Utah Jazz: 2017-18 player grades for Ricky Rubio

Final grade

Aside from his hair, his beard, his jersey and his tattoo sleeve, not much changed about Rubio this season. He still possesses great basketball smarts and is one of the better passers in the league. He’s still pretty good defensively. However, he still struggles to put the ball in the cup.

His inconsistencies at the rim force him to settle far too often for the type of mid-range shots that are slowly being phased out of the game. His improvements from 3-point range are great, but he has to get better at finishing around the rim.

The combination of Snyder’s offense and Mitchell’s ascendence to stardom renders Rubio less and less of a priority in the Jazz’s system. That’s not to say that Rubio is completely useless; he’s shown on a number of occasions that he can add plenty to this team on offense and defense. His issue, as it was in Minnesota, is consistency.

Until Rubio improves near the basket and takes fewer contested pull-ups, he will remain an average player with a dazzling list of highlight-reel passes. If he does get better at the tin, he may finally become the player that so many fans thought he would when he arrived in 2011. For now, Rubio is a fine cog in the Utah Jazz system.

Next: 2018 NBA Mock Draft - Doncic still No. 1 in post-lottery edition

Grade: C+