Five ways Ricky Rubio helps the Phoenix Suns immediately
By Adam Maynes
The Phoenix Suns have agreed to terms with veteran point guard Ricky Rubio. Here are five ways he helps the team right away.
The Phoenix Suns have found their point guard – for now. Veteran Ricky Rubio is coming to the franchise for at least three years (his 29, 30, and 31 seasons), and while he isn’t the superstar that most fans were hoping for, he is absolutely a legitimate addition to a roster desperate for an injection of both offense and defense.
Yes – the vast majority of the fanbase wanted Phoenix to sign Devin Booker‘s best friend D’Angelo Russell. And if DAR signs or is traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, fan’s fears of Booker demanding a trade will heighten with every Suns loss.
However, that is why signing a player like Ricky Rubio is so important. While he might personally not be able to keep Booker here long-term, winning could, and the new point guard may very well have been the best non-Russell possibility the Suns had the opportunity to acquire.
As much as we’d all love it, Rubio is not the next Steve Nash. Nash was an incredible shooter and Rubio is nowhere near Nash’s league in that capacity.
But where Nash lacked on defense, Rubio excels, and while assists do not mean everything, Ricky is apt to get himself back on track in Phoenix to his pre-Utah averages (he averaged 8.5 in Minnesota and 9.1 in the final season prior to his trade to the Jazz) – although, unlike Nash, unless Monty Williams has some trick up his sleeve, he probably won’t lead the league in the category.
As it stands though, Book, Deandre Ayton, Josh Jackson (presuming he is retained), Mikal Bridges, on and on, are all about to play basketball with the best point guard they have ever had in the NBA – and yes, I believe that Rubio is better than Eric Bledsoe.
That alone is worth some level of excitement in the signing, and while there is no guarantee that he can drive or push this roster to the playoffs this coming season, if healthy, they are going to be a heckofa lot closer than in the recent past, and who knows: we still do not know what other deals might be on their way, so maybe “the Phoenix Suns have clinched a playoff berth in 2020” isn’t all that unlikely.
And here is why: