Ricky Rubio ended his 2018-19 season, his second with the Utah Jazz, likely knowing it would be his last there. The veteran point guard soon looked to find a new home and after the Jazz traded for Mike Conley, it was a sure thing he wouldn’t come back there. Rubio quickly pivoted to the Indiana Pacers, hoping to make the most of the mutual interest, according to his agent Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports, to join his friend Bojan Bogdanovic on the team. Once Bogdanovic inked a four-year deal with the Jazz, Rubio had second thoughts about landing in Indy.

Per Kurt Badenhausen of Forbes:

“Schwartz walks through the case of client Ricky Rubio, a point guard who needed a new home after two years with the Jazz, who had just traded for Mike Conley Jr. The Indiana Pacers were looking to add a pair of high-impact players, and there was mutual interest in Rubio joining his friend Bojan Bogdanovic on the team. But when Bogdanovic agreed to a four-year deal with the Jazz, Rubio questioned if Indiana was the right fit for him.”

Such is the nature of free agency. For every feel good story of a perfect match, there is dozens of circumstantial signings that were either second-best, one of the bunch, or last-resort type of scenarios.

Rubio ultimately signed with the Phoenix Suns, who needed a point guard desperately and were unlikely to get much attention from elite or high-tier point guards in the market His three-year, $51 million deal will carry him until age 32, at which point he’ll test free agency once again.