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Ricky Rubio has some leverage in influencing which team selects him due to a necessary buyout from his team in Spain. His American agent Dan Fegan tried to shape where Yi Jianlian was selected in 2007, but was unsuccessful due to Milwaukee taking a hard line and no real alternative in his foreign contract.

“Rubio doesn’t want to go to Memphis, and he especially does not want to pay money out of his own pocket with that huge buyout for the honor of doing so," said a source that spoke to DraftExpress.com. "Fegan wants him in L.A., and if he can’t have him there, he wants him in Sacramento. Definitely not Oklahoma City.

“He’ll pull out if he doesn’t like what he’s hearing,” continued the source. “Or he can stay in and force the Grizzlies to call his bluff—would they really take him knowing that he may never come over? That’s one way to get him to fall to three.”

This is a little different situation, with Rubio's buyout. But essentially it's the same thing Kobe did back in 96 when he refused to play for anyone other than the Lakers, forcing Charlotte to trade him for Vlade Divac. See Eli Manning as well.

Throw Rubio in Sacramento's lineup with Jason Thompson, Spencer Hawes, Kevin Martin, and Fransisco Garcia, and they have a very good young starting 5 with Beno Udrih and Rashad McCants coming off the bench. Lots of youth but no real veteran leadership frequently fails though. I don't see him having the same success with the Clippers. He and Eric Gordon in the same backcourt would be one of the smaller backcourts in the NBA, and would likely lead to the Clippers dealing Baron Davis (rumors of it already), bringing in even more new faces. The speed of the backcourt would outpace the rest of that lineup in LA with Camby, Randolph and Kaman not exactly being the quickest big men around.

I'm calling shenanigans on Rubio's part. Do what Milwaukee did a few years ago with Yi. Draft him, and if he doesn't want to play for you, fine, but he isn't going to play for anybody else in the NBA either. Eventually his desire to play in the NBA will win out.

As for he and Gordon in the backcourt being small...I mean, not really. Rubio is 6'4. That is great size for a point guard. I think those two playing together would be great. Don't think it happens, because Griffin will go #1, but I don't think it would be too small. The Clippers aren't going anywhere until they get rid of Dunleavy anyways.

I am officially off Rubio's bandwagon. I do not like players like this.

DGrangeRx33 wrote:I am officially off Rubio's bandwagon. I do not like players like this.

Can you really blame him? Honestly, if I were having to pay money out of my own pocket and leave my home country behind, I'd probably want a better situation too. Memphis and Oklahoma City (don't know if you've ever been to them, but they aren't the most desirable places in the United States) would not be among my top destinations.

If musical talent was drafted, and some country band wanted me, I'd do the same thing.

Horrible analogy.

Miller4ever wrote:If musical talent was drafted, and some country band wanted me, I'd do the same thing.

Horrible analogy.

Best analogy ever, don't short yourself. If porn stars were drafted, and I was drafted to do, uhh, not-straight stuff, I'd do the same thing.

This is what Stevie Franchise did when he was drafted by the Grizz. I really liked him. Rubio may have to be my new Francis. I am assuming if he doesn't want OKC or Memphis he won't want Indy. Unless he is Sarunas! Man, I thought Sarunas was going to be so good...

DGrangeRx33 wrote:I am officially off Rubio's bandwagon. I do not like players like this.

I'm with you and can't believe so many people really understand him. What if Indiana had the #2 pick and he said that about us? Would it still be understandable? I have to imagine this forum would be up in arms about Rubio. IMO, going to play in the NBA is a privilege. For all we know, he will be a multi-million dollar bust. I hated Eli Manning when he did his thing with San Diego and i lost tons of respect in Rubio now. My guess is, if it scares teams off, and he goes to Sacramento, he will still demand #2 money.

He should be worried about so much right now and be working on those things. Being worried about who drafts him isn't something that he should be worried about.

To be honest, I wouldn't want to play in Memphis either. I don't know if I'd go as far to block a team from drafting me if I was a star playing entering the draft, but they would probably be dead last on my list of NBA destinations.

Part of this is because Rubio's already a star over in Europe. If he was a high school or college kid, this would be absolutely (Please Use More Appropriate Word). However, he brings in a market with him, and this is about more than where he wants to play. It's about where he wants to place the Ricky Rubio brand.

Ridiculous for the game of basketball.

PacersRule07 wrote:To be honest, I wouldn't want to play in Memphis either. I don't know if I'd go as far to block a team from drafting me if I was a star playing entering the draft, but they would probably be dead last on my list of NBA destinations.

Awful city.

Exactly, would ya'll be okay with this if it was Indiana instead?

Grang33r wrote:

DGrangeRx33 wrote:I am officially off Rubio's bandwagon. I do not like players like this.

I'm with you and can't believe so many people really understand him. What if Indiana had the #2 pick and he said that about us? Would it still be understandable? I have to imagine this forum would be up in arms about Rubio. IMO, going to play in the NBA is a privilege. For all we know, he will be a multi-million dollar bust. I hated Eli Manning when he did his thing with San Diego and i lost tons of respect in Rubio now. My guess is, if it scares teams off, and he goes to Sacramento, he will still demand #2 money.

He should be worried about so much right now and be working on those things. Being worried about who drafts him isn't something that he should be worried about.

The thing is...this is a rumor. Rubio hasn't come out and said this publicly yet, so I don't take a great deal of stock in it. This is the only place I've even seen it. Not on ESPN, not anywhere else, so I hesitate to believe this is actually the case.

By the way, this isn't the NFL. The NBA has a set salary depending on which pick in the first round you are, so Rubio can't demand #2 money. His pay is based on which pick he is.

DGrangeRx33 wrote:Exactly, would ya'll be okay with this if it was Indiana instead?

I wouldn't like it, but I wouldn't throw a hissy fit about it. At the end of the day, if we drafted him, he would come play, and play just as well as he would if he were in Los Angeles.

^I concur.

Keep in mind what Memphis just did to his countryman Juan Carlos Navarro. They screwed him royally by forcing him to accept a veterans minimum offer to ever play in the NBA. They never budged. Even though JCN was a superstar player in Europe, he had to pay $3 million or so out of his pocket to buy out his own contract, and Memphis screwed him in their negotiations. They even told him they were going to retain his NBA rights, but to take a hike once they dumped Gasol for nothing.


I'm sure this is in the mind of Rubio a bit. "If they won't even work with a guy like JCN, what kind of line are they going to try and force me down....?"

Scoot McGroot wrote:Keep in mind what Memphis just did to his countryman Juan Carlos Navarro. They screwed him royally by forcing him to accept a veterans minimum offer to ever play in the NBA. They never budged. Even though JCN was a superstar player in Europe, he had to pay $3 million or so out of his pocket to buy out his own contract, and Memphis screwed him in their negotiations. They even told him they were going to retain his NBA rights, but to take a hike once they dumped Gasol for nothing.


I'm sure this is in the mind of Rubio a bit. "If they won't even work with a guy like JCN, what kind of line are they going to try and force me down....?"

That is a good point that i didn't even think about, however, how does that explain for not wanting to play for Oklahoma City? lol

Rubio's so young. He'll get a chance when he's 20 to ask for a big contract, but right now he could still be a Sarunas-like bust (although they are basically the opposite of each other. One's a shooter and one's a slasher).

EDIT: I just imagined getting stuck playing in the 18th largest city in Spain. Yes, I googled it. I must say, you can't blame him for doing this, but it really is tough to say what's right. There's the love for the game, and then there's fair business. Tough call.

Grang33r wrote:

Scoot McGroot wrote:Keep in mind what Memphis just did to his countryman Juan Carlos Navarro. They screwed him royally by forcing him to accept a veterans minimum offer to ever play in the NBA. They never budged. Even though JCN was a superstar player in Europe, he had to pay $3 million or so out of his pocket to buy out his own contract, and Memphis screwed him in their negotiations. They even told him they were going to retain his NBA rights, but to take a hike once they dumped Gasol for nothing.


I'm sure this is in the mind of Rubio a bit. "If they won't even work with a guy like JCN, what kind of line are they going to try and force me down....?"

That is a good point that i didn't even think about, however, how does that explain for not wanting to play for Oklahoma City? lol

I'm not sure it's completely about the city, I think a lot of it is the situation. Memphis has Conley, and they have shown a fantastic amount of organizational ineptitude. Just doesn't seem like an ideal situation. Plus, the city is a shithole. OKC just drafted Westbrook, and while he could move to the two, he doesn't seem particularly thrilled about the idea, and I'm not sure that would be OKC's favorite scenario either. Plus, its Oklahoma City. Sacramento, one of the teams he would like to play for, is by all accounts a piece of crap city. I've never been, but every time you hear NBA players talk about their least favorite city to visit, Sacramento always seems to come up. The difference there is that they have a perfect situation for him. A gaping hole at the point, a very good shooter at the 2 who can be a nice compliment to Rubio's slashing, and two young bigs with promise. Sure, they still suck, but it's a more ideal situation.

Miller4ever wrote:Rubio's so young. He'll get a chance when he's 20 to ask for a big contract, but right now he could still be a Sarunas-like bust (although they are basically the opposite of each other. One's a shooter and one's a slasher).

EDIT: I just imagined getting stuck playing in the 18th largest city in Spain. Yes, I googled it. I must say, you can't blame him for doing this, but it really is tough to say what's right. There's the love for the game, and then there's fair business. Tough call.

Not for me...it shows a lack of character to me. Now, I'm not saying hes a bad person by any means, and if he doesn't want to live there, he doesn't want to live there. But hes going "I want to be drafted, just not by this team or this team, and so on." He hasn't done a thing in the NBA and hes already a prima donna.So many Europeans games don't translate well to the NBA, Spain doesn't have that problem like other countries, but to be making demands when you get an opportunity, shows a lack of character to me. Do you think Kevin Durant wanted to play in OKC? Doubt it. However, he didn't demand a trade when they moved. This whole thing is ridiculous.

Tough crowd.