From Chad Ford at ESPN.com:
Ricky Rubio, the Spanish point guard sensation that has been compared to everyone from Pete Maravich to Steve Nash will declare for the 2009 NBA draft, his agent, Dan Fegan, told ESPN.com from Barcelona Monday afternoon.
Rubio will have until June 15 to withdraw his name from the draft. However, his agent sounded confident that he’s staying in. “Ricky will be in the 2009 draft,” Fegan said. Fegan has been in Barcelona this week meeting with Rubio and his family trying to come to a decision. Rubio is the starting point guard for DKV Joventut in Spain and is widely considered the best young international player in the world…
Rubio’s decision to enter the draft comes after months of speculation that he might return to his DKV Joventut for one more year. For Rubio to leave for the NBA, he’s going to have to pay Joventut a huge buyout to be released from his contract there. NBA teams are limited to paying just $500,000 toward an international player’s buyout by the collective bargaining agreement. That means if Rubio wants to play in the NBA, he’s going to have to pay some of the buyout out of his own pocket.
Most likely, Rubio and Joventut come to some sort of compromise. If Joventut doesn’t make it to the Spanish League Finals this year, most likely they won’t be in the Euroleague next year. That puts more financial pressure on Joventut to come up with some sort of compromise that gives them financial relief from a buyout and allows Rubio to pursue his dream of playing in the NBA.
For Clippers fans, this is potentially great news — a kid that could light up Staples Center and make us forget about Shaun Livingston — but drafting a young international player doesn’t come without risk. Just as the Orlando Magic. When they drafted Fran Vasquez with the 11th pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, they thought they had assurances from Vasquez’s camp that a buyout was in the works and that the Spanish big man had every intention of joining Orlando’s frontcourt. Vasquez could never reach a settlement with FC Barcelona, and Orlando is still waiting.
If blessed with the #2 pick, should the Clippers draft Rubio? Absolutely, but they should also be aware that there are no such things as verbal commitments in the NBA. They know firsthand.
24 Responses
I see Rubio as an extension of SL, at least if the Clippers pick him. He will be fine if another team chooses him. For some reason my fav team as a knack for cursing their picks, except for EJ, MT and DJ of course.
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Posted on April 21st, 2009 at 9:38 am
I like Rubio to play for this team I think he would help him avoid the speculations and the crazy talk I love this kid he has a lot of upside potential to him. The problem is that Mike Dunleavy might control him I recommend a new coach that knows how to let point guards take over a game when it counts.
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Posted on April 21st, 2009 at 9:44 am
Mike Dunleavy will probably ruin his career just like how he has ruined all the Clipper players and organization.
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clippskid Reply:
April 21st, 2009 at 11:07 pm
hell yeah.mike D is wack.i hate his coaching
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Posted on April 21st, 2009 at 10:27 am
Assuming he stays healthy, Rubio will be a fantastic player someday. That day might be a ways off though. I’m crossing my fingers for Griffin.
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Posted on April 21st, 2009 at 10:37 am
It’s great news, regardless of whether you want Ricky Rubio or not. PIck two just had it’s trade value skyrocket. Some team will pay a hefty fee for a young franchise point guard who will sell a ton of tickets.
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FireDunleavy .com Reply:
April 21st, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Yeah trade the pick now.
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Posted on April 21st, 2009 at 11:22 am
We are so not getting the first or second pick. Seriously, all the good luck in the draft lottery washed away with the Kandi man. It would be just as much of a miracle for the Clips to get No. 2 as it would be No. 1, but I’m sure Westbrook is thrilled at the possibility of having another PG come in to OKC.
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Posted on April 21st, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Im okay with drafting Rubio but he has some faults.
1. He’s not strong as nba point guards.
2. His jumpshot is suspect and im guessing he doesn’t have 3 point range.
3. If the Clippers draft him he’ll probably stay oversees lol…
I don’t think he’ll stay oversees, he has years of pro ball experience and he’ll make more money in the long run.
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Posted on April 21st, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Also, will Rubio be better than Baron Davis at this point ? I don’t think Rubio is ‘better’ offensively. If you look on youtube, its apparent he doesn’t have steve novaks stroke. he might end up being a russell westbrook type or maybe a poor mans tony parker. I don’t know who to compare (rafer alston ?) but nba writers are all over him.
But then Mike Dunleavy is obviously going to bench Rubio for 3 years, call him a bust then trade him to the lakers where he will turn into chris paul and lead to 9 straight championships while we get jordan farmar.
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bongstradamus Reply:
April 21st, 2009 at 6:14 pm
he’s a playmaker, its not about his offensive numbers. The thing Ricky does is tear up defenses and make pinpoint passes. His job isnt to score, it’s about running the offense to get the ball to the scorer.
his shot can improve over time. you arent drafting him to jack up 3s like Baron Davis.
Frankly, hes DTS’s wet dream. Rick Rubio could be the short white guy hes always wanted to lead his platation.
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eastie Rich Reply:
April 22nd, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Funny stuff bong, right now the point guard on the local JV team is better than Davis.
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Posted on April 21st, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Rubio is a great passer and floor general. He brings energy and excitement. To be successful, he’ll have to play in an opens system, so we’d have to get rid of Dunleavy to make him valuable… And re: whether or not he’s better than Baron… I’d rather have Mardy flipping Collins playing point guard than Baron… I would love to be able to dump his contract on some fool.
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Posted on April 21st, 2009 at 6:05 pm
I don’t think we need a point guard to backup Baron, Mike T and Fred J can do that.
We need a power forward to backup Zach.
The teeam would be solid then.
But I don’t think coach Dunleavy knows the best way to use the players.
I know the injuries were numerous but, I different coach ( maybe Avery Johnson )next season would flare better.
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Sam Mays Reply:
April 21st, 2009 at 8:02 pm
Al, we don’t need anyone to back up Baron and Zach… Those guys are the problem (along with Dunleavy). We need them out of here, or at the very least, marginalized, not backed up.
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Posted on April 21st, 2009 at 6:31 pm
If we have the 2 pick then draft Rubio
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Posted on April 21st, 2009 at 7:12 pm
Dont not draft Rubio at 1 or 2. And the only reason i can say its worth it to draft him as the 3rd pick instead of trading the 3rd pick for a lower lottery pick (i.e. 12-14) and a player and drafting a steal like Terence Williams with that pick, would be to keep Rubio just for sure potential and the “hype factor” it would produce and bring to LAC, something that is desperately needed.
that could shine some spotlight on Eric, Mike and DeAndre… besides that: my confidence is not the greatest in the drafting Rubio option.
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Posted on April 22nd, 2009 at 11:57 am
We don’t need to ask the Magic about Vasquez. We have a perfect example of our own: does anybody remember Yaroslav Korolev? It was only a few years ago…
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Posted on April 22nd, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Rubio will be a star. Just not with the Clippers.
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Posted on April 22nd, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Re-Draft Sofo with the #2 pick LOL
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FireDunleavy .com Reply:
April 22nd, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Sofo is going to join BD and Randolph in their Vegas summer workouts.
His latest post says he’s with the team again. Not sure what’s ment by that, but could the Olympiacos beat the Clippers?
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Posted on April 22nd, 2009 at 2:00 pm
WE NEED A NEW SYSTEM..NEW COACH..DUMleavy NEEDS TO STEP DOWN AND JUST BE A GM. LET AVERY JOHNSON TAKE A CHANCE. IT WONT HURT, WE ALWAYS COME IN LAST ANYWAY.
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Posted on April 22nd, 2009 at 4:34 pm
To all those with high hopes for the draft, take a deep breath. Clippers probably will end up picking 6th. What does that mean? Look up the draft history. You know that guy John Stockton who is going into the hall of fame. the Clippers picked Lancaster Gordon that year. I know Elgin Baylor isn’t here to help with the draft this year because he’s black adn I’m not saying the Clippers can’t pull a rabbit out of a hat. I’m just saying that what usually happens is they end up doing the opposite; pulling a hat out of a rabbits ass and ending up with something small and stinking. I’m not saying it will happen again but c’mon people. Just take a deep breath.
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Posted on April 24th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Haven’t been on this blog for awhile, good to see all you guys in the usual one great day a year for us, the nba draft lottery.
Myself, I am hoping and praying that we get the second pick. There’s a few teams that would pick Rubio at #1 though, New York being an obvious one if you look at it.
If we can land Rubio, we could trade Davis back to the Warriors for whatever we can get (add in Kelenna!) or even anywhere else, just get him out of there. Obviously Dunleavy should be gone (should’ve already been gone) also but the addition of Rubio and subtraction of Davis would do great things for us.
However, lets say we land the 1st pick. If we pick and take Griffin, it’s an idiotic move at best. He’s going to turn out decently but we already have the big man positions filled up with massive cash space. We should’ve never traded for Randolph.
We need to get the second pick.
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Posted on May 19th, 2009 at 10:50 am
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