Cavs: Predicting 3 most impactful bench players in 2021-22

Predicting the Cavs’ three most impactful bench players – #2: Ricky Rubio

Secondly, I’d expect Ricky Rubio to have a consistent role for the Cavaliers bench.

Rubio has bounced around in recent seasons via trade, and Cleveland acquired him in a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves shortly before the 2021 draft got under way. That was in exchange for Taurean Prince, a 2022 second-round pick via the Washington Wizards and cash considerations.

So, although Rubio is not a player that is not going to be a floor spacing presence for the Cavs in bench minutes, he still is a really gifted playmaker, and I’d think that he should lessen the playmaking burden on Darius Garland.

That’s at least to an extent, and Rubio could feasibly get some playing time in spurts with Garland too, where he could enable Garland to be a movement/off-ball shooter some more, also.

Rubio, even with him not being a key scoring presence that frequently I wouldn’t think, is likely Cleveland’s best pure passer, and he’s had a career 9.1 assists per-36 minutes, with only 3.1 turnovers per-36. He should get some legitimate primary playmaking minutes game-to-game, and Rubio, even with him getting up there in turning 31 next month, he’s still a player that can push pace and generate great looks for others in transition.

Plus, on the defensive end, with Rubio being multi-positional, and a player that gets his share of deflections/steals, I’d imagine that he could be a player that the Cavs can rely on to apply ball pressure, which could give them a spark when he’s in there.

Now, Rubio is set to be expiring after next season though, so could he potentially be a deadline trade piece, depending on how the season shakes out?

Possibly, but I do believe with the Cavaliers wanting to make a push/compete, that he could still stick around and maybe, the two sides could agree on a reasonable new deal next offseason; we’ll see on that.

I’d think that being around him could truly be invaluable to guys such as Garland and Sexton, in any case.