Cavs’ Ricky Rubio can help Darius Garland’s growth as team defender

When the Cleveland Cavaliers decided to bring back Ricky Rubio in free agency last month, it was seemingly a move that had been a foregone conclusion. Throughout the offseason before that, it was rumored that Rubio could be back, and there reportedly was mutual interest between the two sides in a possible reunion.

Rubio was one of the reasons why the Cavaliers got off to a hot start last season, and it was apparent that his trade acquistion from the Minnesota Timberwolves last offseason was a big one for Cleveland. Rubio gave the Cavs a significant lift as a supersub-type player, and gave the club tons of energy.

Unfortunately, Rubio was only able to play in 34 games last season with Cleveland because of a torn ACL in late December, which was the second he’s had in his same left knee. He tore that ACL in 2012.

It is uncertain as to when Rubio could be back with the Cavaliers next season, with a return feasibly in December or January being a possibility it appears for now. The injury was obviously concerning, and Rubio will be in age-32 season in 2022-23, but I do still believe he could have a notable impact for the Wine and Gold this coming season. This is with playmaking being his key attribute and his defensive playmaking can still be there to some extent.

One of the key benefits to Rubio being back, though, is the intangible element. Rubio’s leadership was huge for the Cavaliers last season, and off the floor, he made quite an imprint on Darius Garland, Cleveland’s young star lead guard.

Garland, who will turn 23 in Year 4, is the primary engine for the Cavs from here, and last year, he had a breakout, All-Star season, and he had 21.7 points and 8.6 assists per contest in 2021-22.

That said, I also think that next season/looking onward feasibly, Rubio’s presence on the bench/seemingly behind the scenes can pay dividends for Garland’s growth defensively, in the team scope.

Rubio can help Garland’s progression as a team defender for the Cavs.

I acknowledge that with Garland, nobody’s going to expect him to be necessarily an impactful on-ball defender. He made strides in that area I thought last season, and did work to keep guys in front more with his efforts, and at least made a concerted effort to make opposing guards finish over the top.

There’s still matchups where the 6-foot-1 Garland is going to have his work cut out for him on-ball on defense, however. It’s understandable as to why the Cavaliers have him on off-ball shooters in some games primarily, and to realistically preserve him some throughout games given his offensive workload, as an aside.

Regardless, I do think that what Garland demonstrated in his third season as an off-ball/team defender was promising, and part of that development could have resulted from Rubio’s influence. I’d have thought, to some extent, we could’ve seen some noticeable growth from Collin Sexton last season in that area, too, had he not been injured for most of the season, for what it’s worth.

As it pertains to Garland in that realm, anyway, it was clear that his anticipation for diagnosing passes off-ball improved in 2021-22, and I thought his digs into opposing drivers gave the Cavaliers a lift. He had 1.3 steals per contest last season, which was another step forward from his second year.

Part of that had to have come from Rubio helping him behind the scenes, I’d imagine, too; for his career, Rubio’s had 1.8 steals per game and a steal rate of 3.0 percent.

Rubio had 1.4 steals per outing in his games with Cleveland last year prior to his injury and his then-expiring contract being traded to the Indiana Pacers as part of the package involved in the Caris LeVert deal. That steal clip was in 28.5 minutes per game with the Cavs, which was very impressive.

The gist is, in coming years, while Rubio may not be necessarily quite the on-ball defender he was before, he is still solid there, in the event he doesn’t have setbacks. Along with that, generally, I think he’ll again make a difference as a defensive playmaker when he’s in, and for Garland’s off-ball defense.

Part of that improvement from Garland last season had to do with Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen helping the overall defense last season when both were healthy, but I thought Garland’s intuition leading to steals/deflections passing lanes jumped out. And while he doesn’t have close to Rubio’s 6-foot-9 length (even with Rubio 6-foot-3 only), Garland did get some timely swipes as a helper last year on drivers, and Rubio’s mentorship probably had some to do with that.

Overall, it’s again clear as to why Rubio was brought back in free agency by the Cavaliers. The floor generalship and leadership on and off the floor of course were in mind there, but it’s also to provide additional mentorship for Garland and others.

What we’ve hinted at here exemplies that sort of thing as well.