Cavs Ricky Rubio returns from torn ACL, easing into rotation
CLEVELAND — The Cavaliers welcomed back a key player in the rotation. Now they have to figure out how he best fits into the puzzle.
Ricky Rubio recently returned to the rotation after more than a yearlong absence, the result of a torn ACL that ended his 2021-22 season. He was a consistent contributor off the bench before the injury, averaging 13.1 points and 6.6 assists in 28.5 minutes per game and giving the Cavs an extra facilitator to feed the offense.
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For Rubio, it was a long road back in which he didn’t see an NBA court in a game for more than a calendar year. And for the Cavs, a team that has rarely been at full strength all season and had players shuffling in and out of the lineup already, he’s the next to be eased into the rotation.
“He has a high level of understanding of the game,” said Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff. “He knows how to orchestrate the game, teach the game, share the game. It’s gonna take some time before he’s the best version of himself, obviously, because he has to play with his teammates some, too, and they have to learn to play with him and learn how he can help make their jobs easier. Just giving him time and giving him minutes, we all know what Ricky’s capable of.”
The Cavs are progressing through the second half of the season and toward the trade deadline while fighting for one of the top six seeds in the Eastern Conference, which would ensure they won’t have to participate in the play-in tournament. Rubio is basically entering his own personal preseason, even if the games matter much more than they normally would.
Rubio said he and the Cavs worked out roughly a six-week plan to get his legs under him, and they can re-evaluate where he’s at then.
“It’s my preseason kind of,” Rubio said. “So we just designed this plan so I can have a month and a half so I can get the rhythm back. It’s hard to practice in the NBA during the season five-on-five, so I just [need to] get the reps out there. Of course you’ve got to pick up things, but I’ve been playing all my career, so I know what to do. But, of course, getting used to adjusting to the teammates, to the lineups that I’m there and having stretches of more than three, four minutes, that’s going to help me, too.”
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