Rasta, you keep harping on Rubio coming here and being the piece to push us over the top. OK fine, for the sake of argument let's say that's true -- that he is the one critical cog that is missing from the Blazers rotation that makes them title contenders -- Why the fuck would he want to play here after Sergio and Rudy's trials and tribulations? Even if Nate were to be fired and a regime change occurred, we'd still be a small market team on the left coast which puts him about as far from home as he can get.
Technically not an accurate representation of what I've said: all I'm saying is that he may be the best possibly-available option. There are many good PGs I'd also be happy with (Jrue Holliday, for example) that I don't think the respective teams would give up for what we can offer.
Second: why should Rubio think that the same thing will happen to him? He would have to think that Sergio and Rudy's problems come from
(a) being Spanish and
(b) Nate McMillan hating Spaniards
before he believed that he wouldn't do better. He's got to know that he's got a different game from both of them. And there are plenty of people who will tell him he's an order of magnitude better than both.
(You're also forgetting that Rudy's rookie year in Portland was seen as a rousing success all round, and Rudy was much beloved. Unless I'm much mistaken, Nate was the coach then, too. Even Sergio was much beloved his first season, even in limited time. But Sergio was even dropped by the Spanish National team, so it's not just Nate who had his doubts.)
You're also assuming that Rubio wouldn't come over unless he was on (say) the Knicks, Lakers or Heat. But he's a kid, and when you start out, just about any American city is exciting. I believe he would've come over to the Wolves if they hadn't immediately drafted Flynn. If you read
that article that circulated around this year's draft that described Rubio at last year's draft, it was clear that he was really befuddled by Flynn's selection. That same article makes it seem like he wanted Sacramento - another small market town that crapped on Sergio, and that has a much worse team.
If the Blazers do well in the playoffs, they become more attractive.
I think this reveals, once again, the belief that all Spaniards are prima donnas. I think half the crap that appears in the Spanish tabloids is posturing by agents.
