These 3 bench players will be awesome for Cavs next season

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Ricky Rubio, Cleveland Cavaliers. Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images /

These 3 bench players will be awesome for Cavs next season: Ricky Rubio

To start the season, the Cleveland Cavaliers will deploy Raul Neto as the backup point guard behind Darius Garland. Eventually, as his recovery schedule allows, Ricky Rubio will take the reigns and become a part of the Cavs’ bench production – and more so, likely a driving factor in its excellence.

Rubio was the steady hand at point guard that the Cavs hadn’t had on the bench during this rebuild, and in fact what very few teams have across the league. Finding a team with two-starting level point guards is a bit like finding a mermaid in the sea. The Cavs with Rubio have a higher floor and a higher ceiling.

The Cavs excel when Rubio pairs with Garland in two-PG lineups; that pairing had a +16.1 net rating in 512 minutes last season, best on the team (minimum 100 minutes). It’s probable that once Rubio is healthy he will play a lot of minutes with Garland, and potentially close games.

Where Rubio will also help is in lineups more heavily weighted with bench players. Rubio and Kevin Love have chemistry and that pairing was +11.9 last season. Their pick-and-pop game is lethal. Putting Rubio, Collin Sexton, Love, Evan Mobley and a shooter may be a lethal combination for the Cavs next season.