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The Indiana Pacers are now likely to focus on signing Ricky Rubio when the free agency period begins.
The Pacers were contemplating on keeping Darren Collison instead of signing a new point guard like Rubio. However, Indiana will not have any difficulty in deciding after Collison announced his retirement. According to Marc Stein of the New York Times, several teams are convinced that Rubio is Indiana-bound this summer.
A number of teams have been operating under the premise that Ricky Rubio to Indiana is a highly likely scenario. Change at the point, in other words, was coming for the Pacers. But Collison would have had no shortage of suitors had he kept his name in free agency …
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 29, 2019
Rubio spent the last two seasons with the Utah Jazz, where he starred as the starting playmaker. In 68 games last season, the Spanish point guard averaged 12.7 points on top of 6.1 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game.
He was initially linked with a possible return to the Jazz when the offseason started, but Utah immediately made it clear that they are moving on from Rubio. The Jazz struck a blockbuster deal with the Memphis Grizzlies to acquire Mike Conley in exchange for Kyle Korver, Jae Crowder, Grayson Allen and two first-round picks.
Rubio, per Lowe, will not address the Indiana's need for a shooter, but the point guard would be a great fit on the “tough, selfless ethos the Pacers have cultivated under Nate McMillan.”
The Pacers also have their own free agents to work on in Bojan Bogdanovic and Thaddeus Young.
