You can not be that naive, seriously.... Yes that is how the NBA's rules are set up, but the player has the RIGHT not to sign with the team that drafts him, it is HIS LIFE...HIS CAREER...HIS CHOICE..... It is a business, and Rubio gets to make the RIGHT business decision for himself. If he doesn't want to play in Minny, he can choose to stay in Europe and try to force a trade, Minny can choose to hold onto him forever.... It is a business, everyone can use whatever leverage they have......If Rubio wants to be traded, I will bet Minny has to comply......if they are smart. You could draw a line in this thread and see who is over 30 and in business and whom are just kids. Life hasn't taught them yet.....with age and wrinkles comes experience and wisdom......and asset management. DD
DD, I'm over 30 and understand asset management very well and still don't agree. If a team has little chance to sign key free agents because they don't want to play for a bottom end team and the rookies who have earned nothing can force a trade, how do you expect them to compete? You end up with teams that are filled with lower level talent getting bigger contracts to try and fill out a roster. It just creates a problem.
The difference here TX, is that Minny KNEW going in that Rubio had other options, so if they took the risk anyway, it is on them, not the player. The player has a right to choose to sign a contract or not.....it is their right. Nothing more, nothing less... DD
My 2c to the debate is that regardless what the "system" or "rules" are, it is ones fundamental RIGHT to choose where he works or how he lives. By entering the draft, one does NOT surrender that RIGHT. However, he must also accept to live with the consequences. If he decides not to come to the team which drafts him, he will not be able to sign with another team UNLESS the team which owns his right agrees. That are the consequences he must accept. But in no way, he becomes a slave of the team and must serve the master.
It seems like there is something fundamentally wrong with a "free market" principle running sports. However, the draft is just a way to try to level a playing field that is inherently uneven. Some owners are richer, some general managers are more savvy, and some markets are just plain bigger and more desirable. You have the Lakers and Celtics winning more championships than every other NBA team combined. After that their is a huge parity until the Bulls and Spurs. You then have the Pistons and Warriors followed by the Rockets and Knicks. You then have a couple single championship winners. Only half the NBA has won a championship. The problem with the draft is the players rarely reach superstar status in their first contract so the bottom dwellers end up developing young talent for the bigger markets. While "parity" seems to be a fair goal in sports, the NBA draft is not like a military draft. You can't force someone to play for a team beyond contractual penalties. You start kicking people out of the NBA because they don't want to be forced to go somewhere and I promise you the player's union will be up in arms. It is a flawed system, but beneath the "integrity" and honor of sports is the grizzled underbelly of the business world. Imagine if failing companies got their pick of the finest graduates in the country? "I am so happy to be going to GM after graduating summa c*m laude from Harvard. I’m looking forward to it. I know what’s happened in the past, everybody keeps telling me that. But you know, I’m not going to say, ‘OK, we haven’t had that many successful seasons, why don’t we give up now?” We have a trade to announce, Fox has reportedly traded the second pick overall and veteran Bill O'Reilly to Apple for a used Ipod. -V
And part of that rule is that if you don't like the draft result, you can choose not to play in the NBA.
True. And if you choose not to play in the NBA you're either a brat or a glory hog, and the sport isn't going to hurt without you here.
seriously, I don't understand why so many people don't understand the need for players to go to the team that drafts them. If this kind of thing was business as usual, no small market teams would be able to compete with big market teams, and teams with less talent would never be able to get better. Screw the free market asset management approach. Not everything lends itself to that philosophy. That's why there is a luxury tax in basketball, and salary cap in football. Its to make sure there's a level playing field. It's called fair play. It makes the sport more entertaining. You are right, it is a business, but it's the business of entertainment. If you don't set parameters to keep things fair, basketball becomes less enteratining. No one wants to watch the same teams compete year after year while other teams are irrelevant. Sure anyone can force a trade on draft night by saying they won't play for the team that drafts them, but I was just saying that it isn't right, and quite frankly, that's why it isn't done all that often. It hurts the game. It can't all be about business or the entertainment value declines. Why even have a draft then?
All I'm sayin is you know the system as it was designed by the NBA. If you want to play in their league you have to play by their rules. Your not going to convince me when the league was set up and the draft began, the thought was "this is fine and if the players don't like where they land, they can just force a trade." The draft IS a way to create parity. If not, they would put 30 balls into the hopper and pick 30 down to 1 would go in that order and there would be no lottery. You guys keep comparing this to the business world and there is no comparison from the employee perspective. From the management side, sure there is, but not on the employee side. The players are employees. They apply to the league not a team in order to be draft eligible. DD you have a good point about the teams putting themselves out there, but if they don't, are they expected to just keep settling for second tier players?
i wanna know how the **** you enter the draft, and a team picks you, and then you say your not gonna play and stay in spain... then why be in the draft...?
Because it is in the NBA bylaws that you have to submit your name, that doesn't mean you have to sign a contract with them though...ever. Teams know the risks, players do too......Rubio is working the system to his advantage, just like teams do to theirs. Nothing to see here...it is how the world works. DD
Rubio is playing by the rules. There is nothing in the rules that say you have to sign a contract. Everything he is doing is within the rules set forth by the NBA and US laws.
The RULE is by entering the draft, you agree that whichever team drafts you own the right to sign you first among NBA teams. I don't understand why so many people are accusing him not playing by the rules. If he sign a contract with another NBA team then that will be against the rule. If he decides not to sign with his team, and play outside of Europe then it is not against the rule. If his team doesn't want to end up with nothing and decides to trade his right, then it is NOT against the rule. There is no perfect system to level the playground and professional leagues outside of US do just fine without even trying the level the playground.
If he doesnt like the weather, stay inside, get a big a$$ house and chill there. I mean its not like he cant fly somewhere in the offseason. We also have nothing to offer the wolves for him, so stop dreaming.
Man up, Rubio. you're in the Big Boy League now. Sit Your Asset Down and quit cryin'... I'm 31 and can't understand how this kid (who hasn't played one single Summer League or Preseason game) is being defended and how the OP's opinion is essentially being clowned because of the reference in his screenname...
