Ricky Rubio is the perfect point guard for the Phoenix Suns
By Adam Maynes
His shooting is much improved
One of the biggest knocks against Ricky Rubio early in his career was his absolutely terrible shooting (something that was particularly comical to the rivals of the Minnesota Timberwolves when Steph Curry began to light up the league with his incredible shooting right out of the gate).
But after beginning his career with an effective field goal percentage of just 39.9% in his first four years, Rubio has raised his average to 45.5% over his last four seasons which, while not spectacular by any means, is a legitimate improvement that included a career-high 3-point shooting percentage of 35.2% in 2017-18 (although it sunk back down to 31.1% last year).
Even though he is not a great shooter, his has at least pulled himself out of the “liability” range, and has moved more into an “acceptable” range.
Interestingly enough though, with diminished minutes in Utah, Rubio reached career-highs in scoring in each of the last two seasons (13.1 and 12.7 points per game, respectively, and 16.1 and 16.4 per-36min).
While he can certainly still improve upon his shooting (although there is no guarantee he ever will), one would hope that Rubio wouldn’t be chucking up shots if he signed with the Phoenix Suns as his goal will always be to pass first to more accomplished shooters, namely Devin Booker.
As we see new head coach Monty Williams‘ offense materialize, hopefully on some level it follows Steve Kerr‘s model of passing and movement looking for the open shooter, which means that James Jones will look to acquire such shooters elsewhere to help bolster the offense.
All of that means that one primary point guard statistic that has sagged for Rubio in recent years, would absolutely spike back up beginning as soon as next season.