NBA News: Spanish Guard Sees Redemption Run Come To Unfortunate End

Ricky Rubio appeared to have found a new home with the Cleveland Cavaliers until tragedy struck recently.

The 31-year-old Spanish guard saw an abrupt end to his 2021-22 NBA season after tearing the ACL in his left knee in an announcement made on Wednesday, December 29 via ESPN.

This was after Rubio underwent an MRI on the knee at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health.

The 6-foot-2 guard incurred the injury during Tuesday night's 108-104 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.

It would also be best to note that it is the same knee Rubio injured in his rookie season with the Minnesota Timberwolves back in 2012.

It is a big loss for the Cavs who have surprised pundits with their showing this NBA season.

Rubio was a key contributor, allowing Cleveland to win 20 games at this point after finishing with a woeful 22-50 win-loss card in the 2020-21 wars.

A look at Basketball-Reference shows Rubio having played in 34 games, eight of which where he started.

He normed 13.1 points, 6.6 assists and 4.1 rebounds in 28.5 minutes of action.

About a week ago, there were suggestions that Rubio would be getting a multi-year contract extension to keep him in Cleveland.

This was attributed to his current NBA season performance, proving that he could still play at a high level, Chris Fedor of the Hoops Hype podcast batted.

Rubio stepped up after the injury that befell Collin Sexton.

The 22-year-old guard went down with a torn meniscus in his left knee that required surgery, and the Spanish guard was tasked to fill up the void.

The changing of the guard rendered good results, a reason why the Cavs are at No. 5 in the Eastern Conference standings with a 20-14 mark.

But with yet another key player going down, it will be interesting what the future holds for the Cavs.

The best Cleveland can do right now is consider some players from free agency to fill their roster void.

The latest transaction on their end is the addition of Malik Newman.

The 24-year-old guard was signed to a 10-day deal via the league's hardship exception to make sure that the Cavs have able bodies ready to play in games, NBA.com reported.

Newman appeared in 13 games for the Cleveland Charge and averaged 17.8 points, 3.9 assists and 3.2 rebounds in 27.3 minutes of action in the G League.

His only previous NBA stint was during the 2019-20 season, where he played a lone game for the Cavaliers.