Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Griz Take Second Pick: Quick Thoughts
Posted by Chris Herrington on Tue, May 19, 2009 at 9:59 PM
I'm a little late checking in on an exciting draft lottery tonight as the Grizzlies moved up from sixth to second, just missing securing consensus top pick Blake Griffin but getting a pretty good consolation prize.
After hashing things out with a post-lottery dinner with friends, I'll have expansive thoughts coming up sometime Wednesday morning, but to get on the record now, my initial impressions are these:
1. There are many possible routes this team can take to get where it wants to go. Getting the top pick and taking Griffin would have been the clearest and easiest path. Getting the second pick in this draft is perhaps more interesting, though, as it sets up dozens of potential gameplans for this off-season, some of which I'll get into in the next post.
2. If the Grizzlies weren't going to get the top pick, the Clippers are a pretty good outcome. That team's a mess and could potentially move off the pick if the Grizzlies want to try to move up. The Thunder, who would have been the worst team to get the top pick from a Griz perspective, would surely like to move up from third, but I can't see the Clippers trading down to three in a draft with a clear-cut Top Two.
3. I do agree with the consensus that Ricky Rubio is the clear-cut second best player in the draft. He's been considered a potential number-one-overall pick for several years now, is still only 18, and has been a big-time producer at the highest levels of basketball outside the NBA, both in Spanish ACB and Euroleague play and at the Olympics. He's a sixth-sense playmaker with flair. Imagine Jason Williams except three inches taller, with a defensive mindset, and not a knucklehead. As much as I like Mike Conley, Rubio is the more significant talent. More on all this coming up, but here's a quick taste of Rubio:
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Holy cow. I just watched all 10 glorious minutes of that video. If that's the consolation prize...I know highlight videos can spin a player to appear better than they really are, but he really looks to be the real deal. (I'm assuming his competition wasn't fellow teenage Euros.)
So, draft Rubio and trade Conley.
Chad Ford/ESPN is mocking the Griz passing on Rubio for Thabeet. Please tell me he just being as dumb as I've always thought he is. Thabeet is this year's bust.
Rubio does look sweet . . . but the question is, will he be able to do all that while guarding/being guarded by:
Chris Paul
Deron Williams
Rajon Rondo
Derrick Rose
Devin Harris
Jameer Nelson
Tony Parker
Baron Davis
Chauncey Billups
Gilbert Arenas
Russell Westbrook
Eric Gordon
Jose Calderon
Not saying we shouldn't draft him, but I like the strides Conley made this season, and I think it would be a mistake to give up on him this early. A Conley/Mayo/Rubio trifecta would be NASTY.
Or, my preference: Use our rather impressive array of assets (talent, picks, cap space, expiring contracts) to bring in a culture-changing, savvy veteran PF. With all we have to offer other teams (especially the ones looking to cut payroll), there's no reason we can't have a killer offseason.
I wouldn't mind ending up with Rubio in a Grizzlies' uniform. He is a special player. I watched quite a bit of him during the Olympics last year, and he is for real. Of course, as has been pointed out, drafting him requires re-thinking our direction going forward. But if a big-time deal can't be reached to bring in the PF this team desperately needs, then drafting Rubio is the only other smart choice.
Oh, and yes... Chad Ford IS as dumb as you thought. Thabeet is going to be a Kwame Brown-level bust. If you watched him at all in college, you saw a guy who is 7'3" and has almost no idea how to play the center position. Against guys who were between 6 inches and a foot shorter than him, he had trouble scoring at the college level. Read that last sentence again carefully. How do you think that will work out against the best players in the world? He has the word PROJECT written all over him. You know, like how Kwame Brown was a project. And Jake Tsakalidis was a project. And you know how well that usually works out...
Just a few words from Spain. Ricky is awesome! He has been amazing for years, playing in ACB for three years (keep in mind he's only 18). His weak point is clearly jump shoot but pairing with OJ would be an incredible duo. BTW, he's has been ACB leader in steals this year, so he knows how to use his hands. Griffin is the big prize this draft but Rubio is a nice second place.
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