Ricky Rubio will sign with Boston Celtics this summer, B/R boldly predicts

Even though the Boston Celtics find themselves gearing up for their first NBA Finals in over a decade and are in a position to win it all and hoist banner No. 18 into the rafters back at TD Garden, come the offseason Brad Stevens and co. will almost certainly be looking to do anything in their power to better bolster the team’s talent pool for yet another crack at glory come 2023 and beyond.

Now, while the C’s may have a ton of money already committed to their current crop of ballers, there are still plenty of ways in which the front office can go about and add more talent to the rotation, be it by means of using their remaining TPE’s or pursuing players available on the free agency market with the league minimums.

In regard to this latter route, many players (generally established veterans) have found themselves linked to the franchise as being a realistic option worthy of consideration from the organization during the summer months and, just recently, the folks at Bleacher Report made a prediction that Boston will go on to sign a player who easily has been the most often connected individual to the franchise’s rumor mill as of late.

That player: Ricky Rubio.

Citing their need for more playmakers within their offensive repertoire, writer Grant Hughes views the Spanish-born baller as being the most ideal option for this cash-strapped Boston Celtics team:

"The Boston Celtics already have a hellacious defense. That means their search for offseason improvement will come on the other end of the floor, where they should focus on adding low-cost players who can keep the ball hopping on offense.When Marcus Smart rejoined the Celtics lineup in late January after missing time in health and safety protocols, he embraced the distributing role of a true point guard. From that point on, Boston had the highest offensive rating in the NBA.It’s clear that better passing and more ball movement are critical to the Celtics being the most dominant version of themselves.Ricky Rubio tore his ACL in December, so he’ll only be a partial-season participant in 2022-23. But everyone knows what he brings. He ranked in the 97th percentile in assist percentage at his position in 2021-22 and has long been one of the best setup men in the league."

As many of you likely already know, this is by no means the first time that we’ve seen Rubio’s name mentioned as being a legitimate option for the Boston Celtics to pursue this summer, and, until he officially puts pen to paper on a new deal, one can almost guarantee that we’ll see this fad continuing on.

Prior to going down for the year with a torn ACL, the point guard saw himself putting up impressive per-game averages of 13.1 points, 6.6 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game whilst predominantly coming off the pine.

With someone of Ricky Rubio’s pass-first style of play (averages 7.6 assists per game and boasts a 36.6 assist percentage for his career), Boston’s collection of offensive threats could find themselves coming into much cleaner looks at scoring opportunities which, as a result, will only help improve their offensive efficiency as a whole.

If all goes well when it comes to his rehab process, by all means, the Celtics should absolutely look to scoop him up this summer.