Last year, we took a look at players coming to the NBA after playing at least as season overseas.  With Ricky Rubio’s announcement that he is joining the Minnesota Timberwolves and coming to the NBA this upcoming season, I thought it was a perfect time to start up the overseas scouting report again.

Ricky Rubio is the much talked about 20 year old, drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves two seasons ago when he was 18 years old.  Despite his stock being very high when he was drafted, a combination of a buyout and his lack of excitement about the Timberwolves resulted in Rubio staying in Spain (but switching teams) for the past two seasons.  During that time, Rubio’s stock has taken a pretty big hit, mainly because of his “play” with Regal Barcelona.

Before we get started with the scouting report, I do want to discuss the drop in Rubio’s assists and everybody’s reaction to it.  With Rubio being more of a true point guard than a scoring point guard, everyone seems to be pointing at the drop in assists/40 minutes from his final season with DKV Joventut to this past season with Regal Barcelona and it causes Rubio’s critics to say, “Obviously, this is a sign Rubio is getting worse.  He peaked at 18!”  However, if you look at how Rubio is used, instead of looking at just the numbers, you notice there were other reasons for his his drop in assists:

Note:  This numbers are coming from Rubio’s ACB play over the past three seasons.  2008-2009 with DKV Joventut and 2009-2011 with Regal Barcelona

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