Shams: Suns sign Ricky Rubio to three-year, $51 million deal

The Phoenix Suns finally have their starting point guard. According to Shams Charania, Ricky Rubio has signed for $51 million over three years. Rubio has long been connected to the Indiana Pacers, but at the last minute they pivoted to a sign-and-trade with Milwaukee for Malcolm Brogdon.

This move was a surprise, and the Suns paid up averaging $17 million over three years, but Rubio will know when and where to feed Deandre Ayton the ball. That was a major issue last season. Rubio will also be able to take the pressure off Devin Booker in half-court sets bringing the ball up the floor.

During his last two seasons in Utah, Rubio went more off-ball alongside Donovan Mitchell. His line ended up being 12.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 1.5 steals in 28.6 minutes.

Next season, the Suns’ starting lineup will likely be this: Rubio, Booker, Kelly Oubre Jr., Dario Saric, Ayton.

Compared to year’s past, that’s very much an improvement. Now we’ll see whether the Rubio move translates to wins on the court.

Phoenix needs to clear around $2 million in cap space to fit Rubio’s contract, per Cleaning The Glass. This could be accomplished with trading Elie Okobo and De’Anthony Melton. Another option is dumping Josh Jackson’s contract.

Here are the league’s current top-earning point guards, putting Rubio at about 12th on the list, before adding in Kemba Walker, D’Angelo Russell, Malcolm Brogdon and Terry Rozier today alone.

The Suns aren’t done, so what will be next following the Rubio move?