Cleveland (26-16) is just past the official halfway point of their 2022-2023 regular season and is in fifth place in the East, but only percentage points behind the fourth-place Philadelphia 76ers (25-15), one game back of the Milwaukee Bucks (26-14), two games behind the Brooklyn Nets (27-13) and three-and-a-half back of the conference-leading Boston Celtics (29-12). The Cavaliers have the best home record of all 15 teams in the conference at 18-4 and are 6-0 in overtime this season, which is the best mark in the NBA.
Despite the congestion atop the East, Cleveland has one of the most balanced rosters of the group and is one of the healthiest teams and the return of Rubio should only better the cause. The 32-year-old returned to the Cavaliers last offseason via a three-year, $18.4 million contract, less than five months after he was traded to the Indiana Pacers.
Prior to his season-ending ACL tear in December 2021, Rubio was playing an instrumental role off the bench for the team and helped them get off to a 20-14 start. In 34 games before his injury, the Spaniard averaged a career-high 13.1 points to go along with 6.6 assists, 4.1 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 28.5 minutes per game, and a .363/.339/.854 shooting line.
At the time of his injury, Rubio was leading Cleveland with his steals average and was second only behind Darius Garland in assists per contest. Along with Garland, the Cavaliers still have 2022 All-Star Jarrett Allen, 2022 first-team All-Rookie Evan Mobley, and Rubio’s longtime teammate with the Minnesota Timberwolves Kevin Love on the roster, and they’ve added Donovan Mitchell to the mix.
Mitchell had a 71-point game earlier this month against the Chicago Bulls, has played in all but five contests this season, and is having arguably the best campaign of his six-year career. “Spida” is averaging a career-high 29.3 points, and has a career-best .489/.404/.881 shooting line and is posting 4.8 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.5 steals per contest as well.
Rubio’s veteran presence and well-known positive impact on each NBA locker room he’s been a part of should only benefit the hungry Cavs as they try to make it back to the playoffs for the first time since 2018, shortly before LeBron James left (again).
