The Timberwolves had an agreement in principle with his Spanish team, DKV Joventut, to buy out his contract, but Rubio backed out of the deal.

Rubio was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in August 2021, but was dealt to the Indiana Pacers a month after suffering a season ending ACL injury in December.

[10] He made his EuroLeague debut on 24 October 2006, versus Panathinaikos of Athens as Joventut's backup point guard for Elmer Bennett.

On 24 June 2009, the Minnesota Timberwolves acquired the fifth pick in the 2009 NBA draft, Etan Thomas, Darius Songaila and Oleksiy Pecherov from the Washington Wizards, in exchange for Randy Foye and Mike Miller.

[17] With the 5th pick, Minnesota selected Rubio, making him the first player born in the 1990s to be drafted with Steph Curry still on the board.

They used the 6th and 18th picks in the first round and chose two other point guards, Jonny Flynn from Syracuse and Ty Lawson from North Carolina, surprising many in the NBA.

The following day, Rubio's father told a Spanish media outlet his son might return to Spain for at least one more season.

The report indicated that the ACB powers FC Barcelona and Real Madrid were both interested in signing Rubio if he could not immediately go to the NBA.

The main stumbling block to Rubio's NBA move was a clause in the league's collective bargaining agreement that prohibited a team from paying more than $500,000 toward a player's contract buyout.

[6] Joventut expressed a willingness to reduce the buyout, and the Timberwolves apparently had a deal to bring him to the NBA, but in the end Rubio did not feel ready to cross the Atlantic.

The Minnesota Timberwolves continue to be my first option and I wish to play with them in the near future.Kahn believed Rubio and his family were being pressured by the Spanish media, his national teammates, and people in his hometown to stay in Spain, adding, "It's just been a tough summer.

The contract gave him the option to go to the NBA after the 2010–11 season,[24] with ESPN reporting the buyout at that time would be a more manageable $1.4 million (of which the Timberwolves could pay $500,000).

[31] In a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on 9 March 2012, Rubio tore his ACL and his lateral collateral ligament defending Kobe Bryant.

Rubio returned from his injury on 15 December 2012, in an overtime victory over the Dallas Mavericks, playing for 19 minutes and totaling 9 assists and 8 points.

Rubio almost recorded his second career triple-double in a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on March 30 with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists.

[38] On 11 November 2013, Rubio recorded his second career triple-double with 12 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds in a 113–90 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

[40] On 19 March 2014, Rubio recorded his third career triple-double with 22 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds in a 123–122 overtime win over the Dallas Mavericks.

[47] On 2 March 2015, he recorded his fourth career triple-double with 18 points, 11 assists and 12 rebounds in a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.

[49] On 28 October 2015, Rubio scored a then career-high 28 points in a season opening win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

[53] On 11 March 2016, Rubio's three-pointer with 0.2 seconds remaining lifted the Timberwolves to a 99–96 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Rubio also passed Sam Mitchell to move into fourth place on the team's career games played list with 292.

[57] On 4 March 2017, he recorded his fifth career triple-double with 11 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in a 97–90 overtime loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

[71] On 16 December, Rubio put up his first triple-double with the Suns with 10 points, 11 rebounds, and 14 assists in a 111–110 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.

[74] Rubio recorded his second triple-double with the Suns on 8 March with 25 points, 13 rebounds, and 13 assists in a 140–131 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

[80] On 3 August 2021, Rubio was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Taurean Prince, a 2022 second round pick, and cash considerations.

[81] On 7 November, Rubio scored 37 points and made eight three-pointers, both career highs, alongside 10 assists in a 126–109 win over the New York Knicks.

[83] On 28 December, he tore his left ACL during a game between the New Orleans Pelicans, and the next day, it was confirmed to be a season-ending injury.

[86] On 12 January 2023, Rubio made his return from injury, putting up nine points in ten minutes in his season debut, in a 119–113 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

In the 110–106 double overtime finale victory over Russia, Rubio scored 51 points, the first player to do so in FIBA junior tournaments since Luol Deng (in 2001), grabbed 24 rebounds, made 12 assists, and stole the ball 7 times.

[92] Rubio was chosen as one of the FIBA World Cup All-Star Five alongside Serbian's Bogdan Bogdanovic, France's Evan Fournier, Spain's Marc Gasol, and Argentina's Luis Scola.