I'll go with Rubio, just because he's an elite passer already. (Not a Lin-hater. Just sayin'. I really like Rubio's game.)
I'll go with Rubio. He's got a very Jason Kidd like style to his game. He's really gotta do better with the shooting though. It's embarrassing for anyone in the NBA to shoot 35%
Rubio is a good player. His shot is completely broken though. There was a gif somewhere showing the worst shooters in the NBA from different points on the court and Rubio appeared twice on it. It's not just his jumper that is messed up, but he finishes really poorly at the rim too.
Rubio proved last year he's a terrific young point guard. Very fun to watch, hope he comes back from his torn ACL 100%. Lin, like Rubio has good size and good court vision(not elite like Rubios though). Lin has the upper hand in scoring obviously. If someone gave me the option to ether take Rubio or Lin, I'd take Rubio. Both are going to be very good PG's though.
I don't think Lin will ever be able to pass like Rubio, the fancy stuff. However, to say Rubio's younger and has more upside is overlooking the fact that since he became a prodigy at 15, yes Rubio has fine tuned his passing and ability to run a team, but he hasn't really improved his shot or scoring ability. Lin, however, did that over an off-season. Plus his lateral quickness and vertical. I really enjoy watching both play. They bring an excitement/electricity to the arena.
neither will ever live up to the hype, both will be fine. Probably even awesome in Rubio's case, if he heals up. But Rubio was called from "Pete Maravich 2.0" to "better Rondo" to "Kidd with better character". And Lin at one point was what, the next Steve Nash?
That's based on popularity though. There was one year Sam Cassell was destroying everybody as the Clipper PG, but wasn't the starter of the all star game. That year he led the Clippers to the 2nd round of the playoffs and just embarrassed everybody, Bibby, Baron Davis, Kidd, etc
he has, and we saw it last year. shot needs fixing obviously, but overall scoring ability is ok. It wasn't visible when he moved to Barcelona due their system.
Why is this a sure thing? Rubio was superb as a rookie. His defensive impact is immense for a PG. He was actually one of the best defensive guards in the NBA. His passing ability and court vision is superb. His only weakness is his scoring like Rondo and Kidd. He is much better than Rondo was when he was 21 years old. I agree its unlikely that Lin will be as good as Nash and Rubio as good as Kidd but never say never. Its possible.
Currently, it's hard to say who's going to reach higher in terms of bball skills. Lin's craftier, faster and shoots better. Rubio defends better, less TO-prone and passes better. In future, it's going to come down to: 1. Can Rubio learn to shoot so he can no longer be an offence liability? 2. Can Lin learn to be steadier handlling the ball? Can Lin learn to defend better? Although he's not a defense liability per se most of the time, he needs to be able to lock down the other PG when it counts.
