Trade candidates to replace Rubio using Disabled Player Exception
Trade candidates to replace Ricky Rubio: Frank Jackson
This last option is a peculiar one, to be sure. The Detroit Pistons are in line to pick at the very top of the NBA Draft once again, and outside of their young core they should be open to trading anyone. Why trade for a combo guard like Frank Jackson? Wouldn’t it make more sense to target a more traditional point guard in Cory Joseph to come in and replace Rubio?
Adding Joseph wouldn’t be a bad idea, and he will likely be cheaper than Schroder or Jones. Yet the reason I am highlighting Jackson is that he would add another element to this rotation, a guard with reasonable ball-handling skills who is a high-volume shooter from deep. In essence, he is Garland-lite.
Jackson is shooting 8.9 3-pointers per 36 minutes this season, one of the highest marks in the league. He is hitting just 33.3 percent of them, but he hit 40.7 percent on similarly high volume last season, so his expected percentage moving forward is likely in between the two.
At 6’3″ Jackson has decent size, and his bombing from outside will keep defenses honest and give the bigs more space to work inside. Jackson is not an excellent option, but he would help in an identifiable way. Even better, he can likely be acquired at a low cost, and his low salary of $3.08 would mean the Cavs can still duck the luxury tax. Jackson has revitalized his career in Detroit and could swap Central Division teams to continue that process.
Next. Evaluating Cavs guard rotation with Garland, Rubio out. dark
When Collin Sexton went down two months ago we highlighted options available for the more limited DPE generated by his injury. Rubio is making around $12 million more than Sexton, which opens up the possibilities. Taking a measured swing at a replacement could yield the help this team needs to continue its strong run in the Eastern Conference this season.