Something that was written about him that I think would matter to us
"That is a hefty buyout, waiting until 2011 would mean he is only 20 then. Waiting 2 years would be a risk as if he declared then teams would know that if he had waited his buyout would be reduced. Would anyone be brave enough to grab him in 2009, yes certainly but where he'd go would be hard to predict. He's potentially the best prospect in the draft but perhaps not sacrificing 2 years of say DeRozan or Griffin but on the flip Rubio at 20/21 would be a better prospect than he'd be next year and you'd sacrifice 2 years at 18-20 for 2 more years on a rookie scale at 23-24. A team could almost be on a no lose situation if they did know that he would definitely come over and if they were prepared to wait as the team who drafted him might continue to struggle and thus gain further higher picks (i.e expected Portland struggle last year when G-OD got injured). Whether a struggling team would be brave enough to do this would remain to be seen so you may have a team trading up and sacrificing future picks to get a guy who could come in 2 years down the line when their current line-up could have aged or could be on the verge of challenging.
Who owns a lot of draft picks (especially 2nd round), has expiring contracts, two first round guys stashed away and is one of the most proactive GM's out there with the initials KP. Not saying it would happen but if Rubio fell outside the top 3 next year and Portland were late lottery level then I'd bet he'd try to make a run at him.
Could we perhaps use one of our picks on his rights this year and wait for him to come over?
