Ricky Rubio - Take the Money and Limp

[Randolphkeys]

I guess we agree Rubio/Sexton makes sense and Garland/Okoro makes sense. I just think Rubio/Sexton are the starters there, and Garland/Okoro are the bench guys, if we're seriously trying to win. I don't think Garland's ready to be the do-it-all #1 option offensive player that he would need to be in a hypothetical Garland/Okoro starting backcourt, but we can agree to disagree on that.

I also don't think it'd be a "diva move" if Sexton says he wants to be a starter. That's him putting himself in position to take the next step towards stardom in this league, and given his improvement so far he has every right to back himself in this situation. Obviously he could also accept a modest team-friendly contract extension and transition to a smaller role off the bench. But I don't think it's reasonable to call him a diva if that's not what he wants to do. He's shown a whole lot more than Okoro so far, and with the Cavs bringing in Rubio and Mobley, it's pretty clear that they need Sexton's scoring more than Okoro's defense going forward.

As long as you have shifted from "No way Sexton comes off the bench" to "I just think Rubio/Sexton are the starters" I am good to move on here.

It's really not my decision, or yours. I just don't see any indication that Sexland will continue to be the starting back court. They are an awful defensive pairing that costs the team wins.

 

[Ohioplayer00]

He traded an expiring for an expiring and the team wasn't going to have cap space this off-season regardless of this trade or not. I'm not sure what the issue is.

Unless he makes a real bad decision the Cavs are looking at a cap space figure around $45 million in 2023. I think, so far, Koby has stayed on course for this team’s rebuild.

 

[Nathan S]

As long as you have shifted from "No way Sexton comes off the bench" to "I just think Rubio/Sexton are the starters" I am good to move on here.

It's really not my decision, or yours. I just don't see any indication that Sexland will continue to be the starting back court. They are an awful defensive pairing that costs the team wins.

I've lamented the bad defense from that backcourt since day one...really before day one, since I never believed in Sexton's defensive potential.

When I look at the prominent wing/frontcourt players going into next year, I see Mobley, Nance, and Allen, maybe Hartenstein, Cedi, Stevens, and Wade. Maybe Okoro if he spends some time at the 3. Other than Cedi, all of those guys are good defensive players and questionable or bad offensive players. So in the backcourt, the dynamic offensive Sexton/Rubio combination makes a whole lot of sense to me, whereas a Garland/Okoro starting lineup puts a ton of pressure on Garland to single-handedly generate offense.

 

[Cavatt]

This is crazy. With he depth the Cavs have, you don't have to choose.

If Sexland is getting cooked, you can pull either of them and slide Okoro to the 2 and bring in Wade or Nance at the 3, or put Rubio in.

This is the best way to create defensive pressure on Sexton as well. "We want to keep you in, but you can't keep your man in front"

Pulling him for Delly hurt the offense, but Rubio will keep it going.

I agree with Nathan in the sense they need Sexland for offense.

 

[inliner311]

This is crazy. With he depth the Cavs have, you don't have to choose.

If Sexland is getting cooked, you can pull either of them and slide Okoro to the 2 and bring in Wade or Nance at the 3, or put Rubio in.

This is the best way to create defensive pressure on Sexton as well. "We want to keep you in, but you can't keep your man in front"

Pulling him for Delly hurt the offense, but Rubio will keep it going.

I agree with Nathan in the sense they need Sexland for offense.

I also think this buys Okoro more time to develop as a SF. If we settle for Okoro as a SG, we aren't maximizing our core. We will trade away someone or someone goes to the bench in a lesser role eventually.

Rubio is a test run to find a formula that can work for this team. A defensive minded backup PG isn't a expensive or highly sought over piece but it could make everything work. Paying Caruso or McConnell for 3 years for a test run also doesn't make sense especially if we might have to overpay, it could become a negative asset fairly quickly.

 

[Randolphkeys]

I've lamented the bad defense from that backcourt since day one...really before day one, since I never believed in Sexton's defensive potential.

When I look at the prominent wing/frontcourt players going into next year, I see Mobley, Nance, and Allen, maybe Hartenstein, Cedi, Stevens, and Wade. Maybe Okoro if he spends some time at the 3. Other than Cedi, all of those guys are good defensive players and questionable or bad offensive players. So in the backcourt, the dynamic offensive Sexton/Rubio combination makes a whole lot of sense to me, whereas a Garland/Okoro starting lineup puts a ton of pressure on Garland to single-handedly generate offense.

I will agree with your first paragraph. The Cavs finished in the bottom five in the NBA, and a back court which could be exposed easily on defense had a lot to do with it. I will continue to disagree with the second.

We saw Sexton improve greatly in his three years with the Cavs. He still has limitations that annoy me, but he is a credit to the development coaches for his improvements setting up others on offense and shooting threes efficiently.

Darius Garland and Isaac Okoro have both put on a lot of work this off-season. I do not expect them to flatline, I expect them both to improve on both ends of the court. They could easily be the starting back court next season.

 

[Nathan S]

I will agree with your first paragraph. The Cavs finished in the bottom five in the NBA, and a back court which could be exposed easily on defense had a lot to do with it. I will continue to disagree with the second.

We saw Sexton improve greatly in his three years with the Cavs. He still has limitations that annoy me, but he is a credit to the development coaches for his improvements setting up others on offense and shooting threes efficiently.

Darius Garland and Isaac Okoro have both put on a lot of work this off-season. I do not expect them to flatline, I expect them both to improve on both ends of the court. They could easily be the starting back court next season.

Would you agree that Rubio/Sexton provides more scoring and more playmaking overall than Garland/Okoro? To me it's not very close, even if we factor in some realistic improvement from Garland and Okoro.

Maybe Garland/Okoro is marginally better on D, but Rubio/Sexton is still quite an upgrade over SexLand defensively, and we have plenty of length and athleticism to put behind them, so I don't see why that would be a dealbreaker.

 

[daddywags]

We were dead last in the league in points per game last season. We were middle of the pack (17th) in opponents ppg. We've added Rubio, who is an above average defender, and Mobley, who projects to be a good defender (certainly better than most of what we played at the 4 last year). But we still have a huge need to score more points on the regular. Cutting Sexton's minutes, or, worse, trading him for lesser scoring player(s), won't help.

 

[Lee]

To me, the Ricky Rubio acquisiton tells me that the Cavs believe in Sexton long term. They can play together.

That is what I see. They had 2 ways to go. Trade Sexton for a more traditional wing, or bring in a tall pg who can defend and play with both Sexton and Garland.

Obvious which way they are going. They looked at both, we heard they shopped Sexton, but clearly they didnt like what they were offered so they found the perfect fit for that tall non scoring, defensive pg.

 

[Lee]

Altman is famous now by making amazingly dumb trades.While other GM are dumping salaries of veterant,Altman is collecting them putting us in a deeper hole

How are we in a deeper hole? Its an expiring deal, explain in your mind how this is deeper? Because we will spend more money in a year? Who cares, we are in the exact same hole.

Please, please explain what you are thinking.

Examples, numbers, what makes this a deeper hole?

 

[Lee]

As long as you have shifted from "No way Sexton comes off the bench" to "I just think Rubio/Sexton are the starters" I am good to move on here.

It's really not my decision, or yours. I just don't see any indication that Sexland will continue to be the starting back court. They are an awful defensive pairing that costs the team wins.

Honestly if we split Sexland up, Rubio makes more sense starting with Sexton and Garland coming off the bench.

I am leaning more to continuing to start Sexland, but Rubio gets 30 minutes playing with both.

 

[Out of the Rafters at the Q]

Honestly if we split Sexland up, Rubio makes more sense starting with Sexton and Garland coming off the bench.

I am leaning more to continuing to start Sexland, but Rubio gets 30 minutes playing with both.

I'd push towards starting Garland and Okoro because I see them as the starters of the future, and they should get the most minutes and experience at their correct positions.

I'd also argue that the younger a player is, the more room they have to grow, so let's focus more on developing the young duo than the old vet and the fourth-year player.

 

[J_J]

Thinking about Rubio again, I really like the fit together for our guards especially Sexton. Sexton has played really well with a legit PG who is able to create on offense and find players. We saw that with Delly and Exum and now we have a better player in Rubio which will create more opportunities for Sexton and this can potentially help Sexton’s game and ceiling.

 

[Nathan S]

I'd push towards starting Garland and Okoro because I see them as the starters of the future, and they should get the most minutes and experience at their correct positions.

I'd also argue that the younger a player is, the more room they have to grow, so let's focus more on developing the young duo than the old vet and the fourth-year player.

So then the starting lineup is Garland/Okoro/???/Mobley/Allen. Unless the Cavs pull a rabbit out of their hat and land a great offensive SF, I just don't see how that's a functional lineup offensively. Doesn't feel like it's putting any of our young guys in a great position to develop and succeed.

 

[Lee]

I'd push towards starting Garland and Okoro because I see them as the starters of the future, and they should get the most minutes and experience at their correct positions.

I'd also argue that the younger a player is, the more room they have to grow, so let's focus more on developing the young duo than the old vet and the fourth-year player.

If Okoro is at SG, who is your SF?