In the 2021 offseason, the Cleveland Cavaliers made what was seemingly a fairly quiet move at the time. Cleveland sent Taurean Prince and a future second-round pick, to go with cash considerations, to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Ricky Rubio. Fast forward to today and Rubio is on the move once again, this time being traded to the Indiana Pacers along with some picks for Caris LeVert. You can view more on the reported details here.
Rubio’s time with Cleveland was a revival for both the Cavaliers and Rubio. Rubio, before devastatingly losing his season due to a torn ACL in late December, was playing some of the best basketball of his career making a huge impact coming off the bench in a supersub-type role. Rubio averaged 13.1 points, 6.6 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.4 steals in 34 games for the Cavs.
Rubio was reunited with Kevin Love as they both played for Minnesota in Rubio’s rookie year up until the 2014 offseason, when the Cavs pulled the trigger on a blockbuster deal bringing Love to Cleveland. The duo of Love and Rubio proved to be huge for the Cavaliers this season, coming off the bench and making an impact in a role shift for both in that regard, and it paid dividends.
There were multiple times this season when the young starters would be getting overwhelmed and starting to play erratic, albeit somewhat due to injuries/COVID-19-related absences.
Even still, head coach J.B. Bickerstaff would plug in Rubio and he would slow down the pace of the game utilizing the majority of the shot clock until someone got an open look, and with seemingly more of a green light than in year’s past, Rubio was often a solid shot creator.
Generally speaking, though, Rubio’s experience and the mentorship he was able to provide to Darius Garland specifically were huge in propelling the team to their current position.
The Cavaliers going into the 2021-2022 season were projected by many to be near the bottom of the league once again.
A combustion of events would follow once the season began, however: Rookie sensation Evan Mobley playing like a veteran, Garland taking a massive leap in his game and running the offense efficiently, and veterans buying into the team and its youth; Love, Cedi Osman, and Rubio.
It is of note that Rubio’s contract expires after this season and the Cavs would be eligible to bring him back for next season if both parties see fit, and the team currently does have interest in doing so, per a report from Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
Whether or not that ultimately does play out, thank you, Ricky Rubio for being instrumental in the process of getting the franchise back on track.