Q12543 wrote:Boy, the Olympics is a different animal of course, but the contrasting minutes and play of Rubio and Bolmaro makes it harder and harder for me to see us trading Rubio unless we feel we can sign a solid backup to take his place. I'm not ready to put that role in Bolmaro's hands. He's a 3rd string PG coming into camp.
Maybe Summer League will change my mind, but I have to agree that I see little chance of Bolmaro being in the rotation next season. I've been joking about Rubio's scoring in the Olympics, but it truly has been extraordinary. There are only 2 players averaging more than a point per minute...Luka Doncic, and Ricky. I recognize that the international game is different than the NBA and Ricky has generally been more of a scorer playing for Spain, but his play this summer is at a different level. We know how superb Ricky is at facilitating, protecting the ball and defending. If he could shoot in the NBA anywhere close to his international rate, he would be an All-Star.
From time to time there has been talk about whether Rubio could make a Jason Kidd type leap in his shooting. Through the age of 30, their 3-point rates are almost identical...32.8 for Kidd vs. 32.5 for Rubio. Kidd notoriously was known as ason Kidd because he had no J and defenders could sag off of him. But everything changed in his 30s and he made 37.2% of his threes for the rest of his career. He never became a huge scorer (his 12.6 career average is comparable to Ricky's), but being able to show opponents he could make the open three greatly improved his game. Like Kidd, Ricky is an excellent free thrower with poor outside shooting form, and I have watched him pre-game and at halftime drain 3-pointers at an 80% rate. 90% of shooting is half mental as Yogi would say, and it would be incredible if Ricky could turn this Olympic breakout into a 30s shooting emergence like Kidd did.
By the way, even with the improvement of his 3-point shot in his second decade in the league, Kidd's TS% for his career is lower than Ricky's. If you add in that their assist, turnover and steals numbers are quite similar, you can see why I would not be happy to see Rubio leave this summer unless the return is significant (and his Olympic breakout could increase that possibility). He should be our starting PG next season.
