For the first half of the season. Let Rudy start, and show the world what he can do. Then ship him for an elite PG or SF at the deadline. Its insane to trade Rudy right now because we don't know what hes capable of becoming yet. We have him as the second guy off the bench, when many teams would probably love him as their second option out of the whole team. I wish we didn't have to let him go, but he came to the states to be a superstar, not 6th man of the year. And he's perfectly capable of it. Rudy is special. He won't be a spot up 3 point shooter his whole career. He's capable of much more, we've seen that in international games. He just needs a bit of time to adjust to the NBA game and put on a bit of muscle. Every international talent has had a bad rookie year, and I truly believe he has more talent than Ginobli overall. But since we already have Roy, he's expendable because we have more important needs at other spots. Oh and Roy gets to rest. This might cost us a 60 win season, but whatever. I know this isn't going to happen intentionally, but I'm just saying. If Roy happened to get injured, it'd be a blessing in disguise (like Martell's injury allowing Batum to shine). The team has had trouble playing without Roy all season. If they developed a chemistry without him, and then he came back? Wow.
Well I don't think we're a legit title contender like LA or Cleveland until at least the the '10-'11 season anyway. We're still good enough to make the playoffs without him. And he'll be back when we fight for HCA.
Who is an "elite" PG or SF? We could have done that last year AND kept Rudy but we didn't pull the trigger.
Speaking of insane ... This isn't so much a matter of costing us a 60 win season (which I frankly don't see happening next year anyway unless a helluva lot goes the team's way or otherwise significant pieces are added to the roster) Roy taking 3 months off probably spells the difference between getting a sweet pick in the lottery and actually getting back to the playoffs.
We're going to be elite next year. we're not "rebuilding". we don't sit players down. Every game is important to secure homecourt advantage in the playoffs.
If Travis has been as reckless as Rudy was during the middle part of the season, we would not have heard the end of it. The free pass Rudy got this year was asinine. Yes he showed flair and charisma, but he was down right careless with the ball sometimes. He had a nice rookie year, but after seeing him in the Olympics, I expected a little more consistency and slashing ability.
We should put Roy, Aldridge, Oden, Rudy, Batum, Przybilla and Outlaw on the DL and tank for the top pick in the 2010 draft. Imagine having all those guys ready to go in 2010-11 along with the #1 pick! Sure, it would suck for next season, but it would just make our dynasty that much more likely! Insane plans are fun.
Rudy isn't that great. He's just like Derek Anderson. We hoped he'd be a slahers, but all he does is shoot 3 pointers. And Rudy, though I think he's a better passer than Anderson, only gets 2 assists per game to Anderson's 5. Also, Rudy is shooting a dismal 28% on 2 pt jump shots. Pathetic. He played solid for a late 1st round rookie, but wasn't "OMG he's going to get a max contract" good.
