The future of Rudy with the Blazers
by rip_city_swagger on Aug 7, 2009 2:55 PM PDT
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This topic came up in a couple threads earlier in the year, and another today, and I think it's a relevant/debatable enough topic for a FanPost.
First, as a disclaimer, I like Rudy Fernandez, and it was a steal when we got him from Phoenix. I think he is a versatile, explosive player that fans love, and you can see the passion and drive with which he plays. His ability to handle, shoot, and pass, combined with great athleticism, makes him a dynamic weapon for any team he plays for.
That being said, unfortunately I don't think Rudy is going to be in Portland for long, for the following reasons:
1) We got Rudy on a ridiculously cheap deal.
The Suns had drafted him #24, and in their era of selling draft picks for cash (see Rajon Rondo as well), we picked him up for nothing (for a player of his caliber). He is currently making just over $1 million/year. Name another starting caliber NBA 2 guard that makes that much money. We got him for that price because he was an unproven NBA talent, and with the Euro scare thanks to the likes fo Darko, not everyone was convinced his game would translate to the NBA. Fast forward to now, and he is probably one of the most underpaid players in the NBA based on his production-even as a rookie.
2) When it's time to re-up, will we?
When the Turkoglu rumors hit full steam, there was some news that Rudy was concerned about his role with the Blazers should they sign Hedo, and there were write-ups done about how much money and playing time he would receive if he bolted for Europe. But there is major truth/validity in those claims. Rudy could make almost $10 mil a year playing in Europe, not to mention being closer to home and likely enjoying much more fanfare and endorsement deals, etc. than he does and will here amongst all the other NBA stars (and B Roy on his own team) Europe aside, there are a lot of teams in the NBA that would pay him extremely well for his services. Ben Gordon got more than $10 mil/year this offseason, so what would Rudy get? At least $6/7 mil a year at worst. That's great for Rudy, but where does it put the Blazers? Wtih Roy maxed out, and big extensions coming for LA and GO (not to mention Batum), we probably woudn't be able to pay him that anyway, let alone pay that to a BACKUP 2 guard when we already have a maxed out All-Star in front of him that we're committed to. I'd love to think he'd stay here out of loyalty and a desire to win, but let's be realistic, that probably won't happen.
3) He isn't the "future" or an answer for us
If Rudy was an absolute stud, a player with no major flaws in his game,or a dominating presence, I could see Paul Allen opening the wallet to keep him (and the Spanish/European fan base we enjoy thanks to him) around. The thing is, as good as Rudy is, he is not: physically dominant, an elite athlete, a lights-out shooter, or a tremendous defender. He's pretty good in those areas, and some would argue he is an elite shooter, but not at a dominant level. He needs to be around talent to really thrive, guys to draw defenses so he can shoot, cut backdoor for lobs, etc. He's not physical enough to "get his own" in the NBA. And defense is the same story, in a team concept he can use his IQ and anticipation to get steals, etc., but one-on-one on an island and he gets taken advantage of by bigger, stronger players. For other teams, this may not be an issue, and they would welcome a guy that can score in as many ways as Rudy can, and at least bother his man on defense, while being a solid passer and facilitator. But for the Blazers, who have our all-star guard in Brandon Roy and just signed a veteran PG to move the ball, it is a major issue, essentially because Rudy will not be supplanting any of our starters anytime soon. While some BEdge fans I know would say we should play him at the 3 (or Brandon at the 3 and him at the 2), that's just not going to work. First of all, we have 3 guys at SF and there is already a logjam of playing time, and secondly, when played at the 3 Rudy was not nearly as effective as he was at the 2. And despite his passing abilities he's not a PG,, he's a playmaker. But he would get burned by smaller-quick NBA PGs and isn't strong enough with the ball or as a distributor to play that role full-time.
The fact of the matter is, Rudy is a good player that is just on the wrong team at the wrong time. He will undoubtedly help us a ton this year (and next) and I expect great things from him. I will proudly be wearing my Rudy jersey to the games this year and chanting RU-DY with the rest of the Rose Garden crew. But I just don't think that Rudy will be here much longer, so enjoy the Mallorcan Rocket while he wears the Red and Black.
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pointless
Rudy is under contract! Things will change way before any of what you bring up is needed to be discussed.
i agree
way to early to be talking about this stuff. Who knows what changes might occur with the blazers in the next two years.
its relevant now that Roy signed his extension. We have two 2 guards, are we keeping, and PAYING both?
by rip_city_swagger on Aug 7, 2009 3:53 PM PDT up reply actions
Why not?
If they can both play multiple positions and are very effective playing together, then there is no reason not to keep both of them.
by trk on Aug 7, 2009 4:02 PM PDT up reply actions
Rudy can't play multiple positions
At least not yet. He doesn’t handle the ball well, he doesn’t run an offense well, and he’s just too small and slight to be a SF.
Roy can play SF. he does it well too
"shaq and zach randolph have the same trainer... "
best one liner i ever heard.
Last season Rudy's SF PER was 0.8; that of his SF opponent 38.3
See 82games. While these numbers are based on too small a sample size to draw definitive conclusions, I have never seen any evidence that Rudy can play SF in the NBA.
I think the best shot Rudy has at playing another position will be at Point Guard
That being said, I don’t know if it would work out. Rudy is a good ball-denial defender (much like LeBron) he plays to deny his man a touch, rather than letting him catch it. I like that he plays this way, it can be extremely effective, especially since Fernandez has such good vision and BBIQ.
I think that this coming season we’ll see Rudy on the floor with Roy and ’Dre. (Andre 1, Rudy 2, Roy 3)
I know less than half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.
by haildablazer on Aug 8, 2009 11:02 AM PDT up reply actions
pointless? I disagree...
We just signed our starting 2 guard to a max extensino that will bhave him here for the next 5-6 years. Rudy’s contract will expire in the midst of Roy’s contract. Are way going to pay another 2 guard major money while we already have Brandon on board?
Roy’s signing that contract makes this a relevant discussion
by rip_city_swagger on Aug 7, 2009 3:51 PM PDT up reply actions
Rudy is signed through 2011-2012
the Blazers have two more seasons until they even have to think about an extention on his current deal, let alone act on that extention. Alot can and will happen between now and then, for example by 2011-2012:
-Joel’s contract will extpire and he might not be on the team
-Outlaw’s contract will extpire and he might not be on the team
-Blake’s contract will extpire and he might not be on the team
-Miller’s contract will extpire and he might not be on the team
-Oden will have to be extended, how much depends on this season
-The team could sign another FA or 5
Batum’s contract comes up at the same time as Rudy’s, and at that point as of now only Roy, LMA, Oden, Web, Batum and Bayless should also be on the team’s payroll.
the point is, it is too early to talk about seriously. Let Rudy play these next 2 seasons, then if the team needs to move him they will look at it, but not until then.
Ben II Blazersedge.com || New to Blazers' Edge?
by usmcr3049 on Aug 7, 2009 4:05 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
+92,000,000
I don’t get this fascination with trading Rudy that comes up all the time on this site. Things are fluid like you say. I suspect that people are too tied up with Rudy being a SG ….he is a guard ….we will have PT for 3-4 guards ….every year! Why not revisit this issue where there is actual evidence of a conflict.
"I'm tired" -Me
by 92wastheyear on Aug 7, 2009 4:10 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Even some of those players might not be on the payroll
Bayless is only guaranteed for this year, with team options for two more years. It wouldn’t be surprising if he were traded or the team does not offer him a new contract when this one is done, especially if he does not find his way into the rotation in the next few years.
Webster is guaranteed for 3 years, with a team option for a 4th. If he struggles to bounce back from his injury or if he ends up out of the rotation, it is possible that the team won’t pick up his team option.
Actually, Roy is the only player that has a guaranteed contract for 2012/2013. I think the Blazers will try to extend LMA, Oden, and Batum (and Rudy) past then, but really nothing is guaranteed at this point.
by trk on Aug 7, 2009 4:24 PM PDT up reply actions
All it takes is one published report of Rudy not being content with his playing time
and all of this “he’s not going anywhere” certainty will turn on a dime
Remember the 24 hour firestorm that was generated by Fernandez’ Spanish “agent” when the Turkuglo offer was announced? Rachet that up by 10 if Rudy himself (or his American agent) makes noise similar to Sergio’s complaints next fall
Never happen? I put the odds at better than 50-50 and growing with each passing game that Rudy isn’t getting 25+ minutes or playing a significant role in Portland’s system
The Miller signing squeezed the PG minutes, and a healthy Webster will squeeze the SF minutes. If everyone stays healthy there will be a PT collision at SG, this is about as obvious as obvious can be
When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
typo: Sergio’s complaints next fall
meant to say “Sergio’s complaints last fall”
When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
Very prophetic
I know less than half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.
by haildablazer on Aug 8, 2009 11:04 AM PDT up reply actions
the sky isn't falling
If Miller or Webster out play Rudy, then he doesn’t really deserve those minutes does he? I love Rudy, but if he doesn’t develop like I hoped, while at the same time Webster does something crazy like become an almost all-star at the 3, (which is what it would take for him to take minutes away from Rudy), then I will rejoice because the team will be better for it.
The point I was making is that nothing HAS to be decided this offseason, or even this season. Rudy’s contract put him in PDX for the next 3 years, ( the blazers will pick up each year, as they will with Bayless/Batum) and it is very safe to expect him to be a Blazers for all 3 years unless something drastic happens.
Ben II Blazersedge.com || New to Blazers' Edge?
While I agree with usmcr's general premise
that there’s no immediate need to deal with this situation, I’m amazed that so many posters see this as a complete non-issue. The situation reminds me somewhat of what happened with Jack and Sergio after the 2007 season. Both guys were coming off extremely promising seasons and as young players, were only expected to improve. Certainly, it seemed between the two of them we probably had our PG situation settled.
What happens the next season? We bring in Blake, he cuts into both of their time, neither guy really handles it super well, and both guys regress and are gone within 2 years. Is it really impossible to envision a scenario where something similar happens with Rudy? Remember, Jack started for the first week of the 07/08 season before getting shunted to the bench, and then off to Indy.
Next year we have Miller coming in, Webster coming back, and, if he’s still starting, an almost guaranteed increase in minutes for Nic. It’s going to be hard enough for Rudy to maintain his current PT, much less add 2-3 mpg. If he’s happy with that, great. If not, we’ll hear about it, and there will be more anguished outcries from self-righteous BEdgers about spoiled Spaniards.
And of course, that’s before we even get into finding Bayless minutes.
Yeah, but ...
I doubt that all three SF’s will stay with us the whole season. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re waiting to see how Batum, Webster and Outlaw are doing (especially Webster after almost a year hiatus). The only way I see them keeping all three is if the rookies behind LMA aren’t working out, thus freeing up time for Outlaw behind him, otherwise there has to be a give somewhere in that logjam. Even if they’re all playing well there won’t be enough minutes for all three … I doubt any of them would be happy with 10 minutes playing time at this point.
Rudy just needs to be patient, prove he’s still worth playing lots of minutes and it’ll happen. Besides, aside from Miller probably getting the most minutes as PG, who knows what’s going to happen with the PG situation. That’s all up to Bayless and Blake to show who’s worthy … I’m 30/70 in favor of Blake but if Bayless proves me wrong then so be it.
Now, if Rudy comes back and hasn’t gotten any better or, worse, was playing better last year then that will be a problem but I doubt it. He’s not Sergio … I didn’t think Sergio was the worst (sometimes he was brilliant, just in really short spurts) but he really didn’t prove he deserved the minutes on this team. If Rudy’s playing better than last year, they’ll find a way to make it work.
RT: Rudy just needs to be patient...He’s not Sergio
Rudy is a much better player than Sergio, and older. He has an idea of how much time and what quality of an ever-increasing role he should be getting, as his career unfolds. If Nate can’t deliver on the “promises” that KP may have made to Rudy (due to too many good wing players on the roster) then I could definitely see Rudy making noise about wanting to be dealt to a “better NBA situation”
When will this occur? My best guess has been sometime in the next 18-24 months. No, there’s no need to rush to make a trade and get him out of town—but I think it’s wishful thinking to expect he’ll play out his current contract in Portland—mainly because he plays the same position as Brandon Roy, and you can’t expect each and every opponent to trot out a 3-guard lineup for significant minutes on a nightly basis.
When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
Why would the Blazers have to wait for the opponents to use a 3-guard lineup before the use one themselves?
Rather than worrying about matching the opponents, the Blazers should just play their best players and make the opponent match them instead.
if rudy isn't get 25+ per minute
and blake is…there is something wrong and KP needs to crack the whip on nate.
Senior Asian ambassador of Blazers Edge
by Philthyanimal on Aug 8, 2009 12:33 AM PDT up reply actions
you think he's going to get a max deal?
by rip_city_swagger on Aug 7, 2009 3:52 PM PDT up reply actions
he better!
after all the trouble I went through to make a user name in honor of him!
by In Walks Rudy on Aug 7, 2009 6:17 PM PDT up reply actions
That is stellar basketball analysis
When I rule the world, everyone will know how to use Excel.
The only reason you don't like it is because he didn't include a pie-chart, or a stat graph
I know less than half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.
by haildablazer on Aug 8, 2009 11:06 AM PDT up reply actions
I think Rudy is part of the Future for Portland
Rudy is an excellent complementary scorer who can spread the floor for Roy and make things happen without needing to have the ball in his hands that much. Roy and Fernandez proved last year that they can be extremely effective together. Look at 82games.com’s player pairs: the team performed better when Roy was paired with Fernandez than when he was with any other player.
I understand that playing Roy and Fernandez together a lot would mean having less playing time available for the players at PG or SF, two positions where there is already a logjam. So what? Rudy is simply more talented than Miller, Blake, Webster, or Outlaw. At least one of those players is going to find themselves with less minutes than they would like, but this is the NBA. You have to give the most playing time to your best players, and if someone ends up being left out then it is their responsibility to get better and prove that they deserve playing time, not the team’s responsibility to make time for them.
Rudy’s cheap contract will probably be attractive to a lot of teams and it is possible that they will offer a deal that is just too good to miss. If that happens, then go ahead and trade him. However, always keep in mind that Rudy is a player that can help the Blazers a lot in the future. If they trade him it should be because they are getting something amazing back in return, not because they think they need to get rid of him.
by trk on Aug 7, 2009 4:00 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Re: Rudy's cheap contract
Keep in mind we will be at the cap…for a long time. This means we can’t take back more than we send out …this means we wouldn’t be getting value for him….I don’t see this happening
"I'm tired" -Me
Yeah, but they could package him with a larger contract
For instance, a package with Rudy, Webster, and Przybilla could net a player with a $15 million contract.
by trk on Aug 7, 2009 4:28 PM PDT up reply actions
Precisely
Here’s another scenario. Suppose Bayless “gets it” during the second half of the season, and is ready to start next year. We could re-sign Steve, and trade Andre as an expiring contract next summer (his third year isn’t guaranteed).
We could package Andre and Rudy for a very, very good $10 million player.
I’m not saying I expect all of that to happen, just that there are many options when you have a lot of talent on a cheap contract.
When I rule the world, everyone will know how to use Excel.
And the key component is Rudy's cheap contract?
See that is the part I don’t get. Not that you can’t trade Rudy, but that you end up not getting enough for him ….because of his cheap contract. In that scenario you send out 2 starter quality players for 1 guy who makes $10 mil. Most of the players I would want to trade those 2 guys for make more than $10mil and Rudy’s cheap contract is a hindrance to that (we would have add a player ,or more, to get there).
"I'm tired" -Me
by 92wastheyear on Aug 9, 2009 10:47 AM PDT up reply actions
Rudy will be ours for a long time
If we’re at all smart. He’s a potential 6th man of the year type guy. I’m not sure about him as a starter but he’s a great energy player off the bench.
"Good evening Blazer fans, wherever you may be!"-Bill Schonely
A lot depends on Martell....
and what we are offered for Rudy. Like KP says… keep all your options open.
depends
what is for sure to me, is that there is only room for ONE of Rudy or Bayless long-term. Both could be part 2 of a 3-guard rotation (with part 3 being a true point guard). Right now, Rudy clearly has the advantage in that matchup.
So, it’s not at all difficult to see Rudy becoming our 3rd guard/6th man, who plays 30 minutes per game and is on the floor in crunch time. Heck, it could happen this year. But if one assumes that becomes the case in the next two seasons, why would he be unhappy with that? It’s pretty near starter minutes, he’ll be a pereniel 6th man of the year candidate on a title contending team, and at that point we could offer him an extension in the realm of 6 to 8 million per year. That’s fair market value I would say, and it’s worth every penny to pay, even with Roy playing ahead of them.
The alternative scenario is that Rudy/Roy lineup prove to be unworkable over the next two years, and we move him to another team.
How did you guys win that?
"We scored enough points. We scored 107, they scored 105.
-Nate McMillan Postgame, 3/4/2009
I basically agree with this.
Brandon already played (well) in a lot of SF minutes this last year, and is very capable of playing PG. I think Rudy will get his minutes, but I think we’ll also see that while he’s an excellent backup, he won’t be anything more than an average starter. I think Rudy’s not going to develop much one-on-one scoring, and will continue to be a scorer j’s and off-ball movement. This crucial lack in my mind means Rudy would be a complimentary starter.
I don’t see a ton of incentive for him to leave as long as he’s getting 28-30 mpg (he will) and I think PA will be willing to pay him MLE type money.
You can measure skill and talent with your eyes, but productivity is shown through statistics.
I disagree
I can see Roy, Rudy, and Jerryd being that 3 guard rotation down the road. I could also see a four guard rotation with Brandon playing 10-15 mpg at the 3.
When I rule the world, everyone will know how to use Excel.
You say "Rudy could make almost $10 mil a year playing in Europe"
Where does this come from? No matter, it’s simply not true. If he could make 10 mil he would, here, there or anywhere. If he improves over the next 2 years his minutes and game situations will improve and he will have the opportunity to contribute to a winning team. If you are suggesting there’s no room for a role player like Rudy behind Brandon Roy I need to respectfully disagree.
Rudy is
young so he has time on his side but he needs to add a lot to his game to be a starting sg in this league
What makes people think Rudy should be a starter in the NBA?
He is a good player for sure, and maybe on some of the weaker teams he could start, but he is a shooting guard, and the NBA has plenty of talent at that position. Enough, to push Rudy to second string on almost any playoff bound team.
Teams he could start on based on their current starting 2 guard
Cleveland- Anthony Parker
Indiana- Dahntey Jones
Minny- Damien Wilkins
NJ- Cortney Lee
NO- Rasul Butler
NY-Larry Hughes
OKC- Thabo Sefolosha
Phili- Willie Green
Toronto- Marco Belinelli
Utah- Ronnie Brewer
Maybe he wouldn’t beat out all of those guys, but there are plenty of teams, even playoff teams that would start Rudy.
"It’s a good ol’ fashioned Rip City beat down!"
what about the rockets?
I’m a rocket Fan
The rockets don have a true 2 guard (Mcgrady wont be back till mid-season) right now, both Ariza and Battier are small forwards, so I would propose that we’ll trade you Battier for Outlaw and Webster and/or Bayless so that can open up some minutes at 2 guard for you guys, and we can solidify our back court with some size
As much as I like Shane it does not sound like that is a starter with KP
Battier for Bayless? Maybe but maybe not. Battier for Outlaw? Maybe or maybe not. The man says he wants to keep these guys together this year.
I'd say Battier for any one of those guys
is an absolute no brainer on KP’s part. Battier for all three is probably a non-starter in his eyes.
Who are we trying to open up minutes at the 2 for?
We have Roy and Rudy. We are all set at the 2 thanks.
Cleveland is the only good team on that list last year.
And, Utah may be a serious team this year, but overall I think that list proves my point. NO, Philly and Utah were out in the first round, and the rest are not playoff teams. Rudy might start over some of those guys, but not all as you say. Jones is a defensive stopper, so he is an anomaly on the list, and would create the same situation as Batum vs Webster does if he were in a rotation with Rudy. I also don’t think Rudy would currently start in front of Brewer, Lee, or Hughes, the rest he might beat out in training camp. Also, Philly will probably not make the playoffs this year, since we took one of their top two players, so you can effectively take them off the playoff list. You never know, Rudy could find a place with a good team that has a hole at SG, but most good teams already have a talented SG. That was my point. Everyone acts like because Rudy has played well, that he is too big a star to keep on the Blazers, but I want to keep him because he plays well, but see no need to overvalue a guy who is a great hustle player, and can shoot, but is a weak defender, and creator off the dribble. He’s a better than average sixth man, and that will likely be his role in the NBA, if he wants to stay away from the fringe teams.
Wow
NO and Utah were definitely good teams last year. They won 49 and 48 games, despite a lot of injury trouble. The year Portland won the championship, we won 49 games. You don’t win 48 or more without being a good team.
Put Rudy in a starting backcourt next to Chris Paul or Deron Williams and you have a very, very dangerous backcourt. Put him out there with Mo Williams and LeBron and they would be devastating, because you either leave Rudy or Mo wide open and watch them hit 45% on their 3s or you leave LeBron single-covered.
When I rule the world, everyone will know how to use Excel.
I listed 4 playoff teams that he could start on
as well as a few borderline teams that could make the playoffs this year. Plus I overlooked the Rockets who could have wanted a more traditional 2 guard than Battier.
I think Rudy would be great on the up and coming Thunder. They could use another deep threat to compliment Durant and maybe Rudy’s backdoor cuts will encourage more passing from Durant too.
We could play this game with any mid-level guy. How many playoff teams would take Oden? Not the Lakers, Nuggets, Spurs, Rockets (last year), Jazz. Maybe the Mavs, and New Orleans.
In the East? Not Orlando, Atlanta, Miami, Boston, Cleveland. Maybe the Bulls, 76ers and Pistons. And Center has much less depth than shooting guard.
Rudy could start on roughly 1/3 of the teams in the league and there are still other teams who are better suited to give Rudy more playing time then he gets here, even off the bench. Any team with a shooting guard more able to slide to the 3 would have a greater use for Rudy off the bench.
"It’s a good ol’ fashioned Rip City beat down!"
I don't know about some of that list.
In Cleveland, Delonte West is the starting shooting guard. As much as West flopped at point guard in Boston and Seattle, he found his element playing the 2 alongside LeBron James and Mo Williams.
In Indiana, Rudy Fernandez would likely play ahead of Dahntay Jones and Brandon Rush.
In Minnesota, the shooting guard situation is truly a mess with has-been Quentin Richardson, scrub Damien Wilkins, and rookie Wayne Ellington.
In New Jersey, the team seems to be set at shooting guard with youngsters Courtney Lee, Terrence Williams, and Chris Douglas-Roberts. Small forward, however, is an altogether different issue, which is why someone like Travis Outlaw could theoretically thrive there.
In New Orleans, the ballclub is definitely weak at shooting guard with Rasual Butler, Morris Peterson, Devin Brown, and Marcus Thornton fighting for minutes. Even the situation at small forward is a mess there, with Peja Stojakovic and James Posey declining rapidly due to age.
In New York, that team will be a junkyard of washed-up bums this upcoming season. Larry Hughes is trash, while undersized gunner Nate Robinson — who ought to soon cave in by signing his one-year, $2,911,077 qualifying offer — isn’t someone I’d call a winner. Now, if Robinson does eventually sign a MLE esque offer sheet with some club, New York shouldn’t match it and let him head off elsewhere.
In all honesty, New York should sign Allen Iverson to a one-year deal worth the MLE. It’d be a no-lose proposition for the franchise, as well as more interesting than signing some craptastic backup point guard like Jamaal Tinsley or Jason Williams to a minimum-level contract.
In Oklahoma City, James Harden will be the team’s new starting shooting guard. Yet, between Thabo Sefolosha and Kyle Weaver, the WSU alum should earn more minutes as a defensive stopper on the wing off of the bench. Heck, I’d even consider starting Weaver instead and, in turn, using Harden as a high-scoring sixth man.
In Philadelphia, Willie Green should be pushed to the bench with Elton Brand returning to full health. Yet, even if Brand gets injured again and Thaddeus Young has to shift over to power forward, I think Philadelphia should start Jason Kapono next to Andre Iguodala at the wings for spacing purposes. Iguodala can mask Kapono’s poor defense and lack of handles, so they’d be a well-balanced pairing.
In Toronto, I expect Hedo Turkoglu will be paired with the team’s raw rookie, Demar DeRozan, at the wings. Turkoglu would play the 2 on offense and the 3 on defense, while DeRozan would play the 3 on offense and the 2 on defense. That way, Antoine Wright and Marco Belinelli would come off of the bench.
In Utah, Kevin O’Connor should try to obtain a shooting guard who’d fit into Jerry Sloan’s modern-day version of John Wodden’s old UCLA high-post offense. Basically, Sloan needs a veteran who’s good at coming off of screens and draining mid-range jumpers. In my opinion, Richard Hamilton would be the perfect match.
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=leb9mg
With that trade proposal, Chicago would finally get a much-needed low-post scorer in Carlos Boozer, Detroit would get younger and slash future payroll obligations in the long run by swapping Hamilton for Ronnie Brewer, the Sacramento Kings would use its cap space to take a shot at someone who still has a lot of potential in Tyrus Thomas, and Utah would cut costs in light of its re-signing of Paul Millsap by dumping Carlos Boozer. The Jazz, however, would then be thin at the 4, although signing a veteran banger like Brian Skinner for minimum-level money would patch that hole.
Stupid people have stupid ideas.
One aspect of Rudy's game I haven't seen mentioned much
is his “clutch” factor. We didn’t really see him take too many important shots at the end of games until the Houston series when his late 3’s were too little too late. But watching those 3’s go in intrigued me because of how pure they were given the pressure situations.. I’m not saying that he would be the #1 option — that will always be B Roy of course — but I could see him as a Robert Horry type player who is always ready to score at the end when it matters.
"There goes Brandon Roy... the best there ever was in this game"
I think Rudy will be here this season because his upside as our player,
or as a trading asset, is worth so much more than what we could get for him now. He needs another season of adjustment to the NBA to show what he will really be worth. Regardless of when we trade him (if we trade him) we will have to package other player(s) with him to get comparable value in return because of his low salary.
Unless there was an absolute blockbuster deal available this year, it makes sense to wait and see how Martell, Batum, and Bayless progress and fit this season. I expect we will also extend Blake because he is a good value as a player or trade asset. Then next Summer we should have a lot more answers about how Rudy fits in our rotation versus his trade value. If we decide to trade him, we will have a much better idea about which of those players we would be willing to package with him in a trade. (I’n assuming Outlaw will already be traded for a backup PF.)
Although I think a trade next summer, or even the following summer, is the most likely outcome, there are multiple scenarios that could keep Rudy here. I posted about that in another thread:
The Rudy situation is fascinating to me.
There are so many questions about Rudy’s future. Is he the real "Buffet of Goodness" that just needs a year or so to adjust his smorgasbord of skills to NBA level competition? Or is he physically and athletically overmatched by NBA players and destined to primarily be a spot up shooter? Will Nate adjust his offense this year and give him the opportunity to be a playmaker from the (offensive) small forward position, or is he going to continue planting him behind the 3-pt line to spread the floor?
Is it conceivable Rudy could learn to defend PGs as well as a Steve Blake, which could give him all the minutes he wants in a PG/SG pairing with Brandon? Can (should) Brandon consistently play 20 minutes at PG and/or SF (defensively) to make 32 minutes for Rudy? (I dislike using star players out of their best position to make room for another player – but could the future Greatest Blazer player ever make that work to win a couple championships?) Or will we trade Rudy (next summer) like we did Drazen Petrovic because we already have an All-Star SG, and watch Rudy become a star somewhere else? (A trade is probably the most likely outcome because if Rudy has a good year we can probably get an excellent SF or very good backup SF/SG in return.)
We should have answers to these questions at the end the season.
Some Options (Rudy’s approximate minutes)
A) Rudy remains a limited 3-point sharp shooter. (26-28 minutes)
B) Rudy becomes a playmaking/3-pt shooting guard/small forward (offensively). (28-30 minutes)
C) Rudy becomes a PG/SG to pair with Brandon. (32 or more minutes)
D) Brandon plays 20 minutes at PG/SF(defensively). (32 minutes)
E) Trade Rudy for a starting SF or backup SF/SG.
by BlazerFanSince1970 on Aug 7, 2009 8:18 PM PDT reply actions
Hasn't Nate said Rudy is not a 3?
D already is the option being used. Brandon plays some 3 and some 1 and Rudy plays 2 when he is in.
Yeah, option D is what we used last year but it only got Rudy 25.5 minutes a game.
When Brandon and Rudy share the SG/SF positions, Rudy plays the SF role on offense and SG on defense. i.e. Rudy can’t guard most SF’s so Roy defends the SF, but Rudy hangs out at the 3-pt line as a spot up shooter, which is the traditional SF role in Nate’s offense. When Nate says Rudy can’t play SF he is really talking about defensively.
Last year Rudy played SF on offense while Brandon played SF on defense for about 10 minutes a game. Essentially it was a 3-guard offense with Blake or Sergio playing the point guard. Brandon also played PG while Rudy played SG for about 5 minutes to get Rudy a few more minutes. Then Rudy got another 11 minutes while Brandon was on the bench resting. That enabled Rudy to get 25.5 minutes a game last year. But if we try to get Rudy 31-32 minutes using only option D, then Roy has to play another 5-6 minutes outside his SG position, which I’m not sure is a good idea.
If Rudy continues to be used primarily as a 3-pt shooter (A) then we probably don’t need to do anything to increase his minutes, and we can just continue to use Option D with the minutes of last year. But if Rudy becomes more of a playmaker (B), or a mid-range shooting threat that can get his own shot (which I didn’t mention above), so that we want to get him 30 minutes or more, then Option D alone becomes more difficult because it pushes Brandon out of his natural position. But if Rudy could learn to play PG on defense as well as Blake (a bit of stretch, but conceivable) then he could be a better version of Blake as a PG (Option C). A Miller/Roy/Rudy guard rotation would be some heavy back court offense.
Note: I didn’t mean Options A-D to be exclusive, but rather just some of the ways Rudy might be used if we wanted to keep him long term.
Last Year Rudy’s 25.5 minutes (approx – varied from game to game)
SG with Roy on bench – 11 minutes
SG with Roy at PG – 5 minutes
SF on offense/SG on defense with Roy SF on defense/SG on offense – 10 minutes
Last Year Roy’s 37.1 minutes (approx – varied from game to game)
SG with Rudy on bench – 22 minutes
PG – 5 minutes
SF on defense/SG on offense (with Rudy) – 10 minutes
by BlazerFanSince1970 on Aug 8, 2009 12:44 AM PDT up reply actions
His futue will consist of the Rudre Milnandez connection
Andre/Rudy/Roy/Aldridge/Oden
Andre/Rudy/Batum/Outlaw/Pryzbilla
also
Blake/Rudy/Webster/Outlaw/Pryzbilla
but he will shine with Andre
Keep Rudy or Bust.
& FYI (of course I can’t stand up for anyone else) I totally stood up for Rudy during Turkoglugate.
*Unless KP has a secret plan that makes this statement incorrect.
Too early to evaluate Rudy's value / future. I just love the fact that we have a player that ignites so much discussion after only his rookie year.
Other teams blogs are always trying to pry him away.
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