though.

Along those lines, we’ll take a closer look at those three Cavs players that could have a nice two-man game with Rubio nearly from the jump here.

One of those I could foresee being a cornerstone moving forward for Cleveland.