Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Link Roundup
Posted by Chris Herrington on Wed, Jun 10, 2009 at 3:58 PM
ESPN.com's Chad Ford has his fourth mock draft up and he's sticking with Hasheem Thabeet at #2 for the Grizzlies, though he suggests a trade is likely:
The Grizzlies continue to be a bit of an enigma right now. They are talking to a number of teams about a potential trade, and teams including the Kings, Wizards, Knicks, Rockets and Celtics have shown interest. The Grizzlies continue to publicly pursue Ricky Rubio as well, though a well-placed source in Rubio's camp said it's likely (though not definite) that it will skip Memphis when Rubio goes on a three-city U.S. tour next week.There also have been rumblings that Tyreke Evans is in the mix in Memphis. But when the dust clears, it looks as though the most likely scenario has Thabeet in Memphis on draft night if the Grizzlies keep the pick.
Ford is now prognosticating Georgia Tech forward Gani Lawal for the Griz at #27.
Meanwhile, CNNSI.com's Ian Thomsen is sticking with Ricky Rubio — as a likely trade chip — at #2 in his second mock:
Far-fetched rumors of a potential deal involving Rajon Rondo for this pick are a sign that the Grizzlies are trying to create trade demand. Expect much interest in the final days before the draft from teams looking to trade up for the rights to Rubio, who will provide instant excitement at a cheap rookie salary.
Thomsen's CNNSI colleague Scott Howard-Cooper files a good draft notebook that doesn't have any Griz material but leads with a good report on the University of Memphis' Tyreke Evans' strong workout in Sacramento and also notes that the Kings, like the Grizzlies, are still waiting to hear from Ricky Rubio. (You can watch some of Evans' workout for the Kings here.)
DraftExpress.com's Jonathan Givony was interviewed by Gary Parrish on The Geoff and Gary Show and sounded some (confusing) alarms about the latest, rather bizarre, twist in Rubio's dealings with his current team. Givony suggests that Rubio might not play basketball anywhere next season, which I haven't heard anyone else suggest, so I'm skeptical about that notion.You can listen to the interview on the podcast at 730FoxSports.com. It's the third segment on today's show.
NBADraft.net has updated its mock, with Hasheem Thabeet at #2 and Dajuan Summers and Dionte Christmas being selected with the later picks.
Comments (12)
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Chris, I heard that Givony interview this morning and thought that if it's true that his Spanish team won't have him back, then the Grizzlies have him by the balls. Even if he has to give most of his salary to his old team in a buy-out (and it seems like they only view him as a way to pay off their own tax problems), he still made less than $200,000 this year. That #2 slot pays out considerably more than the #4...
I just hope Wallace plays this right! If we have to trade Rubio, we better get ALL-STAR talent back...
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Oh yeah, one more thing. Chad Ford wrote this in the article you linked: "Even if the front office decides that Rubio is the guy, they have to persuade him to pay a huge buyout to come to Memphis". And guess who Ford has picking Rubio with the third pick? OKC! I guess the Thunder doesn't have the exact same problem with Rubio's buyout - except they can pay him less? WTF!?! Does Ford make sense to you?
Jughead - You are forgetting that OKC has a large and growing Spanish speaking population. His marketing opportunities are far greater there than in Memphis. He could earn back the money he has to pay his current team much faster in that environment.
This isn't a slap at Memphis when Rubio's camp spreads this rumor. It is a realization of the business side of his life. California (LA and Sacramento), Oklahoma and other cities give Rubio a better financial start outside of basketball. It's not personal. It's business.
Assuming any of this is true of course.
Chip, I don't doubt that there are greater financial opportunities than Memphis out there for almost any athlete you can name. But the Grizzlies have the second pick and they need to act like it, or they might as well just join the D-League or move to Seattle. IMO, Rubio is easily in the top 2 talent-wise, and it would be a colossal mistake to pass that up just to appease him or another franchise. It looks as if his old team is severing ties with him - does anybody really believe that he'll just quit playing hoops for two years? If he wants to play in the NBA, then the path is through Memphis, whether he likes it or not.
Basketball players make the big money selling shoes and jerseys to a national audience... not local-tv ads. One season of highlight reels will land him some cash regardless of where he plays.
I'd draft him just to piss him off. You really have to look at whether or not you believe that he would put his career on hold to avoid Memphis. Who in their right mind would do that? But on the other hand. I hold a grudge and if he skips a Memphis meeting I suspect a lot of other Griz fans will hold that same grudge.
Let's stop being the league's lap dog. Who cares where Rubio wants to play? If we're going to do that, why even have a draft? Let's see, Rubio can't go back to his current team (he's on the out with his team's management), and he can't afford the buyout playing anywhere but the NBA so doesn't that give us the upper hand?
Let's try being heavy handed for once: If Rubio is the best player available, we take him. If he doesn't want to play his best because he's in Memphis, we let him know that we will kill his career by refusing to trade him and burying him on the bench for the rest of his rookie contract!
We have such a bad reputation for making bad trades that other GM's are salivating figuring out how little they can offer us. Hey the Laker's want to trade with us AGAIN. For Rubio, they'll give us Josh Powell, Adam Morrison, Sasha Vujacic, their next two second round picks, and cash! I can see Heisley now: "This is a great three for one deal for Memphis. This moves give us much needed depth in both the front and back courts with three talented young players. This adds interior rebounding and defensive toughness while giving us salary cap flexibility and a total of 13 second round picks over the next two seasons with which to build for the future."
I emphatically proclaim: YOU DON'T TRADE POTENTIAL MEGASTARS FOR ONLY SOLID PLAYERS, LOW PICKS, AND CASH NO MATTER WHAT POSITIONS YOU NEED!
Let's slow up on the "megastar" talk . . .
He's got talent to spare, that's for sure. But let's also be real about this: As much as Memphis doesn't have a deep Spanish market for Rubio, the United States isn't known for lavishing star status on foreign NBA players. Of the top 15 players in jersey sales, there are only two foreign players: Pau Gasol and Steve Nash. Keep in mind that Dirk was League MVP, Tony Parker was Finals MVP, and Yao Ming . . . well, he's from China.
Great foreign players do not always equal megastars or butts in seats. Not to say Rubio won't be a star, but American NBA fans, and particularly those in Memphis, like American-born NBA players.
That's why it's pretty exciting to have OJ Mayo in Memphis. He's the first young black "street cred" type player the Grizzlies have had since coming to Memphis. In other words, he's a perimeter player that's marketable to Memphis' majority black population. The last Memphis Grizzly with this much street cred was JWill -- "White Chocolate." And that's because he had mad handles, a cocky kind of swagger and a bit of thug in him.
That's also why as great a player as Pau was/is, it was tough to market him in Memphis -- he had no street cred -- not cocky at all and not a hint of thug. Shane, whom I love as a player, was the same way.
More than anything, I think, the team needs a shot of attitude, a charismatic personality that the fan base can get excited about. That's why, at one point, I was hoping we'd trade for Iverson.
For the record, I'm black, so no need for anyone to be offended . . . but if I have, please forgive. Only being real.
Rubio is Spanish, not Hispanic. I dont think the large Mexican population of OKC is going to embrace him as one of their own for marketing purposes. Did the Memphis hispanic population bond with Pau or Marc. Rubio's appeal is international, its not going to be confined to the American city he plays in.
He very likely would rather play in LA or Sacramento just because they are nicer, more exciting places to live than Memphis, but OKC does not fall onto that category.
Chris: You think there is any chance of Golden State trading Randolph for Conley?
I haven't heard anything on that front, but I can tell you this -- the Grizzlies liked Randolph last year but he was just too raw to consider at #5 and clearly wasn't going to slip to #27. And when I talked to people during the season last year, there was still interest in Randolph.
I think Randolph is still too risky to trade Conley straight up for, and Golden State's point guard needs can likely be filled in the draft if they like Flynn, Jennings, or Holiday. So it's a longshot.
Thanks. It seems as though drafting Rubio, trading for Randolph (who will become Bosh-esque) and then adding a few more pieces (through trades - - with the ability to take on some salary) and they just may have the makings of a legitimate 3-year rebuilding plan with some elite talent and a vision. Plus, with Randolph and Rubio - - they could challenge for a Youtube hits record.
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