They're not putting nearly enough value because it all revolves around the players involved. The difference between #4 and #2 is Jordan Hill and Ricky Rubio is huge. Or James Harden and Ricky...or Brandon Jennings and Ricky. There's a huge gap in talent so whatever else you chip in to make it worthwhile has to be huge. When Ty Thomas and Lamarcus Aldridge were getting traded along with whatever else they were pretty equal prospects.
I agree that there appears to be a gap in talent. How huge is the question. Its all subjective at this point. Not just between you and me but also between the NBA scouts and GM's. Here's the reality of it. Five years from now Jennings or Evans or whoever, may be a better player than Rubio. With emphasis on the word May.
Is there anyone here thats willing to bet next years salary on Rubio being the best player in this years draft, or even his being the best point guard in this years draft. Probably not, but I'm sure some are willing to bet the Maloffs money. That aside, I think we need to be reasonable in our willingness to make trades to aquire a player we THINK, will be the next cats meow.
I like Rubio. There's no doubt that he would bring initial excitement to ARCO. I would be excited. But he's not without flaws. He's not as athletic as most of the points in the draft. He's not a player at this point that going to be able to create his own shot off the dribble. He turns the ball over at a fairly high rate. He doesn't have an NBA body, and may become injury prone.
To his credit he's a masterful and creative passer of the basketball. He has great court vision. Some of his turnovers may turn into assists in the NBA where bigs aren't allowed to live in the paint. He's a team player. He has a flair to him that says star. But thats not a given. The NBA is more physical than people think. He's going to get bumped and banged and knocked down, and there's no guarantee how he's going to react to that.
European players have a rep for being soft. Because, well, for the most part they are. You get your occasional tough ones that usually come with names that I can't spell. But for the most part when you think european, you don't think Ben Wallace, or Charles Oakley. And by tough, I don't just mean physically. I also mean mentally. I don't think Beno is mentally tough, and it shows in his play.
Kids that come out of the streets of Philly and New York and Venice beach in LA, etc. are tough kids. They may not be as talented, but they will try to impose their will on someone like Rubio. There have been a lot of european players that have come into the NBA and after a few years have gone back to europe. Others have sat at the end of a bench somewhere. The ones that have suceeded are the ones that have been tough, both physically and mentally, and had the talent to go with it.
I'm being long winded here, but I just want people to realize that were talking about a 19 year old kid with tons of talent, but no guarantee's. I personally think he will be sucessful, and if we end up with him I certainly hope so. But point guard is a tough position in the NBA, and its not going to happen overnight.
