Five ways Ricky Rubio helps the Phoenix Suns immediately
By Adam Maynes
29 is the new…29 – which isn’t that old
Ricky Rubio might too actually be the perfect age for this team.
Yes, other point guards would have been younger, could have potentially spent more of their prime in Phoenix, and obviously, D’Angelo Russell is only 23-years-old so if he does develop into a legitimate superstar (which is what everybody is afraid of if he moves on to Minnesota), he potentially could have been part of a superteam.
However, 29-years-old in basketball terms is not old.
Unfortunately recent history has trained fans to think of players from 19-23 as somehow the perfect age to acquire somebody while concurrently believing that anyone older is somehow washed up.
Phoenix Suns
But when you consider that this team has been too young, and that the bulk of the older veterans who have signed here or been recently acquired as a supposed part of a coaching staff on the court (*ahem* Tyson Chandler, Trevor Ariza, Ryan Anderson), none of them actually had primary roles on the team, so really: why would any of the younger players care to emulate or listen to their veteran counterparts?
While I am not surmising that Rubio will be that coach on the court that his predecessors were publicly sold as, he is the point guard, and an experienced one who has some natural importance attached to that role.
Plus, let’s say that the Suns take a step forward this coming season. Forget playoffs necessarily (although that would be nice), but let’s say that it is obvious that Rubio is at the heart of the improvement. He will still only be 30 the following year.
Let’s say too that Phoenix takes a step forward the following season. He’ll only be 31 two years from now.
Phoenix could then easily extend his contract for a few more years keeping him with the core – and because of his age then, he would be retained at a much more affordable rate than had they potentially would have been looking at re-signing a still 27-year-old D’Angelo Russell in 2023.
Again, Russell might have been everyone’s favorite – and is the better player overall – but Rubio’s age does play a positive role in building a winning team.