Cavs: Ricky Rubio will help Darius Garland’s passing growth in this way

I get that he’s not going to be a player that’s going to have nearly the role of Darius Garland next season for the Cleveland Cavaliers, but Ricky Rubio was a quality trade acquisition this offseason from the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Rubio has bounced around via trade in recent seasons, sure. Even with that being the case, he is still a reliable veteran playmaker, and in this case, he’ll be a backup point guard Cleveland can go to for stretches to ease the burden on Garland, and he’s still an impact defender.

In the team sense, he could very well be a defensive playmaker when he’s in there, too, thanks in large part to his instincts and 6-foot-9 wingspan.

Circling back to the offensive end, though, while he’ll get some legitimate playing time off the bench and help run offense/set up other guys, I do believe that he could aid Garland’s playmaking progression as a mentor, anyhow.

And in one way, in particular, I do think his advice could really resonate, and that relates to how Garland can continue to help get bigs involved throughout games.

Cavs: Rubio will help Garland’s growth/progress in his timing feeding bigs.

Rubio is not somebody that’s going to be nearly the shooting threat of Garland on-ball, and we know that at this point; he’s a career 32.5 percent three-point shooter. He doesn’t have the quickness of Garland, either.

That said, he is still a player that should help Cleveland in pick-and-roll operation as a rotational presence, and while I’m not saying it’ll be the only way he can aid Garland’s passing necessarily, Rubio will help Garland’s timing in feeding big men.

Rubio has always been a lead guard that gets his bigs involved very well, and that should continue with the Cavaliers. The likes of Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley and as perimeter shooters especially, Lauri Markkanen and, Rubio’s old Minnesota teammate, Kevin Love, could factor in in that realm.

The veteran lead guard’s craftiness with ball fakes, change-of-pace and ability to manipulate defenders in pick-and-roll could result in Cavs bigs getting a bunch of easy looks. That’s played out even still for Rubio’s teammates in the past few seasons, back with Minnesota last year, and in seasons prior with the Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz.

Granted, Garland last season proved to have a budding chemistry with Allen, who received his share of lob deliveries from the youngster. With Rubio’s guidance, though, I’d imagine that next season, Garland could improve his feeds to Allen as a cutter/diver, and not just in the pick-and-roll sense.

That could also relate to Garland making further strides regarding his timing in being able to throw Allen or Evan Mobley open as weak side cutters, for instance. Or with more work behind the scenes with the veteran, perhaps we could see Garland use Rubio-esque ball fakes to hit Cavaliers bigs at times in secondary transition when shooters are on the wings, aiding in opening up those looks.

Rubio has a knack for getting a plethora of teammates open overall, but as one could see from this reel from last season, bigs/forwards should always be looking for dishes from him, thanks to his vision/precise passing.

Moreover, while Garland showed plenty of ability to get his bigs involved last year, having a veteran lead guard that’s had as much success as Rubio as a passer should be huge for Garland’s growth as a primary playmaker and feeder of bigs.

Rubio’s had 9.1 assists per-36 minutes for his career to only 3.1 turnovers per-36, and he’s displayed an uncanny sense/feel for getting bigs involved, and that relates some with stretch big shooters, too.

So to drive it home, I’d expect Rubio, who turns 31 next month, to help the 21-year-old Garland’s development regarding his delivery in hitting his big men on-time and on-target.

And although Rubio is set to be expiring, perhaps he could end up sticking around through the deadline if the Cavs are in the thick of things, and maybe next offseason, there could be mutual interest in a reasonable deal.

For now, however, what we’ve highlighted here shows how Rubio could leave quite an impression on Garland, who had 6.1 assists per outing in 2020-21, this upcoming season.