After stepping away from the franchise to address his mental health, guard Ricky Rubio and the Cleveland Cavaliers have agreed on a contract buyout — likely marking the end of Rubio’s accomplished 12-year NBA career, sources told ESPN Thursday.
The buyout — which has $6.1 million left on this year’s contract and $6.4 million for 2024-2025 — gives the Cavaliers some financial relief and opens up a second spot on the team’s roster.
If Rubio continues his professional career, it will likely be where it started as a 14-year old prodigy — his native Spain.
Over the summer, Rubio, 33, had his agent Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports Management alert Cavaliers President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman about his need to step away to address those mental health issues. The Cavaliers had accommodated Rubio, but discussions shifted in recent weeks to a buyout as it became clearer that Rubio did not anticipate playing for the Cavaliers — or even in the NBA — again, sources said.
Rubio missed most of the past two seasons recovering from a torn ACL — the second of his career. Rubio played 33 games a year ago, joining the team at midseason and averaging 5.2 points and 3.5 assists.
Rubio has been playing professional basketball as a teenager in Spain, where he became the youngest player in the history of the prestigious Spanish ACB League at 14 years old. Rubio was the fifth overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft to the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he played the first six years of his career before stops with the Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns and Cavaliers.
For his career, Rubio averaged 10.8 points and 7.4 assists, and built a reputation as one of the favorite teammates of several star players, including Kevin Love and Donovan Mitchell.
This story originally appeared on ESPN
