Chad Ford reports that Ricky Rubio has asked to terminate his contract with DKV Joventut: “Spanish teenager Ricky 
Rubio, projected as a top-five pick in the NBA draft, took the first step in clearing his way toward the NBA on Monday when he notified his team, DKV Joventut, that he wants to terminate his contract. Rubio is asking out of his deal, and also is challenging a 4.75 million Euro (approximately $6.6 million) buyout, which climbs to 5.75 million Euros after June 30. Rubio made 70,000 Euros last season (about $97,000) and is scheduled to make 125,000 Euros next season (about $175,000).”
He hasn’t yet, but Rubio plans to sue if negotiations can’t be reached: “Barcelona newspaper La Vanguardia reported in Sunday’s edition that Rubio’s camp, led by European agent German Gonzalez but no doubt pushed by U.S. agent Dan Fegan, plans to sue Joventut on grounds the buy-out is unreasonable commensurate to the player’s salary. DraftExpress’ Jonathan Givony, attending Reebok Eurocamp in Italy, called the rumor accurate on Monday, and noted that it was a major topic of discussion between NBA and European scouts and executive over the weekend in Treviso.”
Here’s a trade that might make you chuckle: “Blazers Trade to Oklahoma City – Rudy Fernandez, Travis Outlaw, Steve Blake, Martell Webster; Blazers Receive from Oklahoma City – Jeff Green, Nick Collison, Earl Watson, #3 pick in 2009 draft.” The problem with people coming up with trades for their teams is that we all think far too highly of our own players. On both sides. Keep Reading…
in the June 25 NBA Draft, Knicks team president Donnie Walsh will eye a center with his $5 million mid-level exception during free agency, and Orlando’s 7-foot backup Marcin Gortat is very high on his list, The Post has learned.”
among six prospects who will participate in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s next NBA draft workout. Blair was named the co-Big East player of the year with Connecticut’s Hasheem Thabeet, another prospect in this year’s draft. Other players participating in Friday’s workout will be guard Ben Woodside from North Dakota State, forward Jeff Adrien from Connecticut, center B.J. Mullens from Ohio State and guard Curtis Jerrells and forward Kevin Rogers, who are both from Baylor.” B.J. Mullens, eh? Well then, the Thunder must be high on him!
Draft prospects by the numbers
Bret of Hoopinon has put together an extensive spreadsheet of statistics for this year’s draft prospect crop. It’s really something else. He’s got sortable stats on 92 prospects. So yeah, it’s extensive. (Google docs are really incredible by the way. You can even chat with others viewing the spreadsheet. Safe to say, when I realized this, my mind was blown. Also, to sort the stats, go to “view” and click “list view.” Then click each category to sort just like you would on a video game.)
Bret says to keep this in mind though:
There’s so much info there to digest, I feel like I’d need to commit three or four days to comprehend it all. What’s crazy, is that Sam Presti has a guy doing precisely that, all season long. Crunching numbers, understanding key stats and using them to help make informed decisions. There’s great stuff like free throw rate, eFG%, true shooting percentage, assist per 100 possessions and on and on. All the advanced stats some love so much, but for all these prospects.
I definitely don’t think stats like this are the end all, be all, but they are useful. I more lean to how good of a basketball player a guy is based on what I see, rather than what some numbers say. But you really need to use the two together to be a well-rounded basketball person. Interesting to see that James Harden’s true shooting percentage is actually higher than Steph Curry’s. Ty Lawson was tops on the list (and in the country last year) in assists per 100 possessions.
Tyreke Evans was last (or first, depending on perspective) in turnovers per 100 with Curry and Harden close behind. Lawson was 23rd in that category, which is rare because the top 20 is mostly just big men and others that didn’t handle the ball a lot. One other thing that caught my attention was how much Curry got to the free throw line. When you’re as good a shooter as he is, getting to the line is as free of points as you can get.