The Phoenix Suns have had two incredible games in a row, and it is largely due to he play of Ricky Rubio, who is playing like the team’s most important player.
This past summer, the Phoenix Suns signed free agent veteran point guard, Ricky Rubio, to a three year, $51 million dollar contract. Phoenix finally found its best solution at point guard for the time being since trading Eric Bledsoe two seasons ago. Even though Rubio is not the Suns’ best player, he has proven to be their most important player.
Before the start of the season, ESPN predicted the Suns to win 28 games, which would be a nine win increase from the previous season. Currently, the Suns sit at 26 wins with 18 games left to play. Last season the Suns won a franchise-low 19 games since the NBA merger in 1976.
This season, one of the major reasons for the Suns’ improvement is Ricky Rubio.
This season Rubio is averaging 12.9 points per game, 4.6 rebounds, and 8.8 assists which is top 5 in the NBA. For his career, Rubio averages 7.8 assists per game, but only averaged 5.7 assists during his time in Utah.
Prior to the start of the season, ESPN also held a poll asking what was the worst off-season signing, and the winner was Ricky Rubio for the Suns. Now, it looks like Rubio was just a bad fit for Utah. Rubio’s assists per game average went down 3.8 once joining Utah from Minnesota, and it could be in part due to playing with ball-dominant Donovan Mitchell.
It is safe to say there is no way the Suns signing Rubio is worse than the contract Charlotte gave Terry Rozier.
Despite the doubt, Rubio has thrived in Phoenix. he is averaging the most assists in his career since leaving the Timberwolves. At first, the Rubio and Booker fit was kind of iffy. Booker seemed to play off the ball a little too much, which is not the Devin Booker we have come to know in recent years.
While it was nice to see Booker not have to do almost everything on offense, it still felt as if when Rubio had the ball, Booker was just standing there. As of late, this has not been the case. Booker and Rubio have had 5 games of 10+ assists together this season, which ties for 2nd most in Suns history.
You can look at all the statistics, the assists, the points, the plus-minus, but what really matters in the NBA is wins, The Suns are 24-32 when Rubio plays, and 2-6 when he does not play. Phoenix is also 15-8 when Ricky has 10 or more assists. Rubio is leading the Suns to their best season since 2013-14 when the Suns won 48 games.
Phoenix is also 15-8 when Ricky has 10 or more assists. Ricky has been a spark for the Phoenix Suns on both ends of the court, and it is showing in the wins column. While it may not be good enough to make the playoffs, it is improvement and a step in the right direction for the Suns.