I am not convinced that melo won't end up signing in Denver. Denver has offered him a max 3-year deal if I understand correctly. Melo is a top 10 talent in the league and I am sure wants to get the most he possibly can, a max deal max number of years contract. I am sure he sees that the stike might be coming and he knows that he will likely never be able to earn as much again. So this COULD be a play to squeeze every last penny out of basketball that he can. It could easily mean 20-40million dollars difference than a 3 year deal now and a second contract once that is up with the new CBA and him on the downside of his career.
No joke about Denver. KMart is slowing down, JR Smith will literally kill somebody this season, Birdman is a head case and their star wants to be traded so his skank wife can become a star! They better hope they can at least get something instead of being crushed like the Cavs.
Rudy is only in control if he really is fine with missing the next two seasons of his professional career. If he is, and I can't imagine he's really that stupid, then more power to him. I don't see where taking a crap trade for a late first rounder right now is any better than taking one in the future, and I think that option is always available. If Rudy holds out, his value as an NBA player does nothing but diminish, IMO. You can get away with being a diva in the NBA if you have the game to back it up. Rudy doesn't.
he also knows that if he sits out, the Blazers would most likely let him out of his contract at some point so long as he left the NBA. he knows that the Blazers dont want a cloud of Rudy Rotting taking up two of their seasons. They only have 15 roster slots and Rudy rotting would take one of those up. Also, PA would save a few million by letting him out of his contract. The Blazers may tell him that if he does not agree to a trade, they will let him rot, but my guess is that his agent has already let him know that there is little chance that letting him rot would take up more than half a season. That's just my guess.
There aren't many teams left with cap space to absorb Rudy's contract without sending a player back in a trade, and those that are left aren't teams Rudy would want to go to. Trading Rudy probably does nothing as far as opening up a roster slot. If Rudy doesn't show up, the Blazers can fine him and end up not paying anything to him while he's holding out. Could be, but my guess is that the Blazers are better off holding onto Rudy until the deadline. After teams start to suffer some injuries or identify shortcomings in their rosters, they're more likely to make better offers for Rudy. He may also fit well into a multi-player deal that may become available for Joel's or Miller's ending contract. I see no advantage to the Blazers in rushing into a deal unless it makes the team better.
If Rudy holds out than the Blazers don't have to pay him. You are right it would take a roster spot so basically we're losing the chance of signing Patty Mills :|
If Rudy holds out, but say's it's cause of his back, or something like that, then the Blazers would still have to pay, even if they knew the real reason. Any fines that would tally up to his entire salary would be met in the courts or by an arbitrator and would end up costing the Blazers money in the end. Rudy claims that promises were made to sign him that have not been adhered too, and those claims could allow him to make the assertion that the Blazers were the first in breach of contract. In the end, the Blazers might win, but the press and legal fees would be a price to pay for sure.
I don't know about everyone else, but if I knew that the Blazer (already having significantly better PGs in Miller, Bayless and Armon Johnson) were going to sign a waste of a roster slot in Patty Mills when they get rid of Rudy, then please DON'T GET RID OF RUDY. I can't think of a bigger waste of roster space than a 4th PG who has mastered the art of turning the ball over and being OK for garbage time only (which Armon Johnson will do quite nicely for anyway).
He would still have to report, and the team could have him looked at by their doctor. If he tried to play the "injured" card, he would still have to be in Portland.
Frankly, I don't care who's left...the bottom line at this point is, getting rid of Rudy is squarely addition by subtraction.
I wouldn't disagree. The premise of my post was that if I knew they would add Patty Mills as our 15th man, thereby giving us a load of PGs and nobody that can really make use better I'd just assume keep Rudy. While I think there is sum addition-by-subtraction. It is so small that getting a 4th PG that plays all of 10-20 minutes for the entire season total is less addition than if we lose Roy to an injury for 50+ games and need Matthews and Rudy to play major minutes for most of the season. I'm sure if Roy tears an ACL in the first week of the season, Rudy won't even utter the word trade, he'd suddenly change his tune and we'd likley be the better for it (given that scenario as I'd much rather have Rudy out there than Bayless).
Yes that worked so well when we got rid of Zach and Jack.... Scapegoats that rabid fans run out of town only to be quite productive elsewhere. I wonder who it'll be next offseason, perhaps Batum? Or maybe Miller?
On the flip side, he knows exactly how much money he would be missing over the next two years, and a Euro team could make up the $2.5 million.
