6. Minnesota Timberwolves – Ricky Rubio, Spain
With the sixth pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, the Minnesota Timberwolves select Ricky Rubio.
Ricky Rubio was an interesting prospect leading up to the draft. He was another one that although selected in 2009, did not make it over to the NBA until a few years later, finally debuting with Minnesota during the 2011-12 season.
Up to this point in his career, Rubio averages 11.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 7.8 assists per game, on 39-33-84 splits, and posting a PER of 15.8. You might look at those shooting splits and think, “Yeesh.” And to be honest you wouldn’t be completely wrong to do so. But Rubio is not known to be a shooter or a “score first” point guard.
His game is all about making things easy for his teammates, which is something he is excellent at. And to be fair, over the last four seasons, his field goal percentage has been 41 percent. This still is not great, but it is an improvement and just fine for what is asked of him.
Where Rubio really excels is in his creation for others and his ability to effectively run an offense. His court vision is otherworldly. He is one of the best passers the game has seen in a long time, and will likely go down as one of the best passers in league history when his career is all said and done. His career assist-to-turnover ratio is 2.89 (ATT ratios around 3:1 are considered to be elite-level point guard play). And he is only 29 years old.
An argument could be made that he is still in the prime of his career. These are the reasons that led the Suns to give him a contract worth $51 million over three years in July of 2019, hoping he will be a key piece in turning things around in Phoenix.