A year ago, on
February 22, 2020
, before the pandemic, confinement and sports without an audience that followed
Covid-19
,
Ricky Rubio
scored
18 points, distributed 11 assists and captured 7 rebounds
in the
Phoenix
victory
Suns
against the
Chicago Bulls
.
It would be the first of four consecutive matches in which the Spanish guard would get 16 or more points and 10 or more assists.
A few days later, on March 8 against the
Milwaukee Bucks
, one of the favorites for the title, he
would make history with a triple-double of 25, 13 and 13
, numbers that had not been seen in the Arizona franchise since the years of
Steve Nash
.
After achieving the
MVP of the 2019 World Cup
, El Masnou's lived his best moment in the NBA.
Twelve months later, everything has changed.
The Suns ended the bubble miniliga unbeaten in Orlando, but decided to change their squad and bet on veteran
Chris Paul instead of Rubio
, who ended up in Minnesota.
The Timberwolves, a young team with stars like
Karl-Anthony Towns and D'Angelo Russell
, had selected
Anthony Edwards
as number one from the last draft and knew Ricky from his first stint in the league.
It wasn't the best destination after playing the playoffs
with the Jazz and having a great year at Phoenix, but it promised.
Nothing is further from reality.
Among the
physical problems
of some players, the absence of Towns due to Covid-19 and the lack of success of
Ryan Saunders
with the rotations, neither Ricky nor the team have been comfortable.
The Spaniard averages the
worst numbers of his career
(7.6 points and 6.4 assists) and the Wolves are the
worst franchise in the league, with 7 wins and 24 losses
.
"I came here to be a leader and I have to do more," acknowledged the Catalan a few weeks ago.
"
We have no identity and we have to find it,
" he explained.
After losing their last game to the Knicks, the team's management decided to fire Saunders and hire
Chris Finch
, until now an assistant with the
Raptors
.
A change that has caught Ricky in full improvement: 14.8 points and 7.2 passes in his last five appearances.
With the team already too many games away from the playoffs, the Wolves will start from scratch with a new coach.
The scratches of his career
At
30
, Finch's arrival marks the beginning of a new path for
Rubio
in the NBA.
One more.
Like his
terrible injury
in that clash with Kobe Bryant in 2012, like the
departure of Kevin Love
, his first great partner, from Minnesota in 2014;
like his
choice for the Utah Jazz
in the free agent market in 2017, like his '
goodbye' to Salt Lake City
in 2019 and his arrival in Phoenix, like the
transfer with which he ended up landing with the Timberwolves
...
The
injuries and the decisions of the managers
of the teams in which he has been have been scratching a solid career in the NBA that does not quite take off.
Ricky is a point guard respected by rivals and coaches
and loved by fans, but he has not finished taking the final step on the road to fighting for the
Playoffs and for the ring
.
His
contract in Minnesota expires in the summer of 2022
, when he will be about to turn 32.
You will have time, but less and less.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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