As they get healthier, Cavs can still manage with Ricky Rubio’s shot off

Ricky Rubio has exceeded expectations for the most part as a scoring presence, usually off the bench, for the Cleveland Cavaliers this season. When the club acquired him via trade in the offseason from the Minnesota Timberwolves, it was evident that he could be a heck of a backup lead playmaker in his minutes.

Now, the Cavaliers didn’t sign him to quite a lucrative deal, as the Phoenix Suns previously did a few years back, and Rubio’s on the books for $17.8 million in 2021-22. He’s on the last season of his current deal, as a side note.

Either way, Rubio has been quite the offseason add for this Cavs team, and his playmaking and steadying presence has given a relatively young Cleveland squad a lift. As we noted, though, he has provided more in the scoring department than one would’ve thought coming into the year, and even prior to Collin Sexton being out for the year, was starting off really well.

Rubio has had what would be a career-best 13.8 points per contest, and he’s hit 35.2 percent from three-point range, which would tie a career-high. I don’t discount what he’s done in that realm for much of this near-first quarter of the year.

Nonetheless, Rubio’s deep shot has come down to Earth of late, which is understandable, really, particularly with it setting in that Collin Sexton is out for the rest of the season.

Even while he does find ways to get looks to go on pull-ups, occasional drives in secondary transition and from the free throw line, Rubio overall has been off. He’s not a player that’s going to finish at a high level, and his effective field goal shooting clip has been only 43.7 percent, slightly below his career average, which isn’t great, for reference.

In his last seven games, two of which were starts, he’s had 12.0 points per contest, but on only 30.2 percent shooting, and even with Cleveland needing him to shoot them, he’s hit just 27.5 percent from three on 5.7 attempts per game. He’s still had 5.7 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game in that span, on the plus side.

Although the shooting splits of late have been rough, I do think with guys such as Kevin Love and Lauri Markkanen coming back in the fold (COVID-19 health and safety protocols), and Evan Mobley (elbow sprain), Cleveland can still manage with Rubio off shooting nights.

The Cavs can still typically manage with Rubio off nights, as they get healthier and guys get more comfortable again.

The Cavaliers are getting more of their key guys back, and injuries/absences did play some into their five-game losing streak prior to winning the past three games. I do believe with the competitiveness the group displayed, even in that losing streak, which featured losses to often upper echelon teams, this group can get themselves right still.

They took the life out of the Dallas Mavericks on Monday, and though I’m absolutely not discounting Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo being out on Wednesday, the Cavs took it to the Miami Heat 111-85, and won there for the first time in forever.

Granted, I know the upcoming schedule is tough, and I’m not glossing over that, but with how the Cavaliers have fared to this point, even with the injuries they’ve had, and the team getting healthier, I think they’ll be alright.

Along those lines, I think with Love’s contributions in his bench minutes, regardless of him being off from three for many of his games active prior to the last few, with his spacing and rebounding, he’s impactful for stretches.

And of late, Markkanen has definitely been establishing a nice rhythm, as he’s had 17.2 points per contest in five games since his return, and has hit 39.5 percent of his three-point attempts.

His chemistry with Rubio as a deep shooter, and Rubio’s synergy with Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen on the interior, has given Cleveland a boost in Ricky’s minutes, too. I’d expect to see that more in coming games, for what it’s worth.

Of course, we know that with Sexton’s absence, the Cavs need Darius Garland to be a key scoring presence, to go with his playmaking, particularly when he’s not in there with Rubio, in relation to the latter.

However, bringing it together here, I know that with Rubio, Cleveland does still need some scoring production from him in stretches, sans Sexton, and we’ll have to see if the group potentially makes a move for another shot creator.

But with what we’ve seen from the Cavaliers this season, and with how they’ve fared defensively, and moved the ball so well, I do think that if they keep trusting the pass and playing with the effort they’ve continually shown, this group can typically still manage if Rubio is off.

They do still need to clean up turnovers at times, particularly in fourth quarters, and I’m not absolving Rubio of that, as he’s been culpable, too.

All things considered, though, with Garland’s continued growth and shooting presence, and Markkanen, Allen, Mobley and to some degree, Love, having notable production, Cleveland doesn’t need Rubio to have quite the scoring nights he had early on.

If he defends, and takes legitimiate playmaking workload off of Garland in stretches, with say, Isaac Okoro at the 2 with him/perhaps Dylan Windler, that will be impactful. He’ll get his shots, sure; I just don’t want Rubio seemingly being gassed later on from shooting it north of 15 times regularly, provided Cleveland is mostly healthy.