The Utah Jazz on Friday acquired point guard Ricky Rubio from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for a first-round pick in 2018.
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The 6-foot-4 Spaniard is just 26 years old but was on the league’s radar well before being selected fifth overall by the Timberwolves in 2009.
Even as a teenager, Rubio had a reputation as an incredible passer. He began playing professionally at age 14 and performed well against the United States in the 2008 Olympics gold-medal game in Beijing as a 17-year-old.
“He’s the best passer in this draft and the best passer maybe in the last decade of drafts,” said ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla immediately after Rubio was selected.
Rubio didn’t immediately join Minnesota, however, spending two more years in Spain. In his rookie year in the NBA, he averaged 10.6 points, 8.2 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game. Those numbers have stayed rather consistent through six years, as he has career averages of 10.3 points, 8.5 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game.
Not a great shooter, Rubio made nearly 36 percent of his field goals and exactly 34 percent of his 3-pointers in his first season, and he has career marks of 37.5 percent from the field and 31.5 percent from beyond the arc.
The savvy passer tore his ACL in March of his rookie year, but bounced back and signed a four-year, $56 million contract extension with the Timberwolves on Halloween in 2014.
“I want to call Minnesota home for a long time,” he said then. “That’s why I signed the contract. My mom’s going to get mad at me, but I don’t leave home when I’m here. This is my second home. I really feel very welcome here.”
Rubio’s place in Minnesota became uncertain in 2016, however, when the Timberwolves drafted Providence guard Kris Dunn with the fifth overall pick. Rubio was then nearly traded to the New York Knicks at the 2017 trade deadline in exchange for Derrick Rose.
Minnesota traded Dunn to the Chicago Bulls in the Jimmy Butler deal on draft night, but will now find its next point guard in free agency.