Something is gonna have to be done. You can't have teams that really need good players being forced into deals or not drafting players just because they want to control their destination. It's almost to the point that if a player refuses to play for the team that drafts them the league should step in and not allow that player into the league for a certain time period (3-5 yrs maybe). The teams obviously need that talent and are now gonna lose leverage in any trade negotiations and generally get back less talent.
Rubio was in the Olympics as a TEEN. And played very well against a stacked team USA. Sorry, but he is not hype.
I'm no labor lawyer, but I'm guessing that would probably be illegal. Also, Rubio will have to pay a boatload of cash just to come play over here. Hard to blame him if he doesn't want to fork that over to play in Minnesota. Would you pay $6 million for the privilege of living in Minneapolis?
I'm just curious, so help me out here, but when people assert that he played "very well" or even "great" (which are both still mild compared to most of the claims I've seen bandied about ie: "ran circles around"/"owned"/"destroyed") against the U.S. team, are they talking about the 1 of 4 shooting or the 3 assists? Or is it the gaudy turnover stats he racked up against us (4)?
It doesn't take a brilliant guy to see that they are one of the better talents in the draft and that at the top of that draft are crappy teams. Chances are, you're gonna get picked by one of those teams. If you don't like it, stay where you are at and take the money of the international team. Do you think Blake Griffin really wanted to go to LA? Sure it may not be a bad place to live, but it has been a bad place to play basketball with a crappy owner for many many years. When a player enters the draft they give up control of their destination for a few years. Once they hit free agency, they get it back and can go where they want to. That's the system.
Maybe they are not refering to just one game and are listening to the NBA players who were gushing over the guy, players like Kobe, CP3, Williams, Kidd.....those guys. I think Rubio has a special talent....a guy who anticpates and can act on that anticipation, he is going to be very very good. DD
I don't know what I'd do if the Rockets had a PG that could run a fast break. I might find myself crying every time I see a properly executed 3-on-1 fast break!
Not really. Today's NBA can't force you into teams as much because Europe is now a viable option. If you don't want to go play for the clippers, Real Madrid is always willing to take you.
Lol @ Esteban Franchise. At first I was who the F is Esteban. And then my slow ass finally caught on. I usually think Carl Herrea makes the corniest thread titles but this one was a funny!
This is true but the fact remains especially in these tough financial times that this can't become something common, teams like Minny, Memphis, GS, OKC etc. would just go under if their fans knew no one good would ever play for them. The fact that teams can draft young stars and build good teams keeps people supporting them, it just takes one pick(Lebron James) to turn a battler into a contender. Imagine how boring the league would be if every lottery projected player came out and said I am only playing for the Lakers, Knicks, Celtics or I am going to be a baby and go play in Europe and hope for a trade. Yes I think players should decide their future somewhat but they should also respect the league that is going to make them very rich and put them in the spotlight. Sure Rubio could make millions in Europe but he can't be considered a great player unless he does it in the NBA. You do your time for whoever drafted you and prove you can play in the NBA and then if you are good enough to demand to go somewhere when you hit free agency then good for you.
I think rubio can be a franchise player with that said, he could provide great insurance for Yao Ming, B/c incase something happens to Yao, will have rubio to built around. (just incase yao gets hurt or doesnt resign, there is also a 10 year difference b/t them) Of course im not giving up on yao i just think its a good idea to have a prospect ready for the future(not taking about landry or brooks b/c neither of them are franchise players).
Thank you that's exactly what I was thinking. I can't believe some of you guys are accepting and even favorable to drafted players requesting to change team. It's a draft! The purpose of the draft is to help weak teams not big or sunny markets.
You guys are worrying too much. So far the whole things is playing out perfectly as it is supposed to. For whatever reason, none of the first four teams took Rubio. So Minny did the right thing by taking him at fifth, but they are not confident that he will sign, either because of the buy-out cost or they received warnings from Rubio's agent. As a precaution, they drafted Flynn as insurance. I don't think the position of Rubio's camp would change a bit if Kahn hadn't selected Flynn, because they are facing the same financial situation regardless. And it turns out that Kahn's instinct was right that Rubio was reluctant to come. If Morey were Kahn, he would probably have done the same thing - you always select the best talent that's available as assets. As common sense, of course Kahn would not admit that Rubio is trade bait, but he was forced into a tough position by Rubio's camp. It's hard to blame Rubio either. He wants to play in the NBA right away (by entering the draft) but he has to take care of his financial business, which they know Minny is incapable of. And they must be disappointed that he was selected as low as fifth. Now the only question is which other team will have the right resources to ply Rubio away. This team has to give Rubio what he wants, and give the Wolves what they want. Big markets like Houston have advantage. (And it's warm here.) But what else? To be realistic, I would offer a future first-rounder + Lowry or one of the second round draftees, since Minny doesn't seem to need expiring contracts. Due to recurrent injuries to Yao and T-mac, as well as Artest being a free agent, Morey's hands are pretty much tied at this point. He can't afford to offer his bigs or established wing players before he finds replacements.
False... Darko was the consensus #2 pick in the draft. The great Jerry West also would have taken him #2. People forget how big a prospect he was, as foolish as it seems some were even speculating he would be better than LeBron. Darko was supposed to be Dirk and Karl Malone wrapped in one... instead, he has only regressed his game since he was 18 years old and is a role player.
The only reasoon Darko was labeled a project at the time was because we wasn't even 18 when he was being evaluated, his skill level was considered very high. Also the only other guy labeled as a franchise guy was Melo, and a lot of teams viewed him as a hugh scorer that did little else. Bosh was a question mark and Wade was not viewed as a franchise player, and some people at the time said the Heat took him too high. People can rip Dumars for taking Darko, but he was the consensus second best player. It is like blaming the Bulls for taking JWill #2, it is what everyone thought. The Billups deal cleared up money, cap space and playing time for younger guys. Dumars made the right move, Billiups is older and the Pistons were a stale team. It will be a similar situation with Yao if in 3-4 years the Rockets are mediocre.
BS. If you're going to be making millions of dollars, you give it your everything and do it with a smile on your face. Even if you don't like your team and you keep losing, you play hard every single night. This is the very reason I don't want Baron Davis on this team. Ugh I lost every bit of respect for him.
You have to remember, the idea of collecting all the young players and distributing them in a sort of "welfare system," with the worst teams getting first choice, is totally foreign to Europeans. The way they see it, giving teams incentive to lose (which the draft system does) makes no sense and could cause problems with 'competitive integrity,' if you will. They also tend to disagree with the idea that players can be moved against their will (imagine a Portuguese dude to being told he had to move to Belarus or lose his job).
He's under contract with a Spanish team for the next two years. In order to get out of that contract, he has to pay (out of his own pocket: NBA teams can only contribute half a million to buyouts) more money than he will make in the first years of his rookie contract. Repeat: he may have to pay the entirety of his first two or three years of his rookie contract to cover his buyout. Thus, to opt out for the NBA, to play in one of the least desirable cities in America is not an easy move, especially when the Wolves drafted someone else who plays the same position right after him. Because they drafted another pg at 6, Rubio was likely drafted to trade him, because he has value to other teams in need of a point guard. Those teams will offer good trade proposals to the Wolves, to compete for his services. If they do not offer enough, the Wolves may be content to let him play in Spain for another year or two, and wait for his market value (and thus the trade offers) to improve. You could just as easily say that he should "honor" his contract with the Spanish team (which he signed when he was a minor, BTW), as "honor" the ping pong ball randomness of the NBA draft. It's a moot point. His refusal to play in Minnesota should have no bearing on the level of "respect" anyone has for Rubio. This is business.
