Cavs’ Ricky Rubio: ‘When Son Starts School, NBA Won’t Be Worth It’

Cavaliers point guard Ricky Rubio is out for the season after suffering a torn ACL, and his future remains cloudy — both in Cleveland and elsewhere.

For starters, Rubio will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. He will be 32-years old when next season starts, coming off major knee surgery. And the Cavs have no choice to try to continue their playoff push without him.

All we really know about Rubio’s future is that he is already thinking about the end of his career. Or so he says.

“When my son starts school, the NBA will not be worth it,” Rubio told Spanish website La Vanguardia, via EuroHoops. “I will have to go back (to Spain). I don’t want to make him dizzy moving around when he’s six-years old, at the age of starting to make friends.

“It was discussed with my wife and we have it very clear. There will come a time when basketball will not be the priority.”

Rubio’s son is 2-years old, so there is still time before he intends to hang them up. But obviously, it’s hard to know what will happen in free agency. Prior to the injury, he reportedly had been discussing an extension with the Cavs.

It would make sense if that possibility were in doubt today.

“My regret lasted a day,” Rubio said. “I’ve been injured, what can you do? You have to put things in perspective.”

Rubio was averaging a career-high 13.1 points through 34 games at the time of the injury, suffered in a late-December game vs. the Pelicans. He also compiled averages of 6.6 assists and 4.1 rebounds, acting as a veteran and steadying floor leader after coming over in a trade with the Timberwolves.

Since then, the Cavs made a trade for veteran point guard Rajon Rondo, hoping he can help replace the loss of Rubio. There has been talk that the Cavs may explore trading Rubio’s expiring deal ahead of the Feb. 10 deadline.

“You feel bad because you like to give everything where you are and when you give so much and later you see, like in Phoenix or Minnesota, that they dispense you without even knowing it,” Rubio told La Vanguardia. “I’ve gotten used to it. When February approaches, the rumors about a Ricky Rubio trade start.”