Rubio Revisited

[Lipoli390]

I've been among what I think has been a majority on this Board who think we should move on from Ricky Rubio this offseason. Some of us were unhappy with the trade that brought him here in the first place. But I'm starting to change my tune on Ricky. He continues to get better as the season wears on. He actually looks a couple steps quicker than he did at the beginning of the season. He's definitely much sharper. Just about all of us declared the Ricky/DLO backcourt combo idea a failure. But even that's looking pretty good lately under Chris Finch.

I'd still shop Ricky this offseason to see what we can get. But I'm not longer interested in moving him just to move him for his roster slot and salary savings. His value as a mentor has now been supplemented by his value as a player based on what he's shown the past two months.

[thedoper]

If he plays better it only improves him as a trade asset. He was a poor fit on this team and played really bad this season. We need to stop falling in love with 10-20 game spurts from mediocre players on this team. We can get everything Rubio gave us on a much cheaper contract.

[Lipoli390]

If he plays better it only improves him as a trade asset. He was a poor fit on this team and played really bad this season. We need to stop falling in love with 10-20 game spurts from mediocre players on this team. We can get everything Rubio gave us on a much cheaper contract.

You might be right, Doper. I haven't fallen in love with Ricky, but I think he's a little better than mediocre. Can we get everything we get from Rubio for a lot less? Maybe, maybe not. But the good news with Ricky's contract is that it expires the end of next season.

[thedoper]

If he plays better it only improves him as a trade asset. He was a poor fit on this team and played really bad this season. We need to stop falling in love with 10-20 game spurts from mediocre players on this team. We can get everything Rubio gave us on a much cheaper contract.

You might be right, Doper. I haven't fallen in love with Ricky, but I think he's a little better than mediocre. Can we get everything we get from Rubio for a lot less? Maybe, maybe not. But the good news with Ricky's contract is that it expires the end of next season.

He was downright bad for most of the season. Hes playing above average for a stretch of games now. I think mediocre is a fair compromise. Keeping him for a bit wont really change much, his value is likely going to come at the deadline as people would need a player like him in a pinch and not as a plan on draft night, unless of course you're the wolves.

[mrhockey89]

I'm on board with you Lip. Also, the point you mention about him looking quicker, you're probably exactly right on. He was admittedly in terrible shape when he came to the Wolves this year because of COVID where everyone had to stay away. He's been playing his way into shape all season long, and is finally in his playing shape. I don't think we'll see an out of shape Ricky going forward with the pandemic winding down and a full offseason to work.

If Rubio improves our chances of a much needed long-term trade situation, then trading him should be an option...but there's no reason to be moving him just to move his contract.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I personally think Rubio's issues this year were more than just a bad offseason and long ramp to get in shape. He's at that age now where some PGs start to really fall off.

I think a trade should definitely be an option, but not mandatory. Having him on the roster and in the lockerroom certainly doesn't hurt. I also think he'd be a great mentor to Bolmaro, who in reality could push for being DLO's primary backup.

[rapsuperstar31]

At the time I was upset that we passed up the chance to draft Bey and traded for Rubio. It felt like a huge overpay to me, and Bey seemed like the perfect 3&D player. I am however excited that we ended up with Jaden as a result of that trade. I still would have rather kept 17 taken Bey and found a way to trade back up into the late first round for Jaden though. That being said if he is truly having a huge impact mentoring Ant you have to keep him around. If we do end up keeping the pick he could be beneficial to mentoring Cade, or Suggs as well. I would still look at trading him if you can find a good fit pf to trade for.

[Monster]

A couple stats to consider when it comes to Rubio this season.

1. He has the highest percentage of his shots from 3 of any point in his career 42%. That's the thing brining down his FG percentage. His 2 point percentage is in line with other seasons and his 57% at the rim is 2nd best of his career.

2. He has the lowest TO rate per 36 mins of his career. Some of that is likely because his usage rate is also the lowest of his career as well but he is still averaging a healthy 8.9 assists per 36 which is pretty near his career average of 9.1 per 36.

I'm not dying to move him but it also makes sense.

[Carlos Danger]

A couple stats to consider when it comes to Rubio this season.

1. He has the highest percentage of his shots from 3 of any point in his career 42%. That's the thing brining down his FG percentage. His 2 point percentage is in line with other seasons and his 57% at the rim is 2nd best of his career.

2. He has the lowest TO rate per 36 mins of his career. Some of that is likely because his usage rate is also the lowest of his career as well but he is still averaging a healthy 8.9 assists per 36 which is pretty near his career average of 9.1 per 36.

I'm not dying to move him but it also makes sense.

Interesting stat dig/thumbs up. Rubio has never had a negative VORP season in his career. He's currently at -.1. With a couple good games, I think he can get to even or possibly positive .1. But regardless, he certainly didn't play up to expectations this year. Still. Would like to see him finish his career here next year as a Wolf. Hopefully his play rebounds back up. He's got one more year on his contract. Make the best of it and move on after he finishes it out. I hate making trades or cuts that end up with dead money or giving up draft picks just to get rid of a guy. He'll be fine in a smaller role. Over paid - but fine.

[Monster]

A couple stats to consider when it comes to Rubio this season.

1. He has the highest percentage of his shots from 3 of any point in his career 42%. That's the thing brining down his FG percentage. His 2 point percentage is in line with other seasons and his 57% at the rim is 2nd best of his career.

2. He has the lowest TO rate per 36 mins of his career. Some of that is likely because his usage rate is also the lowest of his career as well but he is still averaging a healthy 8.9 assists per 36 which is pretty near his career average of 9.1 per 36.

I'm not dying to move him but it also makes sense.

Interesting stat dig/thumbs up. Rubio has never had a negative VORP season in his career. He's currently at -.1. With a couple good games, I think he can get to even or possibly positive .1. But regardless, he certainly didn't play up to expectations this year. Still. Would like to see him finish his career here next year as a Wolf. Hopefully his play rebounds back up. He's got one more year on his contract. Make the best of it and move on after he finishes it out. I hate making trades or cuts that end up with dead money or giving up draft picks just to get rid of a guy. He'll be fine in a smaller role. Over paid - but fine.

I don't think anyone here is interested in paying to move him on and I don't think we would have to. I think if there is the right situation (salaries matter so much in trades) he can be moved without paying to get rid of him. If Dieng could be moved Rubio can be as well. As someone mentioned he might bring more value traded in season. At this point adding him hasn't worked out particularly well as an addition to the roster. McDaniels has been the type of guys some people (including myself) wanted to pick at #17 and IF Bolmaro turns out to be a guy that's actually pretty good this trade starts looking better because maybe they don't get one of those guys if they stick at #17 and #33.

In addition what if What other posters have said about Rubio is true about him rounding into shape this year? Does that mean he can be an effective player outside of being a starter? Could a resigned Rubio for let's say 7 million a year (just throwing out a number) for a couple years make some sense and be pretty valuable? Honestly I'm conflicted on that because in theory Bolmaro would play a lot of that role at some point but Rubio with his flaws is a seasoned vet that knows what he can do and can't do for the most part. Of course Rubio signed to a reasonable deal could create a nice trade chip. I don't want to make too big of a deal about it but I do think having a worthwhile vet on a team is actually important. Maybe Rubio is that guy for this roster. Maybe he isn't but I do think for the last 10+ years with all the roster turnover not having vets stick around for a while has been one of the things that has been a negative in how young players have or havnent developed. How much? Idk like I said I don't want to make it sound like keeping a guy around would have made us a playoff team when we won 20 something games but I think there can be positives. The key is to keep a vet that doesn't cost too much in terms of assets and or salary...or in the way of a younger player. Rubio for his production cost too much in terms of salary but the way I see it now it doesn't seem like adding him hurt in the way of assets. I would not be surprised if Bolmaro's value has now increased compared to last year. Will Rubio stand in the way of another young player going forward? Idk it really depends on guys like Nowell and Bolmaro what opportunities they can get and what type of players they ultimately become.

I just wrote too much about something I'm honestly not fretting over. Lol when we originally traded Rubio I felt like I knew it was coming. I was sad about it but I figured it was happening. I still think it was a great move at the time but it didn't exactly work out well even if I like Okogie. The Teague experience was fine (mixed bag but he certainly didn't suck) year 1 but went downhill... right now...idk I haven't been watching games and reading/listening enough to say one way or another.