Phoenix Suns: Grades for every player this season
Ricky Rubio
Grade: A-
Stats: 13.1 points, 8.9 assists, 4.6 rebounds per game
The summer after coming off a gold medal and MVP honors at the FIBA World Cup, enthusiasm around the Spanish Maestro’s addition to the Suns was palpable. While I don’t think anyone genuinely thought he would be the next Steve Nash, you did hear the occasional, “He’s the same age as Nash when he returned to the Suns,” comment thrown around.
Of course, the greatest player in Suns history Rubio was not, however, he was the best point guard the team had since the one who didn’t want to be here and was one of the primary reasons the Phoenix Suns led the league in assists.
Related Story. Ricky Rubio is quietly having a great season. light
(Every time I write that line, it feels wrong, and I always go back to double-check the league didn’t issue was major stat correction or something.)
On top of making the team better, Rubio set his career-high in points, assists, and 3-point shooting percentage (35.1 percent). And then there was the game against the Milwaukee Bucks where he had one of the best individual performances since, ahem, Steve Nash, when he put up a triple-dozen.
He did slump a bit soon after he became a father for the first time, but we can probably chalk that up to lack of sleep and distraction. No one is perfect.
The next step is to win. I know he has it in him, but it will be great to see his value (arguably more than Devin Booker’s) play out in the win column.