Posts tagged ‘ricky rubio’

Washington Wizards, Minnesota Timberwolves… on a Sunday afternoon when you will likely be watching playoff football, the Wizards will be trying to secure their first win of the season. For today’s 3-on-3, we have Benjamin Polk from the ESPN TrueHoop Network T-Wolves blog, A Wolf Among Wolves, along with TAI’s Sam Permutt and yours truly, Kyle Weidie. Three questions, three answers starts now…

#1) That David Kahn fellow… Can the future of the franchise be trusted in his hands? And with Ricky Rubio playing well, how much credit does he get for taking advantage of Ernie Grunfeld by sending him the always underachieving Mike Miller and Randy Foye for the pick that brought Rubio to Minnesota?

PERMUTT: I don’t pretend to know whether Kahn can be trusted… and that’s what makes him such an entertaining GM.  He’s like the guy in your fantasy league who you secretly admire because he picks with no regard for predicted rank—except he has a real team!  As for Grunfeld flipping the fifth pick into Miller and Foye, I still say that was a solid move for both teams.  The fact that it turned into Rubio two years later is good for the T-Wolves (and Kahn), but Grunfeld shouldn’t be blamed.

POLK: You know, I really have no idea. Although Kahn has certainly made more than his share of personnel mistakes, I do feel like his rep as a bumbler has been exaggerated  by his abrasive personality and the weird things he says. That said, the Rubio/Miller-Foye trade is, in my opinion, the best thing he’s ever done. Now if he’d just found some way to avoid taking Jonny Flynn at six…

WEIDIE: It’s a game of odds, and odds are that at least one NBA GM will be a bumbling quotable in the spirit of any press is good press. Plus, Kahn used to be a sportswriter, so you know with fairly reasonable certainty that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about on frequent occasions. Wizards fans should really get over Grunfeld sending Kahn the 5th pick in 2009 draft (Rubio) for Randy Foye and Mike Miller. Abe Pollin’s dying wish was another championship, regardless of if it cost a high draft pick. Maybe there were better moves, but Miller and Foye were worth the risk.

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A D.C. picture, links and commentary …

[Howard Theater - 620 T St. NW - Washington, D.C. - K. Weidie]

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By now you may know that JaVale McGee has been cut from Team USA … and it also served as another example of news coming directly from a player, via Twitter. This is somewhat disappointing (him being cut, not that word came by means of Twitter). Many signs/media reports gave you the feeling that McGee would at least be taken to Europe to participate in training and exhibitions leading up to the FIBA tournament in Turkey, and it would have been good for his development. Then again, maybe he didn’t want to go, knowing he wouldn’t make the final 12. Or perhaps the team thought it would be best for him to train stateside under the direction of the franchise. Regardless of the reason, a lot of eyes, D.C. and beyond, will be on McGee in 2010-11 because of this Team USA experience. If he becomes more of a student of the game, he can really be special.

Dan Steinberg conveys pretty much the gist of the Redskins’ Brandon Banks doing the John Wall dance after scoring a punt return touchdown in their exhibition opener against the Buffalo Bills. Banks did the dance in front of his boy from Raleigh, John Wall, no less.
[DC Sports Bog]

Even the website of a Lexington, Kentucky NBC television station is covering Banks doing the John Wall dance.
[Lex18.com]

Which makes me wonder … how many corny television montages of various folks doing the John Wall dance are we going to see this year? Probably can’t be more than the number of media members who attempted the famed Albert Haynesworth conditioning test themselves.

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[Skateboarder in Central Park, NYC, taken from pedicab, 2010 NBA Draft Weekend - K. Weidie]

Figured some pictures of Yi Jianlian would be apt.

Not sure when this picture was taken, but damn that guy’s arms are ripped. Even the dude in the background looks pretty shocked.

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Running down the best of what was said about the Washington Wizards and the 2009 NBA Draft …

“We wouldn’t have done anything different. The only player I would’ve been upset if he slipped to five was Blake Griffin, and he went No. 1 overall obviously,” [Ernie] Grunfeld said. “We wouldn’t have taken anybody but Blake Griffin if it came to this pick. Ricky Rubio, Tyreke Evans, James Harden – we liked all those players, and everybody else did. But if we had a chance to get Miller and Foye in exchange for that pick, there was no question about it.”

>> [Washington Times]

I found it quite amusing that the player most experts had slotted as the second-best talent in the draft slid all the way down to fifth. It was eerily similar to the Wizards drop on the night of the draft lottery, when they had the second-best chance of winning the top pick and dropped down to No. 5. On that night, Rubio didn’t seem like a possibility. Now his career will forever be linked to the Wizards, much like Devin Harris, who has blossomed into an all-star in New Jersey.

>> [Michael Lee - Wizards Insider, Washington Post]

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Flip Saunders was just as laughingly confident that Ricky Rubio would not slip to five as he was enthralled with the guy. His partner in crime, Ernie Grunfeld, having seen Rubio play twice in person, mostly likely felt the same way.

To be a proverbial fly on the wall of the Wizards’ draft ‘war room’ Thursday night when Rubio was available at the fifth spot. Grunfeld’s face probably looked like he just swallowed an entire egg filled with arsenic, knowing that at some point the shell would crack and it’d be worse than fecal matter hitting the fan.

Wizards fans are not happy …
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Ernie Grunfeld held a 2 pm presser this afternoon …. nothing ground-breaking. It can basically be summed up by:

“Hello press, we will be potentially drafting a player on Thursday and I’m not tipping my hat, but we’re going to do what’s best for the team.”

However, in the spirit of providing those who could not afford to listen to the WashingtonWizards.com streaming video-cast of the presser, I’m providing a bulleted account (before the video and sound cut off for me with about two minutes left).

Oh, and the ‘reporters’ asking questions didn’t have mics …. so that was kind of annoying. If only Dave Johnson were around to eloquently work the room like he did for Flip Saunders’ meet-n-greet night.

Some of these are quotes, and some are paraphrased thoughts/ideas/statements of Grunfeld. Evidently the Wizards website will have a complete video posted later today. Until then ….

• On preparing for the draft: “You always have to assume you’re going to [keep the pick].”
• The Wizards are still having conversations on what the pick can bring them in a trade.
• 5 or 6 players will be available the draft … they really like 3 or 4.
• Grunfeld seen Rubio twice in person and has a “real good handle” on his ability, but doesn’t want to get into any specifics about him (or any other particular player in the draft).
• On workouts: “Bringing players into your own building is just a process … if one doesn’t come in, it doesn’t meant you’re not going to take him, or you’re not familiar with him.” (Grunfeld cited that JaVale McGee did not work out last year.)
• Grunfeld doesn’t put much stock in workouts (especially in terms of if a player works out against others or not). He sees them as an extra opportunity to see the players’ skills and meet them.
• On the quality of the draft: “[This is] one of the strongest PG drafts in a long time … [they] could makeup half the lottery.”
• Teams that are ready to complete now are in a different mode (as far as cutting salary via trades around draft time) … the Wizards are obviously in a ‘compete now’ mode.
• Grunfeld likes his core, he’s trying to put a solid team around Gilbert, Caron, Antawn, and Brendan.
• On the team he has: “We’re a pretty deep team and we feel like at the 5 spot, we can get a pretty solid player.”
• On the salary cap: “We’ve been over the cap … the pick is slotted in, we’ve had it in our budget for years already.” (thought this was a curious statement – he could have misspoke, I could have misheard)
• On if he and Flip are on the same page in terms of what they want to do: “Exactly on page 1.”
• Antawn Jamison is out of his cast from ankle surgery and will begin running next week.
• DeShawn Stevenson is still not full speed from back surgery but he’s been working with trainers on a daily basis.
• On ‘The Plan’: “I’m going to do what’s best for this team short term and long term.”
• Grunfeld doesn’t know why rumors that the Wizards looking to cut salary are out there, and says “that’s not the case.” He then referred to the opportunity the Wiz had to shed salary at the trade deadline.
• On roster size: “When I played we had 11 players on the roster and we did okay.” Grunfeld doesn’t know how many players the Wizard will have on the roster.
• On moving up in the draft: “We’ve had some conversations about the possibility of moving up in the draft.” (among every other scenario, of course).
• On his mood this week: “Usually I’m in a pretty good mood [around draft time] because this is all about preparation.” Grunfeld went on to say that there won’t be any arguments on who to take in the waning minutes. They have their order pretty much figured out and will go with the best available.

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Amongst claims the Washington Wizards hold an “enviable” spot in Thursday’s draft, (they seem to be the only team apathetic towards the keep vs. trade scenario), the Memphis Grizzlies hold an even more enviable spot … because well, two is better than five. The argument on which team has the most enviable spot starts and ends with the L.A. Clippers, of course.

The Grizz don’t know what they want to do. ESPN’s Ric Bucher tweeted that Grizzlies scouts want Hasheem Thabeet, GM Chris Wallace wants Ricky Rubio, and Coach Lionel Hollins wants Stephen Curry. However, according to reports, Thabeet (insinuated by a cancelled workout) and Rubio might not want Memphis back. Wallace says he could care less about a ‘Spanish-Stay-Away’ order, but probably really does.

During his meet-n-greet with fans, Flip Saunders said, “I still think [Rubio] is going to get taken two. I think someone will make a trade when it comes down to trying to get him because he has that type of impact.”

Flip is exactly right. Rumors of Rubio slipping to the Wizards at the five spot are out-of-touch, especially with the reduced buyout from his contract with DKV Joventut potentially allowing him to join his NBA for the Las Vegas summer league. But hey, that hasn’t kept the Blazers from getting excited about the possibility.

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The internets are ablaze with one specific Wizards trade rumor today.

That trade: JaVale McGee and the #5 pick go to the Oklahoma City Thunder for the #3 pick. The Wizards would then select heartthrob Ricky Rubio and if for some reason he’s not available, the Wiz would “settle” for Hasheem Thabeet.

[via Chad Ford on ESPN then Bullets Forever]

Reaction Process:

1. A resounding no.
2. Why not trade Andray Blatche instead? (Unsilent Majority’s claims that ‘Dray runs the fast break like a drunk point guard notwithstanding.)
3. Many of us in Wizards Nation have tossed around the notion that some other unsuspecting GM would be glad to take a chance on Blatche … in a Kwame Brown for Caron Butler type of way.If Grunfeld is dangling McGee instead of Blatche, either other GMs would rather stay away or Gruns and Flip think that Andray (with his four years of “experience”) is more suited for the ‘win now’ plans.
4. “Great” the Wiz get unlucky on draft night and are looking to trade two prospects for one.
5. Would Thabeet even be an upgrade over JaVale McGee? Doubt it.My reasoning: Read more »

Well folks, we made it … to NBA Draft Lottery evening. It’s been a while since I’ve cared about one of these. Four years of Wizards playoff action did it’s job to erase some of the memories. And when the Wizards last won the lottery in ’01, I was away in college, a bit lost in my following of the team.

Part of me has been somewhat giddy as I’ve gone through today, knowing that there is a chance. But then again, I’m a Wizards fan … I’m pretty sure we will NOT be landing in the top two. Guess finding a balance between these two is keeping medium, as Jim Zorn would advise.

I’m not really a superstitious person … no consistent lucky charms, just an odd infatuation with May 19th (so much so that I ran the ESPN lottery machine 19 times today, results below).

But I’ll surely find something “lucky” to do tonight, such as laying out all my Wizards/Bullets jerseys on the floor, starting with a #1 Rod Strickland Wiz jersey, followed by a #2 Chris Webber Bullets jersey, but definitely not a #4 Webber Bullets jersey. C-Webb will be on-stage representing the SacTown Kings, maybe the #4 will bring him bad luck.

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“Taste of Eleven”

Looking for a way to celebrate a Wizards draft lottery victory (or fail)? On Wednesday, Wizards Care will be hosting their 2nd annual “Taste of Eleven” luncheon at the Verizon Center in Chinatown, DC.

Basically, $11 buys you a ticket where you can select six lunch items from a selection provided by a ton of local restaurants. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Capital Area Food Bank.

The event is scheduled to run from 12:00-2:00 pm and tickets will be available to purchase at the door. If you are in the neighborhood, like me, might as well eat some good food while supporting a good cause.

My Pick Six: Cafe Atlantico, Matchbox Vintage Pizza Bistro, Morton’s Steakhouse, Zaytinya, Zengo and Zola.

Email Bag

email #1

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