Regrading the Cavs’ Ricky Rubio trade with Timberwolves

The Cleveland Cavaliers had a busy offseason last summer, adding a number of key players and retaining others to make up the foundation for their breakout season. The team’s towering frontcourt additions certainly grabbed the headlines, but there was another deal that proved key to their hot start.

A few hours before the 2021 NBA Draft, where the Cavs drafted defensive phenom Evan Mobley, they pulled off a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Taurean Prince, salary ballast in the January trade that brought Jarrett Allen to town, was sent to the Twin Cities along with a second-round pick, and veteran point guard Ricky Rubio became a Cleveland Cavalier.

Last summer the Cavs traded with the Timberwolves to add veteran point guard Ricky Rubio. How does that deal look with the benefit of hindsight?

It wasn’t a deal of the same magnitude as the Lauri Markkanen trade, nor did it yield a future All-Star like the Allen deal or the drafting of Mobley. Yet the “Ricky Rubio trade” was absolutely crucial for how the Cavs played early in the season.

A season later, how does that deal hold up? Was it a good move for the Cavaliers, or should they have looked elsewhere to fill that need on their roster? Let’s evaluate how things went and decide a new grade for the deal with the benefit of hindsight.