Cavs: Is Ricky Rubio the league’s best backup point guard?

The Cleveland Cavaliers turned a weakness into a strength this offseason. A year ago the Cavs were piecing together a backup point guard from street free agents and aging franchise favorite Matthew Dellavedova. When starter Darius Garland missed time, which included 18 whole games, the team was at a loss to adequately replace him.

Things are completely different now. The Cavs brought in two backup point guards to play behind and occasionally alongside Garland. That includes Kevin Pangos, one of Europe’s best players this past year, who is likely better than anyone they had last year. More impactfully, Ricky Rubio is now with the team as the primary backup.

Ricky Rubio is a talented and experienced backup point guard. Where does he rank among his peers off the bench?

Rubio came into the league as a highly-regarded young point guard who was already dazzling the basketball world in Europe. While he never quite realized that star potential, he has already logged ten valuable seasons in the league. He averages 7.6 assists per game for his career, 19th all-time, and is 31st in career steals per game. He is a classic point guard, and a good one at that. Last season was by far the worst of his career, but he gets the chance for a rebound before his career is deemed to be on the downslope.

He will no doubt steady the ship for the Cavs, and if Garland is to miss time he can step in capably as a player with 593 career starts under his belt. The Cavs went from having a significant weakness to having one of the best backup situations in the league.

Let’s put some analysis to that statement. Where does Ricky Rubio rank among backup point guards leaguewide? Which teams, if any, have a better player coming off the bench? We’ll start with the teams who have a solid, if unspectacular option at the position and go up from there.