SB Nation User Blog: R-Man

Front court help...

R-Man — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:17:25 -0000

Has anyone seen this guy? He went undrafted and I remember people talking about him being a late first early second pick. He's 6"10" with a 7' 3" wingspan and he's athletic and only 21. It looks like he needs to add more weight, but he excels in pick and roll situations and getting out into the open floor and running.

Very few guys that go undrafted ever turn into something, but I think we should take a flyer on him. The price is right and we are going to need 3 d-league type players to fill out the roster.

What do you guys think? Anyone remember watching him?

BPA

R-Man — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 04:56:19 -0000

I don't understand. Prior to the drat, everyone seemed to agree that we needed to take the best player available. The sentiment was that we have so little talent that we really shouldn't concern ourselves too much with positon. Back when we had dreams of drafting #1, no one seemed too upset if we drafted Griffin despite having Hawes and JT. And then on draft day, Geoff does the unthinkable: he takes the best player available on his board, and everyone completely craps the themselves.

Yes, I know that most on this board had a serious mancrush on Ricky, but I am not upset that we took Tyreke Evans. And I am not that surprised. Jerry had been dropping hints for months. He mentioned him as one of his top picks on telecasts long before he was even being considered as a top 5 picks by DX and ESPN. He mentioned that they were going to take the "best player, not necessarily the player everybody wants" in interviews with the Rise Guys. And then, they did exactly that. I wasn't sure if he was talking about Flynn or Curry or Evans, but I wasn't surprised that we didn't pick Ricky even though he was on the board.

I have no idea what will happen down the road, but given Petrie's track record, there is a good chance that Evans could become the best player from this draft. Better than Griffin. Better than Rubio. Better than Thabeet, etc., etc. And, if Evans does turn out to be the best player in this draft despite not being a pure point guard, will you really be that upset?

If he is in a 3 man rotation between the 1 and 2 and turns out to be a lethal scoring option, are we really worse off. Would we really be better off with a "pure" point guard that lacks top-shelf athleticism or a consistent jumper at a position that demands, at the very least, one or the other, and often both to be successful?

Case in point: I can't name one successful point guard that lacked both of these traits and was successful in the modern era (and, please don't compare Rubio to Kidd. I'm sorry, but Jason Kidd in his prime was unbelievably quick, fast and strong for his position). I don't care how good you are at the pick and roll, it's just not going to matter if your defender slides under the pick and dares you to shoot (no pick-no roll). I agree it would have been nice to fill our biggest need with the best player available, but Geoff obviously didn't think that Rubio was the BPA.

Outside of Griffin, I honestly believe that most scouts would point to Tyreke as the player most likely to become an All-Star from this draft, and I don't think we can't afford to pass on that.

Shaq heading to Cleveland

R-Man — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:51:15 -0000

Shaq heading to Cleveland

Tyreke coming back for a second round...

R-Man — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 03:40:59 -0000

Tyreke coming back for a second round...

Amick says that we have a several big name players (Curry, DeRozen, Evans) coming in here in the next few days, including Tyreke again. Interesting.

Yet another Trade scenario...

R-Man — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:33:33 -0000

If Rubio slides, would you trade Rubio and Donte for Brandon Jennings and Anthony Randolph (assuming Jennings slides to #7)?

Put Randolph and 3 and Jennings at the 1. I think it would make us more athletic, better defensively and better in rebounding. If Jennings and Randolph worked on their Js, we would be unbelievably fun to watch.

What say you?

PS--Nice work on the radio TZ. Really was hoping for the "Peaches" reference, but I liked that Pooky got some love.

Jennings at #4?

R-Man — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 15:43:24 -0000

I've heard an awful lot about Brandon Jennings calling out Rubio (which is all fine and good), but there hasn't been much comment on the fact that Amick is reporting that he outplayed Flynn who was guarding him (and who is more athletic and quick than Rubio).

Amick's blog this morning was eye opening. It sounds like Jennings can get anywhere he wants on the floor, and his jumper (at least yesterday) was better than advertised. We had 300 comments on whether or not was professional to call out Rubio (it wasn't), but very little on the impact of the workout.

Jennings came off as cocky or confident afterwards, but it sound like he had a right to be. If he did clearly outplay the other two, I don't care if he is cocky, I want him on our squad. We need a little swagger and athleticism, and it sounds like Brandon Jennings has both in spades.

Reading Reynolds

R-Man — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 05:01:56 -0000

OK, so I'm listening to the Rise Guys and Jerry Reynolds comes on to debunk Ailene Voisin's article, championing him as the ideal candidate for coach. By the way, was I the only one that thought to myself, "Wow, Ailene had a deadline and nothing to write, so she just pulled this doozy out of her ass." Also, how many times is she going to pimp anyone associated with the Monarchs for coach? We get the point, Ailene. Trust me, message received, loud and clear. Please let's move forward.

Anyhow, so Jerry comes on the show and is all folksy, doing his Mr. Chuckles' routine, and everything is going along as it normally does, but then he said something that struck me as revealing. When asked about who the Kings would take in the draft, he said, and I'm paraphrasing here, "We are going to get a good player. There are more than 4 good players in this draft. We like this draft (all the usual propaganda and spin that has been coming out of Jerry and Grant's mouth ever since we completely crapped the bed at the lottery), but then he said, "Even if there is a player available that everyone wants, we may not take him. We are going to take the player we feel is best."

It might just be me reading into things too deeply, but that last part seemed to be directly addressing the Rubio situation. I immediatley began to wonder if we are one of the teams that isn't super enamored with El Pistola.

Also, in previous telecasts, I have noticed that Jerry has brought up Tyreke Evans' name a few times as a draft possibility. There may be nothing to it, but I think it might be worth watching what Jerry says very closely here in the near future. Furthermore, if we do end up taking a player like Evans or Curry with Rubio still on the board, I will be convinced that someone in the Kings brass felt it more important to spin the pick ahead of time and, in essence, do some damage control, rather than to be concerned about tipping their hand to other teams as to who they like in the draft.

The Wildcard?

R-Man — Wed, 27 May 2009 04:37:20 -0000

The biggest question (beyond will Rubio slip to #4) is will Washington trade out of the #5 spot and what will it take to move up to that spot.

From what I have read, you keep hearing a late first rounder, possibly a cheap young player, and someone able to take on Etan Thomas' contract. If that's really all it takes, it's down to us and Memphis, and I, for one, would love to trade for the #5 pick.

I believe Thomas' contract is expiring, so while it is taking on more money next year, it doesn't hurt the future cap flexability of the team, so really it comes down to whether you can get the Wizards to bite on just a cap dump and the #23.

If we were to get the #5 pick and Rubio slips to #4, we could probably put together a package of Rubio and Jordan Hill that would tempt the Clips into giving up Griffin. Or, we could even use the pick, packaged with Donte Greene and the first pick in the 2nd (Claver, Mills?) to tempt PHO into dealing Amare.

Coming out of the draft with both Rubio and Stoudemire or Griffin (with the hope we pick up John Wall next year) would be unbelievable.

Is it a stretch? Yes. Probably going to happen? No. But that pick would open up some interesting possibilities.

Fly in the Ointment

R-Man — Sat, 23 May 2009 04:11:16 -0000

OK, I tend to agree with TZ and others that Rubio could fall to us at #4 (my dream scenario at this point); however, there is one scenario that I fear.

That scenario is OKC trading up for Griffin. He's a perfect fit, hometown hero, consensus #1 pick, inside presence, blah, blah, blah, and I could see Presti making a move up the board to get him.

Clips are rumored to really want Rubio, so they can get rid of Baron Davis (Warriors apparently want him back), and he is easier to move than Zach Randolph. This could be a bunch of BS, but I seem to be hearing it a lot from different sources.

If OKC takes Rubio at the #3 spot and packages their other 2009 first rounder (#25 I believe) and next year's unprotected 1st rounder from PHO for Griffin, we could be in trouble. Also, and this is big, it gets Rubio to LA (his first choice) and Blake Griffin to OKC (his first choice). It just makes too much sense. When was the last time an agent, player and GMs agendas all aligned like this.

I know, I know, I spend way to many of my waking hours thinking about draft/trade scenario's, and no one else seems to be all that interested in hypotheticals, but this one really struck me as a possiblity that would completely suck to all of us who still hold out hope that Rubio slips to #4 or that he is even available for a swap at #3.

Our only hope is the Clips manage to screw it up. In Dunleavy we trust.

Possible Options with the #4 Pick

R-Man — Wed, 20 May 2009 14:16:07 -0000

Scenario #1--

1-Griffin--LA Clips
2-Thabeet---Memphis
3-Trade HOU pick #23 with #4 pick to OKC (select Rubio)--SAC
4-Harden--OKC

Reason this makes sense: Harden is a natural 2 and a good outside shooter. Westbrook had a great rookie year at the point, moving him to the 2 and selecting another point is risky for OKC. I'm fine with this if Petrie thinks Rubio is the best point available.

Scenario #2

1-Griffin--LA Clips
2-Rubio---Memphis
3-Thabeet--OKC
4-Trade #4 pick to Memphis for Conley

If the Griz take Rubio it makes sense to package Conley. Personally, I would be very happy with him as he has already demonstrated the speed and quickness to break down a defense (which I worry about with Rubio), and his jumper really started to come around last year. I think this could be his breakout year.

Scenario #3 (Not likely)

1-Griffin--LA Clips
2-Thabeet---Memphis
3-Harden--OKC
4-Rubio--SAC

It's possible that Rubio slips to us, but this doesn't seem likely because Rubio (at least right now) seems to have more value than a #4 pick. I could see him dropping to #3, but I am guessing OKC holds an auction at that point. If this does happen, we get the guy we would have taken at #2 with the #4 pick.

Scenario #4 (my dream scenario)

1-Griffin--LA Clips (Trade for Rubio)
2-Thabeet---Memphis
3-Harden--OKC
4-Rubio--SAC (trade Rubio and the 23 and 31 pick for Griffin)

Why it's possible: LA is rumored to really like Rubio. The Baron Davis signing is officially a complete disaster as it is rumored he has become a cancer and is no longer welcome. As such, they are looking to trade him and are rumored to have a deal on the table with GS for Corey Maggette (straight swap). Rubio would allow them to trade one of their albatross contracts (BDiddy) whereas no one is taking Zach Randolph off their hands. Lastly, with Zach Randolph, Chris Kamen and Marcus Camby, The Clips really don't have a need or the minutes for Blake Griffin. There front court is already crowded if everyone stays healthy this year.