Earlier this month, Ricky Rubio made his return for the Cleveland Cavaliers, following what was a full year recovery from a torn ACL he suffered in late December of 2021. Rubio signed back with Cleveland this past offseason, despite his then-expiring deal was part of the trade package sent to the Indiana Pacers for Caris LeVert last season.
It wasn’t surprising when Rubio did so this past summer, given that there was reportedly mutual interest between the two sides in a possible reunion. One had to acknowledge that it was going to take into a considerable chunk of this season before Rubio would be back, though, given the injury recovery, and that was his second tear of that ACL in his left knee.
With that in mind, fans still have to temper expectations for his outlook, even with Rubio being a tremendous trade acquisition in the seasons’ first few months in 2021-22. In his 34 appearances last season, he had 13.1 points, 6.6 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals per contest, in a role where he was typically a supersub.
As we mentioned, one shouldn’t be expecting Rubio to have that level of production this season, but he still will make a difference for this Cavaliers team. Rubio made his season debut at the Portland Trail Blazers in a Cavs’ comeback win, and thus far, appears to be finding his way back into the swing of things, albeit slowly.
In five appearances to this point, he’s had 4.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per contest, in what’s been an average of 14.2 minutes. It’s reportedly anticipated that he won’t be playing in back-to-back situations until post-All-Star break play, and was not involved in Cleveland’s loss to the shorthanded Golden State Warriors on Friday night, which was the first leg of the Cavs’ last one.
But gradually, he should look more comfortable for the Wine and Gold, and this week on Cleveland’s three-game road trip, and game-by-game, Rubio have more of an effect on contests. The roadie consists of games at the New York Knicks (Tuesday), Houston Rockets (Thursday) and Oklahoma City Thunder (Friday).
A slow start was realistic, but Rubio should make an impact on this Cavs roadie, and start to re-establish himself from there.
Rubio is not playing nearly the minutes-share he had in other situations, and last season with the Cavaliers, and one would assume it’s still an adjustment for him regarding game shape. Coming off that injury, and with him in his age-32 season, that’s the right approach by the team and him, too.
However, Rubio’s presence has still seemingly aided the team by him creating meaningful movement with his vision and quality decision-making, and players such as Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen and Cedi Osman have benefitted from that from the veteran.
The assist totals haven’t been illustrating that, necessarily; even still, when he’s in, Rubio has definitely helped the Cavs in directing traffic, generating some catch-and-go opportunities, pick-and-roll looks and catch-and-shoots. And as he continues to get reacclimated, including this week, the assist splits should follow for the savvy pro.
Now, the shooting splits haven’t been good for Rubio, as he’s been off from three in the past three contests, and overall, has shot 30.8 percent. That said, one shouldn’t read too much into that, given the rust factor, him gradually looking to find his rhythm and with how Rubio can still help the Cavaliers in other ways in his minutes.
Defensively, Rubio has often made a difference as a disruptor, and there was a glimpse into that in Saturday’s win over the Milwaukee Bucks, when he registered two steals, and with Rubio’s length and anticipation, there will be more where that came from. There have been flashes of his hit-ahead passes in the transition game a bit so far in his game action as well, off that, and following defensive rebounds.
Generally, though, while the stats haven’t been gaudy from Rubio early on since his return, a slowish start was to be expected.
But in feasibly two of the three games he’ll seemingly be involved in on this latest Cavs road trip, at the Knicks, Rockets and then Thunder, we should see Rubio give the Cavaliers a noticeable jolt as a two-way contributor.
As January winds down, expect the heady vet guard to start to establish more of a rhythm as a creator for himself and others, and for his leadership to take foothold for stretches.