According to Quick, one of the demands from Rudy is that he wants to play in a big market. So, here are the top-10 markets in the NBA. 1) New York 2) Los Angeles 3) Chicago 4) Washington 5) Boston 6) Golden State 7) Philadelphia 8) Dallas 9) Houston 10) Atlanta Houston, Chicago, and New York would be great fits for Rudy. Though, none of them really have assets that we really could use. Factor in the possible acquisition of Wesley Matthews and the host of other young SG/SF/PG prospects we already have.
Rudy becomes harder to trade if we acquire Matthews. That would give us 5 SG's. Any team we approach would know we're desperate to lose two SG's and that takes away a lot of leverage we might otherwise have had. Our only saving grace is that we have a couple of expiring contracts to move as well.
How about a consolidation trade for one of Detroit's surplus pieces? Rip Hamilton, Prince or maybe Ben Gordon if they decide they made a mistake. Hamilton is probably the most get-able, because he's the oldest, but he'd have an immediate impact (that would be a killer 3-guard rotation - Miller, Roy and Rip would be as good as Porter, Drexler, Ainge) and our young 'uns could come up slowly (or maybe take some time in the D-league).
First off, you're making the mistake of assuming we have/had any leverage to begin with. Rudy has made it abundantly clear that he doesn't want to come back here and when you have a foreign player that would have no problem leaving the league to go play at home in Spain he's already narrowed the pool of trading partners to a fraction of what was available before. Our best bet is to probably trade him to one of the team's with cap space for a TPE and a pick ... the only problem is that it's going to come down to a team that really wants him. If the team really does have an interest in Devin Harris, maybe New Jersey -- who has been a big time loser in free agency this year -- could be talked into parting with him in exchange for Miller, Rudy and Bayless?
You can't let a player hold you hostage. I could give two shits what Rudy wants. He's under contract. Am I willing to lose a 2nd round pick and a $1.7MM TE to hold on to his US rights? You bet your ass I am.
There will always be something for Maris to bitch about. He will be talking about Sergio years from now, long after McMillan is gone, and Sergio is serving ice cream at some parlor in Barcelona.
I agree with your sentiment but I would also like to have another roster spot to give a longer time to evaluate Armon Johnson and Patty Mills; or if Camby or Oden would be hurt, to acquire another big.
That is untrue. FIBA rules prevent Rudy from just leaving and going to play in Spain while under contract here. Just like FIBA rules prevent European players from just leaving their team and playing here.
Dude come on, you know Sergio couldn't guard melting ice cream. Any Gelato stand worth it's rock salt would cut that little bitch day one.
The only reason to trade Rip would be a possible trade chip to get CP3 closer to the end of his contract. I guess we could use the shooting veteran, I'm just not sure he puts us over the top or in a position to win. I still think we need a PG who can shoot and Collison is the guy we should aim for.
I honestly believe Rudy would take a one year suspension from the NBA to get out of playing (for free essentially) in Portland. He'd then be free to go where-ever he liked. Worst case scenario I think the Blazers and Rudy agree to some kind of buyout.
But WHY would you believe that? Because of poorly translated comments in a Spanish tabloid? Methinks your distaste for all things Spanish is leading you off the deep end.
Same reason we signed Andre Miller (who is nearly 2 years older than Rip) last year? We had a PG who could shoot in Steve Blake. We need a PG who can shoot, pass and play defense. I still believe Collison is way overhyped. He put up good numbers because of the freedom he was given on a sucky team that lost massively when he was the starter. He wouldn't have the same freedom in our system. He's a very good backup PG.
Why? Because he watched him play last season? I don't know for certain if the team mislead everybody about how bad his back injury was, or if he just decided to tank. The distinction is only relevant to any team that trades for him. For the Blazers, the reason for his worthlessness is pretty meaningless.
I don't have a distaste for all things Spanish (I'd love Marc Gasol on this team). But as to why I believe he'd sit out a year, I just think there has been enough put out there by enough sources to believe that Rudy has no intention of returning to Portland next year ... maybe he'd rot on the bench for a year just to get paid, but I wouldn't bank on it.
