It is business, but if every international player that comes into the league and tries to direct exactly where they are going to go you open up a pandora's box. He chose to enter AND leave his name in the draft knowing full well that he would go to a lower quality team. For a franchise in the shape that MN is right now, they can't afford to not get production from the draft. For a ROOKIE, the league is in control and should be. As a veteran of a couple of years you get that control back. That balance is extremely important
^^^ In your career, you have to accept every job you interview for? On a date, you must sleep with whoever buys you dinner? He chose to enter the draft; he didn't like the outcome. Therefore, he can choose not to play in the NBA, and fulfill the contractual obligations to his current Spanish team. If Minnesota wants to trade his rights elsewhere (and, judging by their very next draft pick, that was their plan all along), and Rubio then chooses to play in the NBA, then all the better. Again, why would Rubio choose to buy himself out of a contract in Spain to lose money to play in Minnesota, a city which most of us are quite content not to live in? Clearly, the "rookies don't have the power" argument is fallacious, as Rubio clearly does have the leverage in this instance. He'd be a fool not to exercise it. If every rookie each year did the same thing, then so be it. Let them all be Danny Ferrys, I say. Let a thousand Italian leagues bloom.
"Going through purely hype?" The kid has got game and if it's just hype then why are basketball scouts and pro analysts raving about him? I mean, he does have a lot of upside.. 6'3 pass-first PG that has many years to develop. Hence those players you mentioned were established college players, Rubio is an established basketball player in Europe that also beat up on The Redeem Team USA in the Olympics a few years back. This hype and bust talk is stupid. Because you hear this stuff through the media everybody makes it out to be the truth.
DD, Another misguided statement. It makes no difference if Elway or Manning or Francis forced a trade. that has nothing to do with whether or not it's right. It is not right, and no player should ever be allowed to do that. It's a privilage to get to play in the NBA and no one should have the right to torpedo a team who is already bad by keeping them from rebuilding. I don't care if it's elway or some snot-nosed Spaniard who thinks too highly of himself.
Please point me to the link showing that the Minneapolis area is one of the "least desirable cities in America".
The NBA is a business, made up of employers (owners) and employees (players). It is not a charity where a bunch of billionaires give away money to freakishly tall people out of the goodness of their own hearts. Rubio doesn't owe the NBA or Minnesota anything beyond the terms of any contract between them, and vice versa.
Also, would you please provide a list of athletes who have refused to play in Minnesota due to whatever reason you have for thinking it is one of the most undesirable cities in the U.S.?
Dude, the NBA has a draft/ lottery system for a reason. That is part of the rules and serves as a mechanism for making sure the best players go to the teams that need them the most. I'm not saying the NBA is a charity. I'm just saying that people should play by the rules, or don't enter the draft. No one is better than the game or the league. The rules should apply to everyone.
Forgive me for impugning the twin cities region. I realize that in literacy rates and civic mindedness, the reputation of Minneapolis-St. Paul is aces. In terms of desirable places to spend your twenties-early thirties as rich and eligible bachelors, not so much: In terms of basketball, it's obviously the pits. Ignoring Mikan-era Lakers, Minnesota has been unable to attract more than a handful of desirable free agents over the years, which is one of the primary causes for the Wolves' status as one of the doormats of the NBA. The Wolves's strategy appears to be to draft well and resign those picks (with contracts higher than their competitors can offer). It worked for a while with Garnett, but their biggest free agent signing was what: former busts Joe Smith, Olowokandi? Cassell & Sprewell came through trades, IIRC. Marbury fled ASAP, like most of their other picks over the years. Face it: most free agents are like Lamar "Beaches" Odom & do not want to go there, unless the money isn't available elsewhere (Garnett, their posterboy, required the highest contract in the history of the NBA to stay, IIRC). I have no problem with Rubio not wanting to play in America's hinterlands, in a market that receives almost no national coverage (read: reduced advertising/marketing exposure), for one of the worst teams in the history of the NBA, all at a financial loss to himself.
Again, which players have left Minnesota due to the weather? Marbury left because he is an idiot (also, he was traded and did not leave as a free agent). His reason for wanting out was because he could never make more than Garnett and had nothing to do with the weather. They haven't attracted notable free agents because Garnett's contract hamstrung them for a number of years.
So by this type of logic, why have a draft at all? Just let players, international and college, choose where they want to play and go there. The big city teams like New York, LA, Miami, Boston, and possibly Houston and Dallas will get all the talent and the other teams can fight for the young bottom feeders. That will create a wonderful league with a ton of competitive games. While we're at it, go ahead and do away with the salary cap and the several of the rules. It'll be just like most little leagues with a few teams having all the talent and the others just there so the good teams can have someone to beat up on.
I would also throw out that the Minnesota Vikings seem to have no problem attracting top quality free agents....
Given the T'Wolves history , I don't see how anyone can seriously argue that Minnesota is a desirable free agent destination. There was a time before Garnett's contract, and a time after. Heck, Sprewell turned down 3/$21 during the Garnett reign (choosing instead eventual bankruptcy), just so he could get out of the place. In the history of the franchise, which free agents have been bowling over each other to live in Minneapolis? For that matter, which players have wanted to go to any other small market team, already stocked with players at the same position? Further, when was the last time you chose to uproot yourself (and possibly family) from your current job to go live in Minneapolis in order to lose money. Well, there isn't exactly a "draft" in any other facet of our economic system to reward failure, so abolishing it might not be the worst thing, IMO. No one complains that Microsoft signed all the best engineers; it spurred a Google to compete against it. However, the NBA is a state-sanctioned monopoly that operates under bizarro rules, so that argument aside (and there are indeed many pitfalls in the current system, as well as possible reforms), with the current system in place, you must recognize that drafted players still have some agency, even if it's not entirely "free." If Rubio doesn't want to lose money to play in the NBA, given the circumstances he was dealt, are you really arguing that that is not his choice? Danny Ferry, Kobe Bryant, Keith Van Horn, Steve Francis all came before Rubio; they were drafted and forced trades. The system did not shatter for them. Rubio's brinkmanship will likewise not destroy it.
Which notable free agents have the Rockets signed in recent history? You do realize that Al Jefferson just signed an extension with the Wolves rather than opting for free agency when his contract was due to expire - correct? If you're down to using players of Sprewell's intelligence to enforce your argument, you're fighting a losing battle. Again, name a player who has refused to sign with the Wolves because of the weather.
Off the top of my head: Scottie Pippen. Other than that, unlike the Wolves, even when the Rockets have been capped out, for a long stretch the Rockets had decent luck with veterans' exceptions. Mo Taylor. Stromile Swift. Brothers Barry. Derek Anderson. Shandn Andersn (believe he was free agent, maybe S&T). Luis Scola, though his rights were acquired from the Spurs, unlike Rubio he did choose to negotiate with the Rockets rather than stay overseas. Not all of these panned out, but unlike Fred Hoiberg or Joe Smith (Wolves had to promise him future illegal money just to entice this then-renowned bust to sign), they were desired free agents at the time when the Rockets signed them. Houston is not a major media market, unlike NY/LA/Chicago. However, Texas is a tax haven, and Houston has fared reasonably well. That's fine. He was acquired through trade, and as stated above, once the Wolves got him, one of the reasons he stayed was because the Wolves could offer him more money than any other team. Also, a player can only extend with his current team; extensions are desirable because it eliminates the financial risks of career-ending injury. So Marbury and Sprewell are both idiots, and should be discounted. "I'd rather live next to the beaches" Odom too. Please, go look at the list of the Wolves' signed free agents over the years. There sure are a lot of idiots in the NBA, then. It's not just the weather, thought that's a part of it. It's also that Minnesota is a small market that's (relatively) geographically isolated, with limited cultural diversity, little national exposure and few rivalries. All of this makes Minnesota a much harder market to become famous and/or get a suntan/groupie in. And players don't often state publicly their reasons for not signing with teams, because in a future market/trade they may need to reconsider. That's why it's much more illustrative to look at the free agents who actually have signed with the Wolves, and compare/contrast. But: Lamar Odom. Ricky "Too Cold" Rubio. Aforementioned Marbury :
I think its BS when any kid wants to get traded. Just because Elway, Manning, Kobe or Francis did it doesn't make it right. The kid entered in the draft, and he should have to play the hand hes dealt. My doubts aside about his talent, he clearly seems to be all about the endorsements, and hence, money. History tells me that when thats your top priority, you won't make it far. "Minnesota" "Too cold." what a f&%#ing joke. didn't want to go to memphis either. Its not a problem with the city itself, he wants $$$. Theres a reason why he 'slid.' Teams didn't like what they saw in him. The draft was created to help foster parity, and stupid kids like this shouldn't have a right to. and to whoever said that he's facing a lot of 'adversity' as an 18 year old? gimme a break. There are millions of kids with bigger problems than deciding whether to get paid here or in Europe. Whatever the case, he's gonna have to put up or shut up now. Rubio and Jennings should go screw themselves.
