Report: Thunder interviewed Rubio in Los Angeles
Just as the notion of Ricky Rubio in a Kings uniform is seeming less likely by the day, there is this unsurprising news: he is moving on.
A source with knowledge of the situation said Rubio was visited in Los Angeles today by the Oklahoma City Thunder, who have the No. 3 pick in the June 25 draft. This matters mostly because Rubio’s visit in Sacramento this week came with unspoken terms, an understanding of sorts that a Rubio promise on the Kings’ part could have stopped his American tour with just one concert. But that clearly never happened, and certainly not only because Rubio was unable to get on the floor Thursday when he fell ill.
Well wouldn’t you like to know how that went? I’m truly beginning to think Sam Presti has his targets narrowed to three or four. With under a week left, he’s surely got his guys he likes with option A, B and C. (And if you’re wondering who I think those may be, I’m thinking James Harden, Rubio and Stephen Curry. With of course the option to see a trade.)
Also, Outside the Lines had a great feature on Rubio Friday with Fran Fraschilla adding some excellent commentary on the Spanish point guard. Definitely worth a watch. Let me tell you, I have no idea what to really think of Rubio, but every time I see something like this, I get excited about him.
Oh and in case you didn’t see it, Hasheem Thabeet canceled his workout with the Grizzlies, citing a shoulder injury. Add another red flag to the previous 200 piled up on him. That means he hasn’t worked out for a single team before the draft and also didn’t work out at the combine. Yeah, that’s not exactly encouraging stuff from a potential top five pick. Just say no Presti. Just say no.
verryy nice…
I’m always a big Rubio pusher…
welp back to vacation…
Come on Grizzlies, just be yourselves and take Tha Bust. Save us any headache of him being possible.
I hope we get Rubio. This team needs shooting, and defense, sure. But how many times did we watch games and think, “It looks like 5 guys all trying to play one-on-one pickup ball.” Give me a guy who can make our offense flow and we’ll be ready to go.
I still think Harden is the best pick.
Glad to see some more Rubio supporters.
I believe in James Harden.
@Keith
Picking Rubio essentially means we can kiss goodbye to any reliable 3 point shooting from our starting backcourt for a few years, which sinks our already awful offensive efficiency. Rubio would be great if we had a halfway competent shooting guard or a low-post player requiring double teaming. We imagine he would be the player to get the offence flowing then.
But, as we are presently constructed with a roster of mediocre jump shooters (sans Durant)and seemingly committed to Westbrook, Harden is the way to go. Even Thabeet seems more logical than Rubio (crosses self).
Any other draft, Keith, I’d love to take Rubio (provided we didn’t have Westbrook of course).
Ditto what walter said…
Confirmation of Rubio’s meeting from his Twitter feed… He needs to make this thing bilingual, I swear.
“He pasado dos dias en la cama con mucha fiebre i amigdalitis. Viaje un poco complicado . Reunión con GM de Oklahoma en L.A.Continuo trabajo”
“Two days in bed with a pretty bad fever and tonsilitis. Trip has been a little complicated. Meeting with Oklahoma’s GM in LA. Continuous work.”
Interesting indeed if he met with Presti personally. I’m sure it’s just Sam being thorough, but it would at least seem to confirm more than just casual interest. Maybe we should draft Rubio and make the PG spot a competition. Might bring the best out of each guy. Or maybe Ricky could start as facilitator in the beginning of games, and Westbrook could be a sixth man/scoring PG off the bench. Even a dual PG lineup is intriguing, as long as Russ’s shooting touch improves.
Come on gang; get on board with Ricky.
@ThunderMonkey
I doubt that Rubio will be available with the third pick. Memphis will probably trade the second pick to someone who really wants Rubio.
@Vega
Well hopefully that gives us some leverage.
@ThunderMonkey
Leverage for what?
that was my question as well . . .
@walter
Here’s the thing. Having a bunch of shooters doesn’t make us an effective offense either. Memphis has a backcourt of shooters in Conley and Mayo, with Gay not being that bad either. They were just ahead of us in offensive efficiency.
Do I think we still need shooting if we get Rubio? Yes. But do I think our offense would be considerably more efficient with Rubio at the helm? Yes. Here’s the nitty gritty of it. Westbrook is a great talent, but he’s a poor decision maker. Durant is a superstar, but even he works better within an offense than running it. We have a lot of guys who can beat their man, but nobody who can get the ball to the right place at the right time. Get me a guy who can do that, and all of a sudden Westbrook is hitting 45% of his shots, Durant is having to overwork himself just to get open, Green is getting the ball in his hands a lot closer to the rim, and everyone else finds themselves being rewarded for doing the little things on offense.
Meant to say, “Durant *isn’t* having to overwork himself.”
I think if we take Rubio it will be to trade him.
@Keith
All very true, excellent points Keith, and Rubio would help most teams this way, but I think Westbrook has a mortgage on the point and that’s all there is to it.
Westbrook is what he is and I just feel Harden adds both 3point shooting and potentially, from limited evidence I admit, a bit of ball handling and calm to complement Westbrook’s poor decision-making. He is just a better fit than Rubio.
I’m a traditionalist and would love to see a Rubio-Harden backcourt, but at the moment we have neither and are “stuck” with Westbrook, who is not going away nor to the bench.
Granted, a Rubio-Westbrook-Durant backcourt/wing combo would operate better than Westbrook-Sefolosha-Durant, but not as well as a Westbrook-Harden-Durant. Come on Keith, try it on for size!
I trust Presti though and would get over the selection of Rubio faster than the selection of Thabeet or Hill (ugh).
@Vega
Teams tend to freak when drafts go as planned/projected. A team might be willing to give up a lot to get their target be it evans, curry, etc. Would you take David Lee and #8 for #3 and pick your thunder guy watson/atkins/etc?
@walter
Harden is number 3 on my big board, so I don’t want to imply that I think he is bad or even a bad fit. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Harden looks like the best fit given the current makeup of our team. As you said, Westbrook is at the point.
But one, you don’t pass up on talent in the NBA. Individual players have far too great of an impact for a team to pass on them for need. Two, we have to realize that a shooter, for all the potential threat he could be, will be severely limited here. KD is getting the ball a lot. Jeff is, for all intents and purposes, KD-lite and needs shots too. Westbrook is only particularly effective on offense when being asked to score. That means no matter who we add, they aren’t going to be getting the number of shots necessary for defenses to ever really focus on them. Our big 3 take over 50% of our shots. The most any SG took was 7.6 a game. That was Thabo, whose stats are going to be slightly skewed by his low number of games played as well as the distribution of shots for the games KD and JG were out.
If you ask me, we could use a guy who is equally, if not more, effective taking fewer shots. A guy who makes the game easier for all those players who will be taking the majority of the shots.
I trust Presti will make the right decision, but history isn’t on the side of the team that trades down (which is essentially what we’d be doing by trading Rubio).
I just can’t wait for the draft. I’m ready to get behind whomever Presti picks.
Amen to that. I’m ready as well. I’ll justify that pick until I’m blue in the face. That’s how much I believe in Presti right now.
Rubio and / or Thabeet could fall to 5 or lower.
Harden should / probably will go 2. Who will trade the most for him? Memphis doesn’t need him. Raptors should try for him.
Lots of people are going to get pissed- teams, players, agents.
At this point I think draftexpress might have 3-5 of the top 10 right. I have no solid idea what teams will actually do but I don’t think it will break that way.
One scenario= Rubio might dislike his draft, declines to come over because of the buyout (shouldn’t be this way if he really was a desirable marketing asset which he is not yet, especially the way the pre-draft was managed. If he was that good and took on the other PGs and beat him then he’d be offered a ton of cash. He didn’t. How many American kids are going to buy his shoe if he is on a bottom 5 team and scoring less than 10 points a game?) and then to pay the Spanish IRS his contract gets sold to another European team who agrees to up his pay considerably. Then Rubio comes over in 2-3 years and isn’t bound by the rookie scale. If he is good enough.
There are thinga I know a lot about and others I don’t and Rubio is one of the latter so this is poorly informed speculation but if Rubio went up against Curry doesn’t Curry toast him on the outside shot and probably driving too? If Rubio goes up against Johnnie Flynn can he stay in front of him? If goes up against Evans doesn’t Evans post him and destroy him at will? If goes up against Lawson are folks saying he is going to be clearly superior? I doubt it. How many NBA starters is he better than right now? 3-5?
Say that workouts are garbage and 5 on 5 is the right test and I’d half agree but is Rubio going to lead an NBA team better than Lawson? With 5 seconds on the clock do you want Rubio or Evans to drive or Rubio or Curry or Lawson to shoot? If he drives don’t you just stay home, not foul and make him prove he can finish against the top 7 footers? If he shoots the outside shot aren’t you happy?
If it is passing wizardry that is to make the sale you are saying you want an offense based on a young guy making tough passes? As the addition to this offense? Combine weak offense system with a freelancer and the league’s worst shooting (because they don’t stick to the right shots? I don’t. I’d rather have safe passes and good shooters. You don’t have to do much fancy passing to get 3 point shots.
If they went Rubio you’d probably have to go dribble-drive or Princeton backcut to the max. Last season was what it was and you are going to do it even more so?
A turnover is worth at least as much as 3 typical assets.
should be in post #25…
If he drives you “mostly” just stay home, not foul and make him prove he can finish “the final 5 feet” against the top 7 footers when they have to and can commit as the last line of defense as they do.
Why every body is saying that Rubio can’t shoot? He is at 43% on 3pts this year and I know it’s euro 3pts but for me that isn’t awful at all.
It’s a bit better than Navarro (who’s playing in the same league, and who was considered as a 3pts shooter).
@Max
Good point. He doesn’t take a lot of shots and had a wrist injurym bu his shooting mechanics are solid.
@Crow
You should well know that passing wizardry isn’t limited only to making tough passes. I want Rubio more for his ability to recognize plays and defenses early than for his highlight reel moments. With 5 seconds left, would I rather have the ball in the hands of Rubio or a rookie shooter/driver? Well on one hand I’d like to see a PG who can make something happen before we are forced into a shoot or die situation. On the other hand, if there are only 5 seconds on the clock, the ball should be in KD’s hands anyway.
Another important thing to take into account: Rubio was awarded the Defensive Player of the Year award last year. That means he was the best defender against men, in a league superior to college basketball. He faced better pure shooters than Curry, he faced faster penetrators than Flynn. He also played SG from time to time and held his own against larger players. Say what you want, but I doubt he wins DPOY if he was getting “torched” by any specific player type (or any). How many other PGs in the draft can make a claim even close to that magnitude about their defense? Curry was a terrible defender in college. Flynn was ok, but he’s certainly been “torched” on more than one occasion. Evans is a SG, Lawson is probably the most complete PG right now, but he also gives up a lot of height and length to a guy like Rubio, as well as 3 years.
Scenario 1:
Memphis takes Rubio
OKC takes Harden
Simple for us – we get the man we want. Memphis immediately trades Rubio – they have this already worked out.
Scenario 2:
Memphis takes Harden
OKC takes Rubio
Same as above but in reverse. Somewhat spoils our plan with grabbing Harden, but it’s alright. OKC immediately trades Rubio – we have a trade worked out for this too.
One of those two scenarios will happen, imo. Memphis does not pick Thabeet, nor does OKC. Rubio does not fall past 3. Either Memphis or OKC selects Rubio, but only as a trading chip. Rubio never puts on a Grizzlie or Thunder uniform.
@Max
I think it’s more due to Rubio’s shooting form which is a little poor. He takes a long time to wind up and release it, which people question if he’ll be able to get shots off in the league. It’s a little like Tony Parker, but way slower. Everything comes to a halt, there’s no elevation and his wrist action isn’t that great.
I think it was in your big board you mentioned this royce but you said you wouldnt mind taking Rodrigue beaubois with our 2nd pick.
I know nothing about the guy but all i can say is daymmmm, whoever drafts the guy would want to get him on the protein powder ASAP judging from this photo:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/apphoto/photo?sportId=46&photoId=2258712
having said that, the guy can clearly outrun a cheetah and stroke it verrrry nicely from wayyy back on the perimeter. check out this vid-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bbcchx0ipwA
very interesting player indeed.
Just a quick reminder about draft rights traded in recent drafts (a trend that continues back further):
2005
Portland trades 3rd pick (Deron Williams) for 6th pick (Martel Webster) and 27th pick (Linas Klieza, later traded to Denver).
2006
LaMarcus Aldridge (2nd, Chicago) to Portland for Tyrus Thomas (4th, Portland).
Brandon Roy (6th, Minny) to Portland for Randy Foye (7th, Portland).
2007
No top 10 picks were traded within the top 10.
2008
OJ Mayo (3rd, Minny) to Memphis for Kevin Love (5th, Memphis) and Mike Miller.
With the possible exception of Mayo for Love (to early to tell though Mayo had the better first season), can you honestly say any of the teams trading down got the better of the deal?
@Keith
That’s an excellent, excellent post Keith.
I know I am probably in the minority – but I’d rather have Miller and Love than Mayo – Mayo is a scorer, but I don’t value non-superstar scorers on bad teams . . .
Rubio’s 43% on 3 pointers was just 22-52 or so and the euro 3 in significantly shorter.
In the tougher Eurobasket competition after he was presumably more healthy he shot lower at 33%.
The years before most recent to earliest from 3 pt he was 29%, 36%, 29%, 17% and 75% (that year he made just 3 of them). I have no idea what he will shoot from 24 feet.
I don’t how many better pure shooters than Curry he faced at PG (if they are that good why aren’t they in the NBA or at least talked about?) but I really doubt he faced many faster penetrators than Flynn or the dozen or more guys like him in the NBA.
Rubio’s 43% is small sample (equal to 6 weeks in the NBA) on shorter shots (21″ I think) and he had never done/sustain anything even to that level before.
I doubt Rubio shots at or above league average for the NBA 3 pointers (36.7%) or makes more than 1 a game any time in his first 3 seasons.
Count me in for Rubio. I’m convinced the guy’s a prodigy. If he’s there at 3, we’d be idiots not to take him.
Accumulate the best talent we can, figure out how the pieces work together later.
@Crow
A better pure shooter than Curry (who is still only proven against college talent at best) isn’t as hard to find as you think. There are plenty of people who can hit 100 3s in a row, they just can’t do much else, which is why most of them never make it to the NBA. The same can be said of speedy guys. Being fast, just like being tall or being able to jump out of the building, doesn’t make you a great player. You can be able to beat just about anybody off the dribble and still never make it to the NBA. My point is that Rubio’s competition is considerably closer to NBA talent than anybody in college, and he was DPOY. There isn’t a PG in this draft who was even DPOY of their conference. I don’t think that can be overlooked when evaluating players.