There will be no mention of “upside.”
With the third pick in the SLAMonline Mock Draft, the Oklahoma City Thunder select…
Ricky Rubio. If the Oklahoma City Thunder elected to hire Marlo Stanfield as their GM, he would no doubt have declared having two young studs (pause) in his backcourt, “one of them good problems.”
Although I’m willing to admit we penciled in Hasheem Thabeet as our starting center for next season, we’re delighted to have the opportunity to call Ricky Rubio’s name.
Our short list was Rubio, Hasheem Thabeet, James Harden and Jordan Hill. Mr. Thomas and the Memphis Grizzlies took care of the heavy lifting, snatching the shot blocking Tanzanian with the previous selection.
Harden was intriguing as the best two guard prospect in the Draft and a gifted passer in his own right, and Hill’s toughness could really bolster our frontline. I still hadn’t entirely made up my mind on the selection, and decided to take a nap before we went on the clock. During my rest I kept having this nightmare where a red Hawk flies away from what looked like Atlanta with a solid, but far from spectacular forward, passing over two diamonds in the shape of a No. 3 and an No. 8. I woke up scared to death, and ready to draft Rubio.
While the Pete Maravich chatter is pre-mature, was there anyone who came away from this summers Olympics without thinking this kid is going to be a problem?
There are a myriad of challenges for an 18-year-old import, and the transition to the NBA will not always go smoothly for Rubio. Although he’s used to going up against grown men, the NBA is a much more physical brand of basketball than the international game. He’ll need to add weight and strength to survive the grind of an 82 game season, fortunately we’ve already gone through this process with Kevin Durant, and I’d say that’s turned out pretty well thus far.
We plan to exercise a good deal of patience in his development, and will stress that to our fan base. History has proven it can take several years for a point guard to develop into the player he’s going to be. Ultimately it was this fact that allowed Rubio to slip to No. 3 in the 
Draft, because the Grizzlies were pleased with the second half production of Mike Conley.
Without question, the most important person on our roster, scratch that, in the state of Oklahoma, is Kevin Durant. I promise you I will scour the earth for the modern equivalent of Luca Brasi, and make certain he signs a long-term deal to remain with the Thunder. That being said, if I can avoid strong arm tactics to keep him in that Thunder No. 35, that’s ideal. Is there a better way to accomplish this then by putting the best scorer in the League on the floor with the youngest, most talented point guard prospect in the NBA?
This selection leaves us with a starting five of Rubio, Russell Westbrook, Durant, Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic, who checks out when you remember he’s backed up by a serviceable Nick Collison as well as the always aesthetically pleasing Robert Swift.
Speaking of Russell Westbrook, isn’t he gonna’ be tight you’re bringing in a top-three pick that plays his position? What are you, one of those dumbs? Westbrook has no problem playing off the ball, and even if he has some reservations about moving to the two slot, those will be aired out after receiving his first look away alley-oop from the shaggy youngster.
Westbrook is a natural scorer, who also has the ability to setup his teammates. This will be a similar situation to his time at UCLA where he often moved off the ball to accommodate Darren Collison. Westbrook’s athleticism, physical strength and toughness are all elements that Rubio will need to improve going forward. Going head to head against Westbrook will elevate the play of both guys. Throw a recovered Shaun Livingston into the mix, and you’re looking at the best young backcourt in the League.
I’d like to close by pointing out that I explained our selection of Rubio without once using the word upside, which I believe puts me in contention for some sort of award or at least a plaque. Screw it, this kid has so much upside Jay Bilas is going to be moving furniture rocking a Ricky Rubio No. 9.
| 2009 SLAMonline Mock Draft Results | ||
| Pick | Team | Player |
| 1 | L.A. Clippers | Blake Griffin |
| 2 | Memphis Grizzlies | Hasheem Thabeet |
| 3 | Oklahoma City Thunder | Ricky Rubio |
LATEST NEWS & RUMORS
View all »
- 2012 NBA All-Star Reserves Announced
- 2012 McDonald’s All-American Rosters Announced
- John Salmons Debuts ‘Salmons and Brown’ at Fashion Week
- Ticket Prices Skyrocket as Linsanity Continues
- Big O: West, Chamberlain, Russell, Baylor Would Beat ’92 Dream Team
- Mo Williams Mad the Clippers Haven’t Given Him a Contract Extension
- Kobe Bryant: LeBron James Would Be the Ideal Teammate
- Video: Will Ferrell Does Player Intros for the Bulls and Hornets
- Kobe Bryant Expects Lakers Front-Office to ‘Tweak’ Team
- View All »
Strenght is good, but it is not the only asset in this sport, thank god
Not Nowitzki, Sabonis, Gasol, Kukoc, of course not Tony Parker.
I am sure you can think of a couple dozens of players who have had a more impressive high school and college career than this year` players. That was my point, thanks for asking
Add to that, Ricky Rubio was the DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR for the ACB. -DPOY- at the age of 18.
So, tell me, how is he not the best prospect?
Little test:
Name of the league he plays
Name 2 best PG in this league
Name 2 better players in his team Do not go to a website to look for statistics, that won’t help. This game is much more than that
But hey,you’re right.He ain’t much of a dunker,which as we all know equates to basketball potential.
Warr, are you looking at his stats in the Euroleague season? Rubio missed more than half the season with wrist surgery and played the entire season unable to bend his wrist. You really should do more research.
EUROLEAGUE is a complement for these teams, you have to understand this.
Rubio has played 4 competitions this year. ACB, who has 34 games plus playoff.
Euroleague, which has 10+6 games + playoff but his team did not make it
Olympics, you know that
King’s cup – 3 games ACB is the important one for all spanish teams, although, of course they aim to win all. Euroleague for his team was played at the beginning of the season, while he was injured. Could only play some games slowed by his injury. Besides that, he was named best young (under 23) player in Euroleague, second year in a row
To answer your question Warr,they have.
Jonny Flynn is a short, ball-hogging, shoot first point guard who turns the ball over to the point where you wonder if he remembers what team he plays on. He’s incredibly tough on offense but is a wimp on defense, plays a mile off of dudes, wont touch screens, and is constantly out of position. Lawson is like Flynn lite, size but no wingspan, no defense, and let’s take away the ability to shoot anything outside an uncontested set shot. Not to mention the dude needs some ADD meds, he disappears like a magician in games.
Curry makes Rubio look like an athletic freak of nature.
I’m not sure if Rubio will ever live up to his potential to be a star, but I don’t know if any of those other dudes will be starters. This is riduclous.
Little test:
Name of the league he plays
Name 2 best PG in this league
Name 2 better players in his team Do not go to a website to look for statistics, that won’t help. This game is much more than that…. u name them! i dont support him being an lottery pick you do. thats a questions u need to answer
I do agree, there is some degree of injury that all players have to fight through, and I think he reached that level during his ACB time. If you’re only judging him via his stats in the Euroleague tournement, where he RUSHED back from intensive wrist surgery to try and help his team through the rest of the season, well, you’d be devistatingly dumb. He played five games, thirteen minutes each. I’m going out on a limb here and saying he wasn’t healthy for that tournement.
Demond Mallet&Pops Mensa Bonsu
Javier Rodriguez&Prigioni.
Of course,you’ve never heard of these players,so they must suck.It’s funny you assume that everyone is as ignorant as you.
Javier Rodriguez&Prigioni… they are all great players that can’t crack an nba rotation so im sorry for being naive.
Warr: We HAVE seen him play. I’ve watched multiple games with Rubio, NOT just in the Olympics, because it wouldn’t be right for me to talk about him without watching him play an actual game. Of course, I’m not going to lie like you and say I’ve seen him in Europe, but I’ve seen enough to make at least a basic opinion.
The question isn’t whether or not Rubio will become a star (I don’t know, I think he’ll at least be slightly better than Calderon) but if he’s worth the 2-3 pick. And the answer is unquestionably YES, this draft class is so weak that it isn’t even a debatable issue. Curry, Flynn, and Lawsome all have backup PG written all over them. Rubio could be a starter right off the bat.
See, that’s just going too far.
I also think Rubio is going to have to mature more physically before he can dominate defensively on the level of the NBA. He’ll get his steals, no doubt about that (court vision and hand = win) but I think he’ll be posted up and burned on more than one occassion. Think Chris Paul defense.
Ciolkstar: I think he’ll be a better pro than Lawson, and that’s why I said Lawson was “Flynn lite.” Lawson has all the flaws that Flynn has but is less tough. That being said, just because you’re in a zone, doesn’t mean you have to give the dude two feet to shoot a J. I know you’re a big fan of Flynn, Ciolkstar, but I have my doubts about the dude as a pro. Not saying he wont make it in the league, but I wonder how much he’ll make it.
3. he is going to bad team more than likely( parker went to an establish team, calderon came off the bench so he work his way up. your projection for rubio does state you say he will start)
4.he wont be comfort by the refs in the nba so calls wont go his way as they do overseas
2) Navarro and Udrich would like a word with you, but I digress, this statement doesn’t make sense to me… if Rubio is, according to all his teammates, just about as good as Calderon while being nine years Rubio’s senior… Shouldn’t Rubio have a spot in the NBA already?
3) Him being on a bad team DRASTICALLY increases his chances of starting and developing even faster, as long as he’s not the only good player on that team. OKC and Sacremento will be tremendously helpful for Rubio’s career, as he’ll become the starting point guard right off the bat (Westbrook will slide to the two, Beno will pack his bags).
4) You’re vastly mistaken here. OJ Mayo and Derrick Rose are already getting superstar calls. Rubio has a HUGE following already, and will DEFINITELY get superstar calls right off the bat.
Will Rubio make at least the SECOND all-rookie team? Definitely.
Warr: We’re not talking about UNC here. We’re taking about professionals saying he’s as good as Calderon. So far you disagree with me, Euroleague players, and the media. You’re just that much smarter than us, huh?
The entire Chicago v Boston series was f’d up, Boston just got about every call in a game that you could get. That’s a bad example of Rose not getting star calls.
I agree that OKC needs size, but after Thabeet, the next rebounding bigman is BJ Mullens. And that’s not good at all.
Izzo: Thabeet isn’t a project to me because I feel that, even though offensively he may be a bust, he will be able to contribute defensively right off the bat. He’s 7’3 with nimble hands and decent foot speed. Obviously no actualy basketball skill, but he’ll do exactly what Memphis wants him to do: pull down boards, block a shot, and absolutely nothing else.
James the balla: Overdosing on those paint chips you like to eat?
@ jukai i see what you mean but thabeet might be a bust just tall like this year is so weak…
Where did you get that info from, warr?
Claiming that you have seen us play together and all.
So long as the stuff about him giving Mamphis the cold shoulder aren’t true
Comments