In terms of pure distributing ability as a point guard, I think we have to go back to the 1994 draft and Jason Kidd to find a point guard like Ricky Rubio.  While Derrick Rose matched many of Kidd?s physical gifts, Rubio matches him as a creator and could even eclipse him.  He does things that usually lead to nicknames like Pistol and Magic, so La Pistola will surely do.

His inventiveness as a passer is extraordinary and though he will be turnover prone initially and possibly indefinitely, the quantity of easy scoring opportunities he creates for others should counterbalance that.  Just as Chris Paul and Steve Nash are the types of point guards that players lineup to take the floor with, the same will be true of Rubio.

Rubio?s vision for the floor, the way he anticipates the flow of action, his ballhandling and the beauty in which he delivers the ball are all in the 99 percentile.  

He is excellent at drawing help defenders, even collapsing an entire defense to setup the kick out.  He will make great one-handed passes, wrap around passes, behind the back passes, no-look backdoors; you name it, Rubio can do it.

Rubio will instantly be one of the best players in the league on the pick and roll game.  His team will probably be able to get away with running that play on more than 50% of his possessions because his decision-making is so good in this facet of the game.  

Even though I characterize his decision-making as being good, not only in the pick and roll, but in all aspects of his point guard duties, his poise and remarkable confidence also make him susceptible to excessively go for the knockout pass.  He will almost certainly average five turnovers per 40 minutes as a rookie, but he should also average 10-11 assists, so a 2-to-1 assist/turnover rate is something most teams will be able to live with initially.

I?m sure he will be able to tone down the high risk plays, as well as naturally improve at executing them, but that will be a fact of life for whatever team drafts him which will not go away.  Rubio will dictate the style of his team?s offense whenever he is on the floor to the point where he becomes their most important component, similar to Nash, Paul, early Jason Kidd and Magic Johnson.  Putting Rubio in a system where he brings the ball up the floor and dishes off to a one-on-one wing star on most possessions would be a waste of his talent and would turn him into an ordinary point guard.  His skills as a scorer and spot-up shooter aren?t good enough to really compensate for a style that doesn?t let him be a gunslinger.

His perimeter shot is more set shot than jump shot, with not a lot of lower body in it.  His follow-through is too horizontal rather than up and vertical, which doesn?t allow him to get enough arc into it.  Rubio?s shot, nevertheless, is good enough where it must be respected.  In order for Rubio to become elite and truly let his magic as a penetrating point guard happen, his shot must improve dramatically in order to draw his defender out to the perimeter.

Rubio is more skilled as a scorer when he is finishing at the basket.  He is very clever when he smells the basket and though he almost always considers pass his first option, he will go up for acrobatic lay-ups.  His lack of elite elevation hurts him, so he relies on using his body as a shield and his imagination.  He is tall and athletic enough to finish with dunks on occasion, though it isn?t something that will happen very often in the halfcourt.  But as he gets stronger, finishing at the basket will become more consistent.

Defensively, Rubio is quick enough to stay in front of most opposing point guards laterally and he has really quick hands for deflections on dribblers and in the passing lanes.  He anticipates extremely well, shows consistent effort and that seems to be a simple byproduct of his natural love, feel and IQ for the game, which seems to all be higher than anyone else in this draft.

Click here to read RealGM's draft reports on other members of the '09 class.