Regrading the Cavs’ Ricky Rubio trade with Timberwolves

Regrading Cavs’ trade for Ricky Rubio: How it went

The Cavs began the season and immediately demonstrated they were a team to be reckoned with, pulling off impressive road victories and hanging close even with the very best teams. A huge part of that early success was due to Ricky Rubio, who was elite in his backup role behind Darius Garland.

Rubio had his best shooting season, hitting a career-high 1.7 3-pointers per game and averaging 13.1 points, also the highest of his career. That offensive versatility allowed the Cavs to start playing both Rubio and Garland at the same time, maximizing their collective impact, especially after Collin Sexton went down with a knee injury after 11 games.

The 2-man combination of Ricky Rubio and Darius Garland was the best on the team (minimum 20 games played), with a +16.1 net rating in 512 minutes. Not only was the offense humming but Rubio’s size and ability defensively alongside Garland helped elevate the defense to opponent-crushing levels. Overall that pairing was the 18th-best in the entire league.

Just when the pairing was at its best, disaster struck. Rubio went down with a torn ACL after 34 games, ending prematurely the dynamic combo. The Cavs, looking to maximize their play down the stretch, used his contract as matching salary at the NBA Trade Deadline to bring in Caris LeVert.

Even coming off of the bench Rubio was among the Top 20 leaguewide in assists per game, and his on-court impact was one of the best marks of his career. It’s just unfortunate for Rubio and the Cavs that impact could only last for 34 games.