JULY 8: The Cavaliers have officially signed Rubio, the team announced in a press release. As we previously relayed, the team used its mid-level exception to complete the deal after a sign-and-trade didn’t materialize.
JULY 1: The Cavaliers have reached an agreement to bring back free agent point guard Ricky Rubio on a three-year, $18.4MM contract, sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The third year will be partially guaranteed, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
Based on the financial details reported by Haynes, it appears Cleveland will use a portion of its mid-level exception to sign Rubio. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link) was the first to report the two sides were nearing a deal.
Cleveland acquired Rubio from Minnesota in a 2021 offseason trade and he played a key role in the Cavs’ first-half success this past season. Despite serving primarily as a reserve, the 31-year-old averaged a career-high 13.1 PPG to go along with 6.6 APG and 4.1 RPG in 34 games (28.5 MPG).
However, Rubio’s season came to an early end when he tore his left ACL in December. The Cavs subsequently used his expiring contract as a salary-matching piece in their trade for Caris LeVert, resulting in Rubio finishing the season with the Pacers.
There had been reports throughout the offseason indicating that there was mutual interest in a reunion between the Spaniard and the Cavs — that reunion has now come to fruition.
ACL tears can sideline NBA players for a full calendar year or more, and even when they return to the court, it often takes them some time to get back to full speed, so expectations for Rubio in 2022/23 – especially in the first half – should be tempered.
Given that Cleveland agreed to a three-year deal though, it seems as if the team is counting on him to be around for the long haul and will be patient as he recovers from his knee injury and gets his feet back under him.
Once Rubio is healthy, he figures to once again slot into the backup point guard role behind All-Star guard Darius Garland.
LOVE IT!
They have the foundation of a really strong defense. They just need more shooting around it. Hopefully certain guys from within can give them a bit more, and some are capable
@formerly
Hi. My name is Collin Sexton.
Cavs went after shooting hard in the draft with Ogbaji, not knowing Sexton’s status. This signing is key to their odd setup. Too bad the key will be turning late!
Maybe $3-4mil left of the MLE.(?)
Agbaji obviously has the ability, but consistency is a question for him. He’s compared to Jae Crowder. Obviously a good player. Just saying that I’m including him in the improvement from within category
Sexton, Okoro, Mobley are my bets for stepping up their 3pt output. I think Markkanen will shoot more consistently this coming year also.
I see our starting 5 as Garland, Okoro, Markkanen, Mobley, Allen w/ Love, Sexton, Agbaji, Rubio rounding out the rotation come playoff time.
Perimeter D is the obvious hole.
I’m a huge Auburn fan and love Okoro. But he is not a 3pt shooter and will prob never be.
Maybe off pullups, but he is improving on the catch and shoot, and if there is enough spacing around him, I do think he would be better offensively
Glad for Rubio! Get healthy and rock again in CLE
Love it too! Been a few years since a free agent actually wanted to come back to Cleveland!
Hey Ricky, you’re so fine, you’re so fine you blow my mind!!!! Great move by the Cavaliers…glad to have you back, Ricky
Wasn’t this guy supposed to dominate or change the NBA?
He’s played 11 years in the NBA and teams still clearly want him around. What’s your point?
He was hyped a lot, was a backyard wrestling champion, and taken ahead of Steph Curry. In all fairness a lot of folks slept on Curry and I had a love/hate with him back in the day for fantasy bc of those ankles. But Rubio will always be tied to being taken ahead of Curry. Flynn too but he is irrelevant.
He’s always been extremely underrated. Look at his career assist to turnover ratio.
That was actually Steph Curry, who was drafted 2 spots later.
I feel like Rubio has been in the league for 20 years and he’s only 31.
Told y’all.
What? There was “mutual interest”.
Worst kept secret in history. No need for a brag here.