Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee reported Sunday morning that Ricky Rubio, a projected high pick in Thursday's NBA draft, is on the precipice of finalizing a buy-out agreement with his Spanish club, DKV Joventut. No word on how much of the $6.6 million owed to Joventut will be cut from the deal, but Amick said the resulting amount will be something feasible for Rubio, who should be a top five pick.Further news on the Rubio beat: he met with Thunder officials in L.A. this weekend, and he will reportedly re-visit Sacramento today, where he is expected to engage in a work-out.
At last word, Sacramento had gotten cold feet. DraftExpress' Jonathan Givony nails the sentiment in today's round-up: Kings management fears Rubio will need some time to transition to NBA basketball, and management doesn't have much time for the team to show massive improvement. This is irrelevant if the Thunder really like Ricky, though. (OKC picks No. 3, Sacramento No. 4.)
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Although Rubio is intriguing, this reminds years ago of when Tony Kukoc came to the states and was supposed to dominate. He was 6'9", played point and extremely talented. He was as advertised, but the American athleticism and toughness gave him problems. With the exception of Steve Nash, foreign point guards have not had success dominating because all NBA players are athletic, strong and play both ends of the floor. From what I've seen, Rubiop has great handles, is a great passer and knowledge, but he's not exceptionally fast, not a great outside shooter, or not exceptionally strong... should be interesting. I wish Rubio the best, and I know he's young, although he's been playing pro since he was 14, but I think he'll be in for a rude awakening when he hits the NBA.
Yeah, the European pros are about university level quality. See what great superstars Adam Morrison and JJ Redick were supposed have been in college, and were supposed to be in the nba? Now see them dominating the all pro team? They are little used reserves, their jumpers have deserted them, and so have the press who kissed up to them so. They may re emerge, but it seems highly doubtful. But the know it alls who were sure they`d be superstars will just ignore being proved wrong. Again. Lousy little draft this off season, almost no size, unless a bunch of unpublicisized big guys shock in a big way.