Phoenix Suns: 5 expectations for Ricky Rubio
2. He’ll be MUCH better than what the Suns have had
The greatest irony in all the chagrin over the Rubio signing is how, after years of whining about the Suns’ miserable point guard situation, he’s miles better than what this team has had to work with lately.
At worst, Ricky Rubio is a league-average point guard, and while that’s not sexy in and of itself, even the NBA’s 15th-best point guard in a 30-team league is a drastic improvement over Phoenix’s recent options at the 1, who wouldn’t have even made the list of top 30 point guards.
No matter how you feel about Rubio in a vacuum, I hope you choose to think about him in the context of the Suns
— Cody Hunt (@co_dhunt) June 30, 2019
Rubio > Melton / Okobo / Canaan / Jimmer / Elfrid Payton / Mike James / Shaq Harrison / Ulis / Ronnie Price / Josh Gray / Brandon Knight / Phil Pressey / Bryce Cotton
“Better than absolute garbage” isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement, but to stop there would be a disservice to both Rubio and the Suns’ young core. Yes, Phoenix only finished with 19 wins last season, but there was a stretch in late February and early March, when Tyler Johnson had grown acclimated to his new team and everyone was healthy, where the Suns looked like a real NBA squad.
During that memorable seven-game stretch, Phoenix rattled off a 5-2 record, sporting wins over a surging (at the time) Miami Heat team; the playoff-desperate Los Angeles Lakers with a healthy LeBron James; the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks; the admittedly terrible New York Knicks; and the West-leading Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena.
And that was with a combo guard running the point.
Just spoke with a top NBA executive from another team who told me the Suns with Ricky Rubio, Tyler Johnson and Ty Jerome have drastically improved the PG position. Not to look at it as one player but as a position. Last year they started with Canaan, Melton and Okobo.
— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) June 30, 2019
Sure, seven games is a tiny sample size, but with a healthy Tyler Johnson, Devin Booker, Kelly Oubre Jr., Mikal Bridges and Deandre Ayton, the Suns showed the signs of consistent, competitive spirit that they hadn’t shown all season.
Move Johnson to the bench and replace him with Rubio, while adding other capable NBA players like Dario Saric and Aron Baynes, and suddenly Phoenix should compete on a much more frequent basis next year.
Last season, the Suns' point guard rotation at the beginning of last season was Isaiah Canaan, Jamal Crawford, Elie Okobo and De'Anthony Melton.
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) June 30, 2019
This season, the Suns' point guard rotation will be Ricky Rubio, Tyler Johnson and Ty Jerome. That's an upgrade.
Rubio is a great fit with this current group, and while some may agonize over handing out $51 million over three years to a league-average point guard, a look at the rest of the free agency landscape shows it’s a pretty fair deal for both sides.
The Suns were always going to have to overpay to attract even moderate talent; it’s just the reality of their situation and how unattractive they are to prospective free agents. But it’s only a modest overpay, and it’s a far more favorable outcome than giving Terry Rozier — one of the NBA’s worst rotation players last year — $58 million over three years.
Given that Patrick Beverley allegedly turned down a three-year, $50 million deal from the Sacramento Kings (a more attractive suitor than Phoenix), they would’ve had to pay even more to realistically land his services. Bearing all that in mind, Rubio is an upgrade, and only a slight overpay given the free agency market.