The Utah Jazz point guard curse continues with Ricky Rubio

The Utah Jazz have been unable to find a true fixture at the point guard position since the Deron Williams days and unfortunately that curse seems to be continuing.

Although there’s certainly been a lot of heartbreak throughout the history of the Utah Jazz, one of the most celebrated aspects among the Utah faithful is the fact that they got to witness one of the most legendary point guards of all time in John Stockton. Not only is Stockton the NBA’s all-time assist and steal leader, but he earned those marks while playing his entire career in a Utah Jazz uniform and while taking the Jazz to multiple playoffs and back-to-back NBA Finals.

In short, the man is nothing short of a legend. Particularly in Utah, but across the NBA as a whole as well.

Once Stockton called it quits, the Utah Jazz were immediately in search of a new franchise point guard to fill his shoes. Fortunately, in hindsight that search turned out to be quite short. After Stockton retired following the 2002-03 season, the Jazz went on to draft Deron Williams just two years later with the third overall pick in 2005. Although current fan opinion on D-Will is quite mixed, there’s no denying that during his tenure with the Jazz, he was everything Utah could have wanted and more in a point guard not named John Stockton.

In six seasons with the Jazz, Deron averaged 17.3 points and 9.1 assists while leading the Jazz to the playoffs four times and earning two All-Star selections. Although many thought that the Jazz were doomed to slide into purgatory following the loss of Stockton and Karl Malone, thanks to the spectacular play of Deron Williams and his running-mate Carlos Boozer, Utah was a competitive and exciting team once more, and became such must faster than anyone foresaw.

Unfortunately, to say Williams’ time in Utah came to a less than smooth ending would be an absolute understatement. His mid-season departure to the then New Jersey Nets and the related untimely resigning of Jerry Sloan made for an ugly end to an era that had been the best since the Stockton-to-Malone days.

And in some inexplicable way, that discouraging ending would apparently give way to a horrific curse that has lasted nearly seven years – a curse that has seemingly made it impossible for the Jazz to secure a reliable, effective and stable starting point guard.

Since the departure of Williams, the position has been a seeming revolving door that has included the likes of Devin Harris, Jamaal Tinsley, Earl Watson, Mo Williams and Trey Burke, none of which has made any sort of lasting mark whatsoever. In 2014, the Utah Jazz added Dante Exum who showed a lot of promise as a rookie, but of course injuries have kept him from coming anywhere close to meeting his potential. Perhaps one day Exum will become Utah’s solution to the point guard curse, but so far that has been far from the case.

After Utah’s point guard woes continued in the 2015-16 season, the Jazz made a move at the 2016 trade deadline to bring in Shelvin Mack. And though he had some great moments, his inconsistent play eventually resulted in him becoming little more than just another one of the temporary names that’s filled the Jazz’s point guard slot.

Then, heading into the 2016-17 season, the Utah Jazz made a big move (for them anyway) to finally acquire a guy who had the look of a permanent starter at the point guard spot in George Hill. This time, THIS TIME it looked like the Jazz had finally broken the curse and found their man.

Hill seemed to love being in Utah. He was a family man and a veteran that was concerned more with playing on the right team and not simply in the most glamorous location. Once the season started, his fit couldn’t have been more evident. Hill instantly developed a solid chemistry with his Jazz teammates and began putting up career numbers. Yes, at long last it appeared that Hill was the answer to Utah’s point guard woes and that he would be there to stay.

But, my, how quickly things turned around from there.

Between injuries and failed extension talks, in which Hill and the Jazz clearly weren’t on the same page, the two parties eventually opted to part ways with George Hill signing with the Sacramento Kings. It was honestly a sad result to what may have otherwise been an ideal long-term fit for both the Jazz and Hill.

On the bright side of the situation, though, the nail in the coffin for Hill’s time in Utah was without a doubt the fact that Utah made a trade to bring in yet another point guard, another promising point guard on a very manageable contract, at that, in Ricky Rubio. Rubio was far from a perfect solution with his poor shot and lack of playoff experience, but between his electrifying passing and underrated defense, he had all the indications of being a sneakily good fit on his new Jazz squad and in Quin Snyder’s system.

Much like had been the sentiment with George Hill, Jazz fans were excited at the prospect that perhaps this time they had finally found their man at the point. Unfortunately, though, 32 games into the season, Rubio has once again looked more like a temporary stopgap than a true answer..

Sure, he’s had a few good games which have helped to make his stats look somewhat palatable, but overall he’s been an enormous disappointment. His shooting percentages are down from last year, he’s logging the most turnovers per game since his rookie season (3.1) and the purported assist master has looked woeful in that category as well as he’s putting up a career-low 4.7 per game, which is by far his worst mark.

Rubio’s play has often looked shaky, under-confident and lazy. He hasn’t developed any chemistry with most of the team, particularly not Rudy Gobert who’s likewise having a poor season largely due to his inability to develop a rhythm with his starting point guard.

In short, barring a major turnaround, it’s looking like Rubio isn’t going to be the answer for the Jazz at the point guard spot after all. Sure, there’s another year on his contract, so if he isn’t dealt (which I think many Jazz fans would agree with me that we hope that he somehow is), he could be on Utah’s roster longer than most of their brief-stint point guards, but that still won’t make him much more of a solution.

Therefore, despite the fact that many thought that Rubio would be an ideal replacement for Hill and a great fit for the Jazz, that’s looking like a long-shot at this point, which unfortunately might mean that the Utah Jazz point guard curse will simply continue to exist.

Fortunately, there are two rays of hope for the Jazz at the point guard spot. The first is Dante Exum, who despite being a part of Utah’s long string of point guards already, looked phenomenal in Summer League and may very well still be able to blossom into a star for the Jazz if he is retained in restricted free agency and can finally find a way to stay healthy.

The other perhaps even more brilliant ray is Donovan Mitchell, who despite having a spot in Utah’s starting lineup at the shooting guard position, has played significant minutes at the point guard spot which may be where he’ll find the most success in the future. Mitchell has shown plenty of promise running the offense and leading the charge for the Jazz as point guard, so as Utah’s current leading scorer, perhaps he’s the one with the best chance of finally ending the Jazz’s point guard curse.

Next: Utah Jazz are in big trouble if Donovan Mitchell misses significant time

Between he and Exum, one thing is almost certain, the future of the Jazz’s backcourt is extremely bright making it seem that the chances of finally breaking the curse are very high.

Yet unfortunately, as both George Hill and Ricky Rubio have shown us, we’ve been wrong before…