5 reasons Sacramento Kings should trade for Ricky Rubio
By John Buhler
3. Strong defensive player
Though it is often overlooked because of his innate ability to pass the basketball like the long lost son of ‘Pistol’ Pete Maravich, Rubio can play some stellar defense at point guard. His stats don’t necessarily indicate that, as he has played for an otherwise lousy defensive team in Minnesota for years, but Rubio can handle just about any point guard on the defensive end.
His defensive excellence will be a huge reason that new Timberwolves head coach Thibodeau may be reticent to let Rubio go in a trade, but the future of the point guard position in the Twin Cities lies in the hands of Dunn.
Not only can Rubio help the Kings run a respectable NBA offense at the point, he can also show his future Kings teammates a thing or five about playing some top-notch NBA defense. In his five-year NBA career with the Timberwolves, Rubio’s defensive rating per 100 possessions is a remarkable 105 given that he’s never played on anything better than a sub-.500 team.
Rubio has quick hands and has averaged 2.2 steals per game for the Timberwolves. Though he is best known for his passing ability, Rubio has had more win shares on the defensive end (10.2) than he has offensively (6.9) in his time in Minnesota.
Defense is all about effort and committing to the process. Sacramento has been disinterested in playing ball on that end of the floor for years. Rubio is the player that can light a fire in the Kings on defense that really hasn’t been present in over a decade.
Next: 2. Dave Joerger