After spending the first six seasons of his NBA career as a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Ricky Rubio was traded to the Utah Jazz last summer.

Although it took him some time to adjust to Quin Snyder’s system, he ended up taking a massive step forward from a scoring perspective in 2017-2018.

Not only did he post a career-high 13.1 points per game, but he shot 41.8 percent from the floor and 35.2 percent from three-point range, both of which were also career-bests. Although his 5.3 assists per contest were a career-low (and fell well below his career mark of 7.9), it’s important to note that Utah’s offensive system relies heavily on ball movement and Donovan Mitchell and Joe Ingles also handled the ball quite a bit.

Most importantly, the Jazz made the playoffs this season and Rubio was stellar in his first-ever postseason action. Averaging 14.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 7.0 assists per contest, he impacted the game in a variety of areas when he was healthy enough to be on the floor (missing five of his team's 11 contests).

Since he landed in Utah, he has made it very clear that he enjoys playing for the Jazz much more than he liked playing for the T-Wolves.

“Of course in Minnesota we had a lot of guys who can score and I was more passing the ball,” Rubio said early in the season, per the Desert News. “Here we play more as a team … and that fits my game better.”

“A different system fits me better, and I’m playing better,” he added.

A bright future in Utah

Slated to make $14.8 million in the final year of his contract with the Jazz, Rubio is optimistic that he will be a part of the team’s future.

“We are young, we have a solid future and a team, and I feel that we still have to do something big. I see myself playing the NBA finals with the Jazz,” Rubio said on Wednesday, per Catalan Esports.

Since the Western Conference contains the Golden State Warriors and Rockets at the top and also features a number of other talented squads on a yearly basis, it’s clear that the Jazz will need to add another major contributor (or two) in order to truly contend.

Mitchell looks like he will develop into a star, Ingles is a serviceable forward and Rudy Gobert fits in well with the team’s defensive-centric philosophy, but it’s clear that Utah would be much more dangerous if they were able to land a high-profile free agent or find another steal in the draft (like Mitchell).

Regardless, Rubio’s comments suggest that he wants to stay in Utah for the foreseeable future. Whether or not the organization feels the same way is unknown.