How good will Ricky Rubio be in the NBA??

[Raze Lupin]

Ricky Rubio is coming to the NBA!! How good do you think he will be?? Explain your answer. The Minnesota Timberwolves had the worst record in the league at 16 - 67! Will he improve the team? Many people have him projected as rookie of the year!

FIBA article on Rubio confirmation.

http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/news/la.../arti.html

USA article on Rubio's future in NBA.

The biggest concern about Rubio right now is that he is coming off a subpar season. He scored just 6.5 points per game this season, and he even lost his starting gig with FC Barcelona. Moreover, Rubio only averaged 5.9 points and 4.4 assists per game over the last two seasons.

In the NBA, numbers like those from your starting point guard are not going to cut it.

However, the good news is that the NBA game is much better suited for Rubio's talents. The courts are smaller in Europe, and Barcelona's style of play doesn't cater to creative guards like Rubio.

In the NBA, Rubio will finally get to play a more uptempo style of basketball, and the consensus is that he is going to be dynamite in transition.

So what kind of numbers can we reasonably expect from Rubio?

Luckily, Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus was also curious about that, and he was kind enough to crunch the numbers.

If Rubio plays 30.4 minutes per game (Luke Ridnour's average in 2010-2011), he'll score 8.9 points, dish out 7.3 assists, grab 4.6 rebounds, and notch 1.8 steals per game.

Granted, this kind of line would not have been good enough to win the Rookie of the Year this past season, as Blake Griffin and John Wall fairly dominated the competition.

However, Rubio's projected numbers might be good enough this year. There's not a whole lot of talent coming into the NBA, and Rubio is just as good as Kyrie Irving and Brandon Knight, if not more so.

Rubio's biggest argument for Rookie of the Year will probably end up being Minnesota's win total. The Timberwolves probably won't be a playoff team in 2011-2012, but Rubio can't make them any worse. On the contrary, if he vastly improves the team, he should get extra consideration.

Sounds good. Here's hoping the looming lockout doesn't cancel Rubio's rookie campaign.