But the statement is still classic no matter how many times it is said.

…we take James Harden and trade down. That’s not a WORST case scenario, as I think Toronto would pay handsomely for the rights to Harden.

harden/Udrih for Flynn/Capspace+future pick?

OKC will take Thabeet before Rubio.

And there might not even be much need for cash thrown in . . . getting Evans at the #4 salary-scale instead of #2 still saves them some cash, and that’s happened before as well.

It’s done.

If Petrie & Co. feel Evans is the best player in the draft, and (in their opinion) will be the best professional basketball player to come out of this draft – don’t you pick him regardless of the position he plays?

This team needs an infusion of talent – I’m not sure that not picking Evans or trading his draft rights is the best idea if he is indeed the best player. I’d say you draft him, get him into the mix and worry about positions/logjams later.

And if Evans is strictly a two guard, shouldn’t those pure point guards be able to handle him with their quickness on the offensive end?

The Kings were 17-65 this year.

In my opinion, If Rubio is off the board and Tyreke is available at #4, you take him. Period. I don’t care if he is a “tweener” guard or mosly a shooting guard, the Kings need to take him. You don’t take a good player like Jonny Flynn and HOPE he becomes a star. You also don’t take Curry who has the same issues as Evans but is smaller and a worse defender. Evans has star potential.

As far a his 1.08 assist/turnover rate. Dwyane Wade’s a/t rate as a freshman was 1.15. Brandon Roy’s a/t rate as a freshman was 0.70 and as a sophomore was 1.21. When you can possibly get a player of that caliber of potential, you take him. Memphis got better as he was moved into the point guard role this year. He is no Ricky Rubio, but he’s no OJ Mayo either. Evans averaged 2 more assists that OJ did in college and OJ dished out 3.2 assists this year.

…that Evans is purely a 2 guard. He’s a COMBO guard in the mold of Dwayne Wade. I would rather grab Evans at 4 and perhaps look for a TRUE PG at 23, a la Maynor, Lawson, Mills, or even Collison. At LEAST one of them would be available.

Evans has TOO much upside and pure talent NOW to pass on at 4 IMO. I say take him and have a 3 guard rotation of Martin/Evans and whoever we land at #23. Evans can handle the one enough to play 20 some odd minutes there a night.

Dont Worry, Be Happy.

It looks like the first pick occurred around 4:40pm Pacific.

We use the cash from the above deal to acquire Camby from the Clips, lure Ostertag out of retirement, and buy Colleen Maloof a fifth of JD and some Percoset.

Rubio is at Kings practice facility right now converting all the non-believers. This is a good day.

You don’t want to miss it. Last year’s was epic. I can only imagine what this year’s will be like….

You really are in trouble.

I agree, some of the criticism of Memphis here is over the top, but it’s an offshoot of the hope some here have of getting Rubio.

And I’ve mentioned in the past that I don’t really care for a player’s strategy of trying to dictate where he lands in the draft. If you apply for the draft, you should be a professional and report to whatever team grabs you IMO.

Having said that, Memphis (whether by Heisley’s hand or Wallace’s) has shot itself in the foot enough times to develop a near comical reputation in the league, so your team’s management aren’t exempt from criticism. And a guy like Rubio happens to have leverage that college players don’t have – I may not think it’s completely ethical to use that leverage, but then again – I’m not sure I wouldn’t do the same if I was in his shoes.

Good luck in the draft…

The 1st two links don’t really talk about Rubio. On this site we’ve had plenty of articles discussing Evans, but I wouldn’t use those as evidence that Sacramento wasn’t interested in Rubio. The first two links do not support my statement that Memphis is “puffing out their chest”, but they also do not disprove anything.

The third link includes the quote I was referencing:

“If we want (Rubio), we’re going to take him,” Wallace said Wednesday. “We wouldn’t have taken a 10-hour flight to Spain if we didn’t have interest in him.”

This quote supports the point I was trying to make. I believe that Memphis wants to trade down, but they are struggling to get good offers because none of the other teams think that Memphis will actually draft Rubio. Wallace’s quote is a direct rebuttal to those points, in an effort to get better offers. This, in my mind, is puffing one’s chest out.

My full paragraph read as follows:

The Grizzlies are trying to puff their chest out and be a big player, saying they’ll draft Ricky Rubio, but nobody is buying it. Chris Wallace is already a bit of a laughingstock, and he can’t afford to end up with egg on his face again. Deep down, he knows he cannot go toe-to-toe with Fegan. And he knows he would have zero leverage if he drafted Rubio and tried to trade him. Wallace has made some dumb moves, but I have faith that he is smart enough to realize this (can’t be that dumb, right? Right?). So the Grizzlies will not draft him.

I call Wallace a laughingstock. This is based on league perception. As you mentioned, it is a common theme for writers to bash on Memphis. I was not bashing on him, simply stating the perception of him. I follow that up with the idea that he cannot afford to have egg on his face again. I state this because I think he’s probably gotten a worse rep than he deserves. But if he blunders the #2 pick, his reputation will get worse. I state that Memphis would lack leverage if they draft Rubio and try to trade him, and then I give Wallace credit to be smart enough to know this!

I’m really sorry if you took this as an insult to your team. That was not my intent. I was trying to interpret a messy situation, and the many subtle nuances that were involved. If I took liberties in my tone, they were based on personal hope towards a specific outcome, as well as an attempt to write something that would appeal to this target audience.

If Minny is really dangling Kevin Love for Rubio, then wouldn’t Presti just take that deal (regardless of what pick cam back with it)?

To be honest, the odds of Rubio falling to #4 are probably not nearly as good as has been talked about around here lately. Somewhere along the line, “best case scenario” (Rubio falling to #4 without having to trade up to get him) has seemingly turned into almost a given.

I’m just saying that you shouldn’t assume that if Rubio gets past Memphis that he’s a lock to fall to #4.

Everyone in the pro-Rubio camp can hope that he’s available with the 4th overall pick (I know I am), but I hope that they’re also prepared for the likelihood that this will probably not be the case (I think I am).

In any case, the 2009 StR Draft Threads™ will be EPIC.

Jefferson is not essential to the Bucks future. In fact his salary is holding them back and is a big reason that they’re probably going to lose two very promising players in Charlie Villanueva and Ramon Sessions.

Would only have his rights for two years, during which time he is under contract to Spain. He doesn’t have to buy his way out, and if they hold hard feelings toward him, they can trade him.

If he doesn’t want to play in Memphis, he doesn’t buy out his contract, waits for their rights to expire, then gets drafted by someone else at the ripe old age of 20.

Ricky Rubio has all the leverage in the world to keep from playing in Memphis.

Thabeets playing it smart. He is such a known quantity he has had numerous nationally televised appearances and played against all kinds of players who the kings have had in. It’s not like he would have excelled in shooting 3’s or shown amazing up and down court speed.

He blocks shots he is 7-3. It’s about all you can really need to know about the guy.