Rudy will be here until I quit imagining he is here. Then he will be gone. Because my mind controls the whole universe!!
I've been saying we need to trade Rudy while his value is high for a while now. He can't be a 1 nor a 3. He plays the same pos. as our future HOF'er...get something great for him NOW..he may like it here as a 6th man for 2 more years, but he didn't league his homeland to be a backup imo.
Actually, yes! Did you watch the Olympics final? Rudy had no problem not starting (from reports). In fact, he wasn't subbed in in a hurry either, as I recall. I think it unlikely that he will be offered a max contract by another team at any time in his career. Hopefully, we'll be in the finals by that time any way.
That was for national pride, not his job. The two are very different. He doesn't need to be given a max deal to be too expensive if Portland is already carrying large contracts for Roy, LA and Oden. By that point, the Blazers would be paying 2 dollars for every dollar on Rudy's contract due to luxury tax. I see their financial future like the following: Roy - Max deal. He is the face of the team and it's best player. This would be 25% of the salary cap. LA - Near Max deal. Big men are always overpaid so even though he will not be at the same level as Roy, he will get paid similarly. Probably 23% of the cap. Oden - Max deal. See LA, but even more so. 25% of the cap. That makes for 73% of the salary cap being invested in 3 guys(Portland's big three). After that, Portland still has at least 10 roster spots to fill. Batum and Bayless will need to be extended somehow, along with Rudy and whatever other 7 players Portland picks up. There just isn't enough money to go around.
There's no reason to move him until his rookie contract is up. He's a bargain and will be for 3 more years. The decision will come when it's time for his next deal. Will PA pay the luxury tax if it means keeping Rudy? Or will a team with cap space make an offer that the Blazers can't make?
So far, he hasn't shown that he's worthy of being a starter in the NBA. So what is the controversy? #2. We've got him at least through the 2012-2013 season.....which is the year the world is supposed to end anyway. So why worry? #3. He could probably learn to play some PG.
