DCZards wrote:PIF, I haven’t heard anyone here say they don’t want to trade Rui because he’s had an outstanding rookie season. It seems to me that some posters (including myself) are high on Rui, rightfully or wrongfully, because of the potential they see in him.
Jarrett Allen has turned out to be a very good NBA player…and I’d love to see him in a Zards uni. The Zards desperately need a player with Allen’s rebounding and shotblocking abilities. But I understand the desire to see how good a player Rui might become, particularly given the way the league is trending and the value of a having a versatile player with the ability to score inside and out and possibly play all three front court positions.
I realize those are high expectations for Rui. I guess time will tell.
A very sensible response, for which I am grateful.
Although I would trade Rui for Allen straight up in a heartbeat (they are the same age: there's no particular reason to think one guy has more upside than the other -- or, to the degree that there is reason, it would favor Allen not Rui), in fact I changed my original proposal. I suggested that I would trade Bryant for Allen but would prefer to trade Wagner-plus-some for him.
About Rui, as I said, what I find remarkable is not that people think he's had an outstanding rookie season -- it would be impossible to think that (not meant critically). Nor that people would like to see how good a player he can become. Why not?
What I find remarkable is the enthusiastic, all-in-for-Rui, 100% commitment combined w/ a... I guess I'd call it a vision of/for Rui that operates at a huge distance from reality-Rui in college & as a rookie. An example would be your vision of him as "a versatile player with the ability to score inside and out and possibly play all three front court positions."
I don't see a "versatile player." I don't see a particularly strong ability to "score inside" or much ability to "score... outside" at all. & I don't see much possibility that he can "play all three front court positions." IMO, none of those are things anyone can see with their eyes. They are only things they can see with their imaginations & with wishful thinking. Now... that doesn't mean that all of those won't come true! Wishing won't make something so. But, for that matter, wishing for it doesn't mean it won't happen either!
Again, what's strange to me is not that people want Rui to be all those things. What's strange is the avalanche of approval for him that seems to be impelled pretty much only by those wishes.
For example, as I've said, Troy Brown Jr. was a better rookie than Rui (in fewer minutes, admittedly), but he didn't & doesn't inspire any similar mania. Bryant last year was unbelievably tremendous, & this year he is still quite good -- certainly way way better than Rui! -- but he inspires no mania either.
Not to mention that even pointing out Rui's limitations, no not his "limitations" -- just facts about his play, is akin to... I don't know what to call it -- maybe blasphemy!
However Rui turns out as a player, the whole thing strikes me as incredibly irrational. It's nice in a weird kind of way -- after all, Rui is an extremely likable, hard-working kid -- but it's weird too!