Monday, April 20th, 2009 at 10:51 pm  |  82 responses

Rubio Declares For ’09 Draft

Spain’s finest could be this June’s top guard.

by Lang Whitaker

SLAM 128 cover kid Ricky Rubio, the 18-year-old point guard sensacion from Barcelona, Spain, is entering the 2009 NBA Draft. While Rubio could still remove his name from the Draft until as late as June 15, his agent, Dan Fegan, told ESPN, “Ricky ricky-rubio-slamwill be in the 2009 NBA Draft.”

So it sounds like he’s coming. When I was there in Barcelona in December, Ricky told me that he wasn’t thinking about the NBA. (Of course, his Dad was sitting a few feet away from us and listening intently.) Regardless of what he said, I knew he wanted to come. When I walked into his bedroom back in 2007, there were posters everywhere—LeBron, Kobe, Nash. He stays up late at night to watch NBA games on League Pass broadband. Ricky might play in Spain, but this kid grew up on the new school of NBA stars. Of course he wants the chance to play with and against them.

(When I asked him who he was most excited to have the chance to play against at the Olympics, Ricky answered immediately: “Kobe. Kobe was MVP of the best league of the world. I watched two, three years ago in the TV at night and thought, ‘Whoa, I can never can meet with this player.’ Two years later, I’m guarding him and make foul of him, so, you know, it was it unbelievable.”)

The problem is getting out of his contract with Joventut. He’s got at least one more year left on his deal, and from what I’ve been told repeatedly, the buyout is a high number, somewhere between $6 and $9 million. Joventut could try to keep him, but they could also get a crapload of money for him now before his contract runs out and they get nothing in return for him. Option B appears to be the wiser option.

(And yeah, an NBA team can only pitch in half a mil toward paying the buyout, so the rest of the money will have to come from Ricky. But I think he’s got a little scratch — he’s been a pro since he was 13, he’s got a Nike deal, he’s in McDonald’s commercials…he’s doing OK for himself.)

My main man Chad “C-Fizzle” Ford has Rubio ranked 2nd, behind Blake Griffin, on his 2009 prospect list.

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  • Lz – Cphfinest3

    Yes, can’t wait to see him in the NBA. As good as Griffin is right now (he’s definitly better than ubio at this point). I would probably pick Rubio first because off potential. PG’s are the new centers, whereas Griffin will just be another athlethic scoring PF. After the Olympics I really believe this guy could be special, like really really HOF-type special. Anyway I might be wrong, but I’ll be waiting anxiously to see where those pinpong drop to.

  • http://where-basketball-b-longs.blogspot.com B. Long

    So I guess the buyout wasn’t as big of an issue as we thought. Viva La Pistola!

  • Alan

    From Spain, I really hope he’ll stay another year here. Plus he’ll earn more as won’t have to pay an stupid amount of money to get what he’ll get sooner or later. As the article says he’s doing OK for himself.

  • http://nbacheapseats.blogspot.com Chendaddy

    $6-9M is a huge price tag, and $500,000 is not much of a relocation bonus when measured up to it. I doubt Ricky would front that money himself when he’s only guaranteed $12M in his rookie contract if he’s the 2nd pick. That’s banking on a lot, namely that he will become successful and remain healthy enough to get that 4th year option and get a real contract extension. He better hope he can pull a Sebastian Telfair or Brandon Jennings, landing a giant sneaker endorsement that can help pay that buyout before he even steps foot on an NBA court. Still, if he pays his own way, I like the confidence, but that is a risky as hell move financially.

  • Alan

    BTW all of u who haven’t seen him playing: that’s exactly why you don’t like him. Defensively is… well… I’ve never seen such a young player putting so much effort on D. Ever.
    And to learn how to shot, well, this kid made 51 points in EuroChamps when 17. You can always improve your shot.

  • http://nbacheapseats.blogspot.com Chendaddy

    Clarification — the $12M is for the first three guaranteed years of a 2009 second pick rookie contract BEFORE taxes.

  • Yassi

    The buyout was mentioned in the papers (not on TV) but didnt seem to have priority #1. It wasnt mentioned by Ricky at all. He said that he will be looking at all the options and then decide on whats in his best interest BB-wise.
    But having talked to him in person you Slam-people MUST know that his main focus isnt the money and that he wouldnt risk what he loves and what makes him laugh and live (playing great fun basketball) for any money in the world. Meaning he wouldnt go to a team or into a situation that he doesnt like 100% for no materr how much money is thrown at him.

  • Alan

    I mean 51 in the Final. With a 3 pointer to send the game to OT incluided. He was 16, not 17.

  • Yassi

    @Chendaddy: Jesus, he already HAS a sneaker contract.
    Be sure of that: if he sees a situation he likes he will go the NBA no matter the price. If its only money, he´ll throw it in there. Believe it or not.
    He´s not playing to make as much money as possible. Again: belive it or not.

  • http://nbacheapseats.blogspot.com Chendaddy

    If he already has a sneaker contract that more than pays for the buyout, than fine. But, believe it or not, no matter how much he loves basketball, if he can have the same NBA opportunity while reducing the amount of risk in terms of money lost, his agent will heavily push that idea to him. Believe it or not, professional basketball is a business, and professional basketball player look out for their financial well-beings, too.

  • http://www.shawn-kemps-offspring.blogspot.com/ TADOne

    I’m pretty confident that Rubio will hire an agent/lawyer who will work any loopholes in the contract and that he will probably end up paying less than the $6-$9 mil buyout.

  • http://nbacheapseats.blogspot.com Chendaddy

    @TADOne Co-sign. No way he pays that entire bill out of his own pocket.

  • Babyface

    next jason kidd!

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  • niQ

    AND IT IS DONE! can’t wait to see where he ends up.

  • http://sfdjilf.com Jukai

    AP claims the exact number for his buyout is 7,800,000 American dollars.
    To put it into perspective, since playing at the age of 14, Rubio has made ~350,000 american dollars.
    Hope that Nike contract he has pays reallllly well.

  • http://mindyourbusiness@getalife.com Allenp

    Jukai
    You think Rubio is a better ballhandler than Rose? I can’t get with that. Rose is a crazy with the rock.

  • Diesel

    Mills played even better against team USA in the olympics than Rubio did. Why is no one projecting him higher?

  • Young C

    Notice how Ricky doesn’t mention the buyout, and neither did his agent yet they did say he will enter the 09 draft? Don’t be surprised if he declares this year, but doesn’t come over until next year due to the buyout.

  • http://slamonline.com B. Long

    What did I tell you, Jukai? When are you going to stop arguing with me and just realize that 90% of the time I’m always right?

  • Marco

    Rubio has amazing skills, but more importantly he has the right attitude and the right dose of arrogance needed to lead an nba team from the beginning.He is the ral deal of this draft

  • http://www.hibachi20.blogspot.com BETCATS

    No eboy comments? Really?

  • giogolo

    Chendaddy has the superior logic since 11:32 am. Co-sign, andanyone with a common b-ball-business sense.

  • Yassi

    I dont think he is coming over this year either but because of the wrong teams asking for his services. Lets say the Lakeshow, Dallas, Miami, Boston calls….he will be there. Washington? I dont think so.

  • giogolo

    i think Young C @ 3:08 PM nailed he conclusion.
    Just like ginobli did when he was drafted and Tiago splitter too (oth fro Spurs). He’s still in Europe playing,right?

    Either that or somebody wiill buy the hell out of Rubio this year.

  • http://ittakesanationofmillionstoholdthissac.blogspot.com ciolkstar

    Eff Tiago Splitter.
    I actually think Rubio landing in Washington could be pretty awesome, the Wiz really need a guy who does stuff besides score, although that would mean you’d have to play Arenas at the two.

  • Quail

    wut lottery teams need a pg…. wolves, knicks, kings would be the main ones. i hope the wolves get him.

  • JermareoDavidson

    Yea Rubio’s dope
    Unrelated, does anyone think Yakhouba Diawara looks like Norbit?

  • http://fjdklsf.com Jukai

    Allenp: Oh no, Rubio is better, he’s constantly dribbling behind the back, between the legs, crossing over everything. Rose doesn’t have to do that. He’s way too fast and has such an explosive first step, unlike Rubio who HAD to develop all those moves to make up for his lack of speed. Don’t think of it as a knock on Rose. Why would Rose need to cross over seamlessly in every direction when he can just outspeed 99% of his opponents?
    B Long: You weren’t right on anything. You said Nike would help buy out Rubio’s contract. They haven’t. At all. So, to my knowledge, I’m still 100% right. But I’m sure in the bizarro universe you live in, it’s already happened.

  • Yassi

    If he is going over there, Nike is going to help out for sure. Meaning he gets a bigger contract than he would otherwise and subsequently he will be able to buy his way out with that additional money, but he doesnt want to play for losing teams and/or teams where one guy is the star and the rest is crappy and not supposed to touch the ball. No way hes gonna do that. And IF he does it its gonna kill him. Its gonna be bad enough for him already in the NBA because he is such a team oriented, fun oriented player. He is used to the fact that all players on the team are best friends and doing things together all the time, its like a big family, he is bound to be caught by a major culture shock. The NBA is his ultimate goal but if ever a person was not suited for the NBA in all aspects, its him.

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  • http://sfdjilf.com Jukai

    I’m shocked to think that Rubio wont want to play for a losing team. He’d get 35 minutes a game on the Wolves, instead of 15-20 on the Spurs.
    Although, with Spoelstra’s love of defense and hatred of offense, Rubio could maybe play 48 minutes a game.

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