Utah Jazz 2018-19 player grades: Ricky Rubio takes step in wrong direction
After a 2018-19 season which saw a decline in many significant stat categories, it’s impossible to give Utah Jazz point guard Ricky Rubio a good grade.
In 2017-18, Ricky Rubio‘s first season with the Utah Jazz, he started out the season horrifically. Well before the trade deadline, many of the Utah faithful were calling for him to be traded from the team due to the fact that his shooting was atrocious, his turnovers were frequent and his reliability was low.
But then, beginning in late January, it was as if Ricky Rubio flipped a switch and he became an entirely different player. Post-All-Star break, he put up 15 points per game with solid shooting splits of 43.6 percent from the field and a whopping 40.9 percent from deep. Those figures were so incredible, that he actually managed to overcome his putrid start and set career-highs in all three of those areas.
He was additionally prolific in the playoffs that year before suffering an injury in Game 6 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. His crafty play netted him a 26-point triple-double in Game 3 in which he thoroughly outplayed opposing point guard Russell Westbrook.
With how well Rubio closed that season, the hope for 2018-19 was that due to the full summer of work he’d be able to put in working with the Jazz, the familiarity he’d have with Utah’s system and the continuity he’d experience from one year to the next, he’d be able to pick up where he left off and continue to thrive, perhaps even solidifying himself as the ideal point guard for the Jazz. Unfortunately, those hopes were ultimately left wholly unfulfilled as Rubio never got back to the level he reached in the latter part of 2017-18.
Much like a season ago, Rubio yet again got off to a slow start in 2018-19. This led many to believe that perhaps we’d see a mid-season turnaround yet again, although even if that had been the case, seeing a player only perform for half a season would have still been frustrating. Instead, Jazz fans were left completely disappointed rather than just partially as Rubio never underwent a turnaround and never lived up to the updated expectations set for him.
In fact, as bad as he started the year, he was actually worse post-All-Star break, putting up 11.9 points compared to 13.0, shooting 39.1 percent from the field compared to 40.8 percent and converting on an abysmal 26.1 percent of this threes compared to 32.2 percent. This resulted in him reverting back to worse averages than what we saw a year ago as he finished at 12.7 points per game, 40.4 percent from the field and 31.1 percent from deep.
Considering he only really played well for a few months last season, that’s pretty bad to see the overall numbers go completely the wrong direction.
Ricky Rubio is an unrestricted free agent this summer. Here are four potential destinations for the 28-year-old point guard: pic.twitter.com/4nLeilKYl4
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) May 10, 2019
Then there was this year’s playoffs where, though Rubio actually had some nice moments and averaged a solid 15.4 points and 8.6 assists per game, he’ll likely be more remembered for his tip-toe defense on James Harden that was essentially rendered ineffective, shooting a meager 20 percent from deep for the series, and especially his wide open airball corner three during the clutchest of situations in Game 5.
That moment was a perfect microcosm of the Rubio dilemma. He will show up at times, having a great sequence or even a great game, but in all his complete and total inconsistency was beyond irritating and overall a detriment to the Jazz who needed a steady contributor at the point position.
And the reality is that the Jazz simply can’t operate with three non-shooters in Ricky Rubio, Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert in their starting lineup. That becomes even more evident if Donovan Mitchell is having an inefficient night or if Joe Ingles goes ice cold as he did on many occasions including all postseason long.
The formerly mentioned trio, though, is easily the most guilty culprit and something has to be done there. Based on what we heard in end-of-year interviews, it seemed as if Dennis Lindsey was much more bullish about keeping Favors than Rubio, and the reason why is absolutely clear. Though Favors is in a bit of an awkward spot as a five that has to start at the four, he has shown improvement, adaptability and a knack for coming through in huge moments.
Meanwhile, Rubio has shown just the opposite – digression, inconsistency, worsened shooting and an inability to embrace big moments. I don’t mean to by hyperbolic by any means, but when comparing expectation from the end of last season to reality, Ricky Rubio had an absolutely horrible season. The fact that his shooting and scoring all went the wrong direction despite nearly identical roles and opportunities is a far less than encouraging sign.
2018-19 Grade: D
Next. Utah Jazz: Neemias Queta workout should be much more than a brief glance. dark
And in all honestly, it feels quite likely that Rubio’s poor season and deflating moments in the postseason have all but sealed his fate this summer. He’s an unrestricted free agent that sounded far from sure where he’d be playing next year when asked at the end of the season. He was apparently less than thrilled with being mentioned in trade rumors at the deadline and has to be aware that his part in the non-shooting trio puts his status in great jeopardy.
In other words, I don’t expect him back with the Jazz next season as they look to make massive upgrades this summer, including very likely at the point guard spot. There’s no denying that Rubio was a great contributor during his time with the Jazz and did some really good things. But in all, this season proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he can’t be the starting point guard for a team with championship aspirations.
Other 2018-19 Utah Jazz Player Grades: