Ricky Rubio
This one may come as a surprise to some people as Ricky Rubio isn’t exactly one of the team’s young guns and we’ve likely already seen pretty close to his ceiling. However, when he played at that ceiling, which he was able to for the latter part of the 2017-18 season, he was impeccable. Rubio had a hard time finding a groove during his start with the Jazz, but once things finally clicked, he was one of Utah’s most important players.
And the reason I’m so excited to watch him next year is to see if he can keep up that incredible level of play that he exhibited during Utah’s impressive late season run. He went from one of the weakest links on the team to the glue that bound the Jazz together seamlessly.
The Jazz have seen major improvements out of guys even when they’re older (such as Joe Ingles) so it’s within reason to expect Rubio’s shooting to continue to improve, making him a solid floor general and a daunting threat on the offensive end.
In order to finish among the elite in the West, the Jazz will need to not just match their performances from the second half of last season, but they’ll need to all improve dramatically. That perhaps rings truer for no other Jazzman like it does for Rubio. His ability to remain as effective as he was to close out last year could determine the nature of the Jazz offense and their ability to compete in the West.
Seeing if he can put together a spectacular 82-game season will be absolutely exhilarating to behold.