So, I've been taking alot of heat from members who are convinced that Rubio will not go past the 4th pick in the lottery. Obviously, the game has alot of respect for Rubio, his skill and high ceiling if all the "mock drafts" have him going no later than the 4th pick. The problem with the mock drafts out there is that they have little regard to the financial needs of a team. In a vacuum, yeah, the mock draft may be pretty accurate, but there are alot of variables to consider including (1) the economy (2) direction of team (3) and obligations to current players on the roster. Joventut recently sold Rubio's contract to the equivalent of the IRS in Spain to settle a debt. From the perspective of Joventut, they may have been able to settle the debt using other assets but given how difficult the contract dispute has become, Joventut found that it made more sense to have Rubio deal with the government while Joventut enjoys Rubio's services in the mean time. The government gets nothing unless Rubio is bought out and governments, no matter how rich or influential you are, are always going to hound you down to get their money from you. Having your contract owned by the government definitely doesn't make anything easier and the fact that Joventut's offer to reduce the buyout by 50% after a year are now completely off the table. Any team considering Rubio in the top 4 will have to help Rubio with his $6 Mill buyout on top of roughly $2.5 Mill in guaranteed money they must pay their pick. This means the team will pay close to $9 Mill the first year and continue paying $3 Mill for every subsequent year for at least 2 years. That's an average of about $5 Mill per season. Given how the economy is, not many teams are willing to pay MLE money for an 18 year old with promises of potential. Most teams are likely to closer at players like Jonny Flynn, Jennings or Stephen Curry, who will require $2 Mill less per season and are likely ready to contribute right away. Only a couple teams have the market to support such a player and those markets, IMHO, are Washington and New York Knicks (in the top 8). 1. LAC: Virtual lock for Griffin 2. MEM: Cant even get Rubio to come in for a workout because spanish players have had bad experiences there. Even if Rubio wanted to go to Memphis, is the team willing to pay him $5 Mill a year even with Conley and OJ Mayo already in the guard rotation? Thabeet or Harden seems to make more sense. 3. OKC: Russell Westbrook emerged as their starting point guard and the team could use the polished all around game of James Harden. If Harden is taken, I fully expect OKC to pursue Thabeet. 4. SAC: Sacto desperately needs a point guard but already have a 7 Mill per year commitment to Beno over the next 4 years. With so many needs, the Kings would be suicidal to tie up $13 Mill of cap space ($16 Mill in first year) over the next several years. This is roughly a quarter of their cap space spent on a tandem of Rubio and Udrih at point guard.... 5. WAS: Gilbert Arenas, Nick Young, Javaris Crittenton, Mike James. As a Washington native, I know the Wizard's priorities is to cut salary, move Etan Thomas and get another serviceable big man. Rubio doesnt help any of these causes out. 6. MIN: I think Minnesota is the wild card. They need a point guard and Rubio would be a perfect fit next to Foye, Mike Miller and Al Jefferson. Still, Minnesota is doing horribly in terms of finance since moving Kevin Garnett. Any other year, Rubio wouldn't fall below Minnesota, but given that there are so many talented point guards in this year's draft, Minnesota may just go with Flynn, Evans, Teague, Lawson or Jennings instead. Even signing Raymond Felton out of free agency would be cheaper than picking up Rubio. 7. GSW: Monta is threatening GSW with trade demands if they pick up a point guard in the draft. One look at their payroll also make it highly unlikely that they pick up Rubio... Monta/Jamal Crawford/Rubio would suck up nearly $25 Mill per year.... YUCK! 8. NYK: IMHO, the only real team that is seriously considering Rubio. However, they already made moves to acquire Sergio Rodriguez (I read somewhere, cant find source) who is apparently a favorite point guard of D'Antoni's. I think the Rockets have a real opportunity at trading for Ricky Rubio, David Lee and another wing like Quentin Richardson. Thoughts?
way to try and skate the heat and ignore the logic by avoiding the discussion in the other thread my thoughts: wrong forum wasted bandwith still wrong
There is a limit to how much an NBA team can help with a buyout. I believe the limit is 500k. The scenario you listed (where some team has to pay 9 mil) simply will not happen.
IF he falls to number 4...he's gone at Sacramento. They love him. I heard rumors they may even try to trade up to get him. So...4 is the lowest he goes, IMO.
Sac will not let him go. They love him. Memphis' GM just said in an interview that if they want to draft him, they'll draft him no matter what Rubio wants.
There WILL BE some team drafting Rubio in top 5, the same reason you think Griffin is "Virtual lock" to Clippers. What? like they need another PF...
You want my thoughts? I think that most of your understanding of the NBA rules is incorrect. A team would not be paying anywhere near 5 mil per for Rubio. Like I just said, the max a team can off for a players buyout is $500K. Therefore most of your post contains false information. On the reality of the situation, a team would have to pay around $3million for him including both buyout money and guaranteed money. This alone kills most of your arguement and your thread. Do your homework before you come to class.
Read this Mr. Incorrect Thread Starter: Rubio’s Contract + Buyout Situation In Draft on February 24, 2009 at 6:55 am Draft Express gives a good run down on Ricky Rubio’s contractual situation and how it relates to whether he declares for the draft this season or next season The news out of Spain last month was that Rubio’s team DKV Joventut had unilaterally decided to double his salary on the year, from 80,000 Euro to 160,000. This is obviously an attempt to get his pay closer in line with what his value is to the team, as he’s clearly their most important player. There’s been some talk that Rubio’s contract would not hold up in court if challenged, as a 6 million Euro buyout is obviously not proportionate to an 80,000 Euro contract. It’s highly unlikely that it would get to that, though. According to David Carro, the Spanish partner of Rubio’s NBA agent, Dan Fegan, who we spoke with here at the Copa del Rey, there is “still a chance that Rubio could find his way into this year’s draft.” Negotiations are reportedly underway to lower his buyout to more manageable proportions, possibly 3-4 million Euro. A solution could come as early as “this month” Carro told us, and in that case, Rubio would be able to afford getting out of his contract if he were to be “a top-3 pick” (which he very likely is), as long as he could pay off the buyout over the course of his rookie deal. Asked why Joventut would have any reason to even negotiate considering the leverage they hold in this situation, Carro responded that Rubio is the “image of the team” and that they “would not want to have a mad player.” Obviously the door has yet to be completely closed on Ricky Rubio and this year’s NBA draft, so we’ll have to stay tuned. They also give a good report on Rubio’s recent play. Worth checking out. Rubio is leading the ACB in both steals and assists. That’s impressive. Link: http://nbaroundtable.wordpress.com/2009/02/24/rubios-contractbuyout/
Ricky won't have to do that. He is an ambassador for Spain. The country recognizes that. It would be foolish for them not to negotiate a buyout with him, thereby preventing him from the world stage exposure of the NBA and create hostility in their own country towards their government. They will negotiate a buyout in good faith because it is the best promotion of their country. Rubio will be drafted 2nd or 3rd.
You guys need to lay off the thread starter and give the guy a break. Way too much negativity in this thread.
There is no doubt that Ricky Rubio is a genius!I'm not sure if Houston really want him,take action at once!
go back to the thread in which he started the discussion, was promptly refuted with valid points, countered by calling people dummies and then ran from the valid points to start a new thread. Posts like yours are what he wanted. Ignorance to the history of the topic. Makes him almost look like a martry now doesn't. I can almost hear the church lady calling him by his real name... could it be..
