Ricky Rubio’s days with the Utah Jazz may be behind him.
According to Rubio — via the Salt Lake City Tribune — the Jazz have made it known to him that he isn’t a top priority for the organization, and thus he will look to sign elsewhere. Rubio is set for unrestricted free agency this summer.
“[Utah has] let me know that I am not priority number one,” Rubio said. “Then, we have to look for other options.”
Rubio played the past two seasons in Utah after being traded to the Jazz in exchange for a future first-round pick in June of 2017. Moving forward, the veteran point guard wants to find a situation that fits him — something that didn’t always seem to be the case in Utah.
“When free agency comes, now that the season is over, I can start thinking and see where I want to go, where I can go,” Rubio said. “But one thing I’m gonna look [at] for sure is the best situation for me, with the coach and the team. … I want to be happy. I’m gonna try to find the best situation for me to perform and be happy.
“A lot of friends have asked me, ‘Yo, where you gonna play next year? Can I come visit?’ I don’t have any idea where I’m gonna go. A lot of things depend. If you’re LeBron [James] or [Kevin Durant], you can pick your own destiny. There’s a lot of things that depends [for me]; if [teams are] gonna need a point guard or not.”
For what it’s worth, Jazz general manager Lindsey didn’t rule out the possibility of Rubio being back in Utah.
“There’s a lot of scenarios I could see Ricky back,” Lindsey said. “We really appreciate who he is. We think we can get him better from a health/performance standpoint, from a skill standpoint. We know who he is, and we know he has Jazz DNA. He’ll have options, we’ll have options, and we’ll talk to he and his agent. But I’m really, really pleased with the level of professionalism, care factor, level of competitor that Ricky is. So there’s definitely potential for it to go forward.”
Rubio averaged 12.7 points, 6.7 assists, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.3 steals in 27.9 minutes of action per game for the Jazz last season.
Courtesy: CBS Sports
