As many are well-aware of, offseason trade acquisition Ricky Rubio should bring legitimacy to the backup 1 position for the Cleveland Cavaliers this season.
At this point, it seems as if Darius Garland looks to be the present and future of the starting lead guard position for Cleveland, and with him getting up there a bit in age, Rubio isn’t going to challenge Garland in that way. Garland is fresh off having a quasi-breakout season in which he had 17.4 points and 6.1 assists per outing, and knocked in 39.5 percent of his three-point attempts.
With that in mind, and him seemingly set for possibly another leap, Rubio will be Garland’s primary backup.
That should be more than fine, too, as even with him not being the shooter/scorer of Garland, Rubio is still a gifted passer and in I’d still think a fair amount of minutes, he should provide some playmaking relief for Garland. Rubio’s vision and passing acumen has been proven over an already long career, and over the course of his 10 seasons, he’s had a robust 9.1 assists per-36 minutes.
He won’t likely have quite that type of clip this upcoming season, but I would assume he’ll have his share of dimes and still have opportunities to run the offense off the bench. I’d think we’ll see him at times on the floor with Garland as well.
Now, we know that Rubio should be a key playmaking presence still for the Cavs in 2021-22, that’s apparent.
That said, one shouldn’t discount how in stretches in there, he should be a meaningful defensive playmaker, too.
Don’t discount the defensive playmaking Rubio can provide in stretches for the Cavs.
Putting it simply, Rubio is still an impact defender on the perimeter in matchups against 1s and 2s, and with him having plenty of functional strength, combined with a 6-foot-9 wingspan, he can hold his own against wings if needed.
When he’s in there for Cleveland, he’ll be solid at the point-of-attack, which should aid guys on the floor with him.
As a team defender though, one shouldn’t gloss over what he brings as a rotator, and in spurts/stretches, similarly to the likes of Evan Mobley, has a knack for getting deflections and steals in passing lanes on the strong and weak side.
In the past four seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves (last season), Phoenix Suns the year prior and the Utah Jazz the previous two years, Rubio has averaged 1.8 steals per-36 minutes and had an average steal rate of 2.5 percent. And last season, Rubio had a healthy 2.3 deflections per contest, in 26.1 minutes per game, per NBA.com’s hustle data.
The feel in that regard from him could play a role in igniting the Cavs at times, and Rubio’s ability to hit lead passes up the floor in those instances could lead to easy buckets to get the likes of Collin Sexton or Isaac Okoro going. The same could at times apply for Mobley at times running down the floor, which he does so well for a big, as does Jarrett Allen.
Rubio’s strong hands can help make things happen as a stunter to drivers as well, which should help Cleveland generate some runouts/momentum plays additionally to his deflections/steals.
Those are plays that could make a difference throughout games, and even with him being a backup for Garland, that sort of thing is why plays into why he should still get his share of burn, and he could feasibly play with Garland some. I would imagine that’s the case, at least.
Moreover, with what we’ve touched on here, and the track record from Rubio in his career, it’s still clear that he should be a defensive playmaker to watch in a rotational sense for the Cavaliers.
And though he’s set to be expiring, I wouldn’t be necessarily shocked to see him stick through next season and/or potentially for the two sides to have interest in him maybe re-signing via reasonable deal next offseason. The leadership of Rubio plays into that thought process, too.