The Cavs have no need to bring Ricky Rubio back

The injury concern/timeline for recovery

Drafting a new young player is a lot more risky than bringing back a proven veteran, even if that were to potentially cost the non-taxpayer mid-level exception of $10.3 million, or seemingly a sizeable amount of that.

On top of that, a rookie drafted in the first round, they receive a guaranteed contract, and the Cavs did not want to hand that out to a second rookie. According to a report Jason Lloyd of The Athletic (subscription required), the Cavs did not want to add another guaranteed contract, from a roster numbers standpoint. With this news, it looks like the 14th player seemingly in the event of a potential Collin Sexton return (if he’s back), is going to be Rubio, per Lloyd’s report.

Rubio played a vital role when he was on the court here in Cleveland. Not only did he keep the offense humming, but he also was decent on the defensive end of the floor, averaging 1.4 steals per game. The Spaniard was also a key mentor for Garland. He, Garland, and later, Rajon Rondo would often watch film to critique the games.

Outside of mentoring Garland, Rubio did a nice job on the court last year before the injury. He averaged over 13 points per game, while also dishing out nearly seven assists per game, in mostly a supersub role.

The Cavaliers should definitely keep in contact with Rubio, to follow his progression through rehab. However, in today’s game it’s hard to keep an open roster spot for a player who shoots under 40% for his career, isn’t a good defender, and is coming off a torn ACL. This was the second time he tore the ACL in his left knee.