NBA PM: Jennings Vs. Rubio
Brandon Jennings has taken a beating throughout the lead-up to the 2009 NBA Draft. There's no doubt about that. The young man once touted as the Next Big Thing has now dropped right out of the Top 10 on many mock drafts as concerns about his range, his attention to defense, and even his literacy have scared some executives away from one of the most talented point guard prospects in the draft class. In our ongoing quest to help our readers get the absolute full spectrum of information about this draft class, we ran across a column on The Bleacher Report that did a great job of comparing Jennings and Ricky Rubio, who is expected to be the first point guard taken in a deep point guard draft.
In this report, submitted by Matthew Hayden, we get a nice look at Rubio and Jennings in a variety of comparisons, from three-point shooting to defense to speed and basketball IQ. At the end of the day, it was difficult to come to an objective conclusion about which of these talented young stars would emerge as the better NBA player.
"On one hand," writes Hayden, "you have a no mistake guard who makes decisions with the ball so well that Picasso could only paint a picture of the critique. On the other hand, you have a guy so flashy and athletic with a tremendous upside, and he's so underrated it's ridiculous.
It's hard to pick, but I'll say one thing. If I had to start a team from scratch, I'd pick Rubio.
But, I'm a die hard Wolves fan, and If I had to pick a guy for the Wolves, it'd be Jennings."
We very highly recommend you check out Hayden's point-by-point comparison HERE!
In another interesting development, ESPN is running a scouting report written by Ibrahim Jaaber, who played with Brandon Jennings in Rome and faced Rubio once, as well.
"I look at both as players who will need to be nurtured and given a lot of attention in order to thrive in the NBA. After one or two seasons in the League, given the same coaching, opportunities and development, in my opinion, I think Brandon Jennings will be the overall better player. Which is not to say that Ricky won't be successful. I just think Brandon has greater potential -- and as they are both in my eyes players who will have to make great developments, I would invest my pick in the better athlete, Brandon Jennings."
The latest rumors have both Rubio and Jennings slipping as we get closer to Thursday's draft. The fact that neither appears ready to take the reins of an NBA team immediately has teams thinking about addressing other needs first, which is why we've seen James Harden's stock rise, and why the Grizzlies and Thunder are talking about Thabeet despite his obvious deficiencies. Rubio is still considered to be the top point guard in the class, but overlooking the potential Jennings brings to the table would be a huge mistake.
Rubio is back in Sacramento today, trying to strengthen his case to be the #4 pick. The Kings have been leaning heavily in the direction of Jonny Flynn, but are still somewhat up in the air.
The Blazers And #5
The Portland Trail Blazers have made no secret of their intention to land a top-tier point guard this summer, and while it's being said they'll make a big run at Sixers free agent Andre Miller, it also appears they're hot and heavy in their pursuit of Rubio. The issue in dealing with the Wizards at #5, however, is that they'll likely to require that any trade include Etan Thomas, who is owed over $7 million next season and has struggled to contribute in any meaningful way even when he's been healthy. It's precisely that type of hang-up that could prevent Portland from moving to grab a rookie point guard and instead send them shopping come free agency.
As it turns out, Blazers head coach Nate McMillan would prefer the free agency route, anyway.
Jason Quick of The Oregonian reports: Pritchard joked that McMillan "will probably kill me" if he adds more youth to the roster in the draft, and McMillan laughed and said "you will have to put me behind bars" if Pritchard presents him with another rookie.
"Talent has served us well so far," Pritchard said. "But there's not a day that doesn't go by that Nate doesn't communicate his needs. We don't agree on everything, but we have good conversations, and that's healthy. It's healthy for our relationship."
We're never surprised to see the Blazers make big moves on draft day, and this year should be no different. From what we're hearing, however, the Blazers are more likely to shed some picks than move up and add another young player to the mix.
Phil Jackson Wants One More
Ten just isn't quite enough for Phil Jackson. The Los Angeles Lakers' head coach, now the holder of the most championship rings, would really like to add one more to his collection before he hangs up the clip board. He addressed that issue on ESPN Radio in Chicago today.
"I have some medical issues that I have to resolve and I have to take care of those in the next couple weeks before I recommit to this thing. I'm emotionally tied to these guys. They've embraced what I try to do and they've embraced the way I try to do it, so that commitment's there. The organization is obviously behind what I want to do and they've extended that offer for continuing here, so that is all positive. It's just covering that hurdle. And, some of that's just getting old, and the wear and tear of the game, and the amount of flying that you do. You know, this 82 game pilgrimage that you go through before the playoffs even begin and the wear and tear and if that's a necessary part or if this is the time now to step back, and regard that as accomplishments done and sit back in the rocker and enjoy watching guys do this. But I'd still like to push on through another year if possible."
While winning a tenth championship with Kobe Bryant in the mix was a foregone conclusion for much of the 2008-09 season, Jackson admits that it was one of his more interesting championships because of the way he had to revamp the team to win it.
"Well, the other nine were like, extensions almost, of previous play. You know the Bulls had come into their own, it slipped a little bit during the course of my second year as an assistant coach, and then they had a pretty good playoff run and got to the Finals against Detroit in the Eastern Conference; they're pretty much poised to take the next step whenever they could rally. Winning those first three was remarkable and trend setting in the early nineties, and then revamping that team with Jordan and Pippen back again together, and the repeat and reincarnation of Michael as the best player in the game, and then that next three championships was even probably better, even though the team was not as talented physically perhaps as the first three that we won in Chicago. And, then coming out to L.A. it's almost the same scenario. The Lakers had been bumped in the playoffs in four straight in the finals of the West and they were ready to make a move if they could just get over the hump ,and you know I was able to coach a pretty talented team here for the next three years to another three championships. But, then when the dissolution of the Lakers went on in an off year when I took a sabbatical, or as I called it a 'hiatus,' we had to revamp this whole team. Luke Walton, seriously, Luke Walton was the only player back from that last Laker team that went to the Finals against Detroit, so this one was entirely different as we revamped and traded, and made adjustments and brought in new personnel, brought personnel back like Derek Fisher and we restructured this team so it was a very interesting and sweet championship."
And of course, you can't talk about Kobe Bryant these days without having to at least throw two cents in on the Michael Jordan comparison. Who better to break that one down than the man who coached them both?
"I think that (Michael's) the icon of the sport. We have two great players in the league right now, more than two I should say, there's a number of really terrific players in Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony and guys that are really, really terrific players in helping their team win. And, then there's LeBron James, who's like an heir-apparent to that kind of closeness that everyone wants to equate to Michael Jordan. My guy, Kobe Bryant, has been at that level now for a number of years and everyone's been pointing towards him, but they're different. Kobe's a different player than Michael even though he grew up teething on Michael Jordan videos. So, his competitive drive is like MJ's and that's the thing that's a key for a coach, is to go out there and have a guy that wants to win, wants to beat people, wants to carry the torch so to speak in every game, and he has that ability. He's physically a different player, he's about the same size, but his physique is considerably different, there's just nothing quite compared to Michael Jordan."
Listen to Phil Jackson's entire interview here!
Gotta Have Twitter?
As we prepare for next week's NBA Draft and then free agency, I've decided to start a Twitter page as another means to keep everyone up to date on where HOOPSWORLD is and what we're doing. You can follow HOOPSWORLD by going here: twitter.com/hoopsworld, and now you can follow me by going here: twitter.com/TheRocketGuy. Enjoy!
NBA Chat Tonight!
HOOPSWORLD Executive Editor Steve Kyler will be holding his weekly Rumors chat on Tuesday at 1:00 PM Eastern, so get ready to pick his brain about where Chris Bosh, Shawn Marion, and even Dwyane Wade might end up this summer, as well as the Draft and beyond. Steve's chats fill up fast, so drop your questions in now to make sure he gets to them.
