Utah Jazz: Ricky Rubio not living up to expectations in 2017-18

Approaching the midway point in his first season with the Utah Jazz, Ricky Rubio has not lived up to expectations in 2017-18.

For the last few seasons of his NBA career while serving as point guard for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Ricky Rubio dealt with trade rumors.

While going through a new head coach four different times during his six-year span in Minnesota, the different styles those coaches ran sparked a lot of those rumors involving the Spaniard.

But in the offseason prior to the 2017-18 NBA season, those rumors turned into a reality, when Rubio was traded from the Timberwolves to the Utah Jazz in exchange for a first round draft pick.

For the first time in his professional career, Rubio was heading to a new team and city, while having to get familiar with different personnel in Utah than what he grew used to in Minnesota. Along with all of that came new expectations for the point guard.

As we approach the midway point in his first season with the Jazz, the question of whether Rubio has met those expectations has come up. So far this year, he hasn’t.

Appearing in 37 of the possible 38 games this season, we haven’t seen the Rubio we grew accustomed to seeing during his first six years with the Wolves. We haven’t seen the point guard the Jazz spent a first round pick to acquire.

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Of course, having different personnel around any player will alter statistics compared to what they did prior on their old team. But in nearly every category, Rubio has taken a step back so far this season.

Following Wednesday’s 108-98 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, Rubio is averaging 11.4 points, 4.9 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game. He is also shooting 39.1 percent from the field and 28 percent from 3-point range.

As we started to see last year in Minnesota, Rubio’s scoring ability has improved some, which has been the case once again so far this year with his career-high 11.4 points per contest.

But his scoring has really been the only bright spot during his time in Salt Lake City so far. Rubio’s 4.9 assists are by far a career low (his previous low was 7.3 per game in 2012-13), while both his 3.9 rebounds and his 1.6 steals are also career-low averages.

As far as shooting the ball, Rubio is taking 10.1 attempts per game, which is a career-high that narrowly edges his 10 attempts during the 2014-15 season. But although he is shooting more and therefore increasing his amount of scoring, his shooting percentages have gone the opposite direction. His 39.1 percent from the field is the lowest since 2015-16, while his 28 percent from 3 is the second-lowest of his career (he shot 25.5 percent in 2014-15).

There’s no questioning it — Rubio has struggled to adapt so far in his time in Utah. There isn’t much time for Rubio and the Jazz to figure things out, with their record dropping to 16-22 on the season, currently situating them in 10th place in the Western Conference.

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So has Rubio lived up to expectations in Utah this season? The answer to that almost halfway through the year is no. That’s not ideal for the Jazz, who ultimately gave up a first round draft pick for the point guard and have continued to struggle at the midway point of the season.

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