What Small Forwards could Rudy net us?

[Natebishop3]

pffft ... uh no! Rudy's PER was pretty consistently in the 14-15 range for most of the year, it was super hot in the first month of the season and once people had the book on him and realized he was just going to launch threes they started to take that away from him and force him to put the ball on the floor.

Yeah, I really think it's all going to depend on how Rudy improves in the offseason. Will he develop a mid-range game? Will he get bigger?

 

[Nikolokolus]

Yeah, I really think it's all going to depend on how Rudy improves in the offseason. Will he develop a mid-range game? Will he get bigger?

He's got to get stronger ... I'm not sure if that means more bulk, but stronger for sure. If he gets to the point where he can drive and absorb a little contact and still get his shot off the mid-range game will come, the other part of this equation is his handle which is pretty dicey. As of now when he's dribbling he's only trying to create enough space to back up and jack up a fade-away three, defenders play him close because they know he can't take it to them.

Lots of big questions this off-season with a lot of guys:
Will Oden improve his footwork?
Will Bayless rediscover his shooting touch?
Will Rudy ever be a driver?
Will Martell be healthy enough to play?
Will Nicolas be able to refine his offensive repetoire and get a bit stronger and bigger?
and finally
Will Sergio be playing for the Knicks, Real Madrid or JKV Joventut next year?

 

[andalusian]

pffft ... uh no! Rudy's PER was pretty consistently in the 14-15 range for most of the year, it was super hot in the first month of the season and once people had the book on him and realized he was just going to launch threes they started to take that away from him and force him to put the ball on the floor.

I am pretty sure you are wrong here. His PER at the start of the year was ungodly 21 - 2nd on the Blazers behind Roy. He went down to around 18 until just the end of the year - I am pretty certain this is what I have seen - just wish I have a way to track it.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I am pretty sure you are wrong here. His PER at the start of the year was ungodly 21 - 2nd on the Blazers behind Roy. He went down to around 18 until just the end of the year - I am pretty certain this is what I have seen - just wish I have a way to track it.

It was very high ... for about a month, by December it was down to 17 and pretty much held steady at the 15 level the rest of the year. I only know that because I'm pretty OCD about checking that kind of crap every couple of days.

 

[Natebishop3]

He's got to get stronger for sure ... I'm not sure if that means more bulk, but stronger for sure. If he gets to the point where he can drive and absorb a little contact and still get his shot off the mid-range game will come, the other part of this equation is his handle which is pretty dicey. As of now when he's dribbling he's only trying to create enough space to back up and jack up a fade-away three, defenders play him close because they know he can't take it to them.

Lots of big questions this off-season with a lot of guys:
Will Oden improve his footwork?
Will Bayless rediscover his shooting touch?
Will Rudy ever be a driver?
Will Martell be healthy enough to play?
Will Nicolas be able to refine his offensive repetoire and get a bit stronger and bigger?
and finally
Will Sergio be playing for the Knicks, Real Madrid or JKV Joventut next year?

It's strange because I had heard Rudy was a slasher before he came to the NBA. I just assumed that he stopped slashing because of his slight build. The guy really can't afford to go into the paint unless it's a backdoor lob.

 

[Minstrel]

It was very high ... for about a month, by December it was down to 17 and pretty much held steady at the 15 level the rest of the year. I only know that because I'm pretty OCD about checking that kind of crap every couple of days.

This is what I recall, as well. I also like to check these things on a regular basis, especially for the four rookies.

 

[andalusian]

OK - this really annoys me - so I wasted time looking for board posts, blog entries and the like that had Rudy's PER mentioned - with the assumption that his PER there is accurate.

Here are some of my findings:

Nov 7 Forum entry - 16.69
Nov 18 - Thorpe Archive - 21.05
Nov 20 - Hollinger Archive - 19.74

Jan 20 Blog entry - 16.36

Mar 20 Forum entry - 14.9

Season end - 15.5


This is far from conclusive - and a better idea will probably be to write my own PER calculator and feed it the game log data - but that's an exercise for another day...

 

[TehChad]

There's no way we're trading Rudy unless he nets us an AMAZING trade deal. And let me reiterate that one more time: AMAZING.

 

[Denny Crane]

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/POR/2009.html

Looking at the per 36 minute stats, it's hard to see how PER could be higher for Rudy than for Blake.

2 PPG better for Rudy, but everything else except 3PA looks better for Blake, or within .1/36 minutes. Blake better at FG%, 3Pt%, and way better in assists.

Yet the PER differential is .9

I'm looking at which factor is weighted so heavy in Rudy's favor to make that big a difference, but the formula isn't that straightforward. Could be the extra rebound per game.

 

[igotask8board]

You're crazy.

Sign Artest

Continue to develop Batum

/thread

As a Rockets fan, I feel obliged to say this is not the correct answer. Maybe sign and trade Artest for Outlaw and Fernandez since you guys hate Travis sooo much around here.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

As a Rockets fan, I feel obliged to say this is not the correct answer. Maybe sign and trade Artest for Outlaw and Fernandez since you guys hate Travis sooo much around here.

I'm sure that as a Rockets fan you don't like the idea of losing Artest as a UFA, but it is certainly possible.

Secondly, I'll go Outlaw + Sergio!

 

[Wheels]

I'm sure that as a Rockets fan you don't like the idea of losing Artest as a UFA, but it is certainly possible.

Secondly, I'll go Outlaw + Sergio!

I'll raise your Outlaw + Sergio and throw in Channing!

 

[RR7]

Cleveland might offer Lebron for Rudy, but if they refused to throw in their first, I'd probably just respectfully decline.

Rudy's going nowhere.

 

[Natebishop3]

I mentioned this in another thread, but I would be interested in exploring a Jeff Green for Rudy trade. I think it solves problems for both teams. Green and Durant play the same position, much like how Rudy and Roy play the same position.

 

[MAS RipCity]

I don't want green b/c he's too young. batum is the future..bottom line. I just want a vet to shore up the SF spot until batum's game matures.

 

[Natebishop3]

I don't want green b/c he's too young. batum is the future..bottom line. I just want a vet to shore up the SF spot until batum's game matures.

I would contest, at this juncture, that Green is a better prospect than Nic. Batum may well be our small forward of the future, but he's still got a ways to go, and I'd rather hedge my bet. If Batum ends up being the guy, then you trade Green.

 

[BLAZINGGIANTS]

Why trade Rudy? He was a rookie, looked brilliant at times, and I personally don't think we put Rudy in a position to thrive. Watching Rudy, when he comes in, he needs to be freed up and have the offense run a little bit more through him. He's a good 3-point shooter, but having him sit out up top isn't the best use of his talent. Dude has hops and can make crazy interior shots while he's contorted and drawing contact.

 

[andalusian]

I would contest, at this juncture, that Green is a better prospect than Nic. Batum may well be our small forward of the future, but he's still got a ways to go, and I'd rather hedge my bet. If Batum ends up being the guy, then you trade Green.

Really? Jeff Green at this juncture has "average" written all over him. His production went up once he was moved to PF from his natural position - but he is undersized over there. He had a win-score of 4.3 vs. 3.5 for Batum - but Batum did it in half the minutes (1,400 vs 2,800) as a much smaller part of the team's offense (his usage percent is less than half of Green's) as a rookie, while Green has an NBA body but Nicolas still has 20-30lbs of muscle to grow into.

I just do not see anything special with Jeff Green as a prospect at this point - he is older, only slightly better as a player at this point and is a tweener with less impressive physical attributes. There is just no way I would consider him a better prospect - Batum is a classic defensive SF with the ability to guard 3 positions effectively, he has fantastic speed and great court awareness. Jeff green is arguable a slightly better player than Nic - but he is not a better prospect.

 

[Minstrel]

I would contest, at this juncture, that Green is a better prospect than Nic. Batum may well be our small forward of the future, but he's still got a ways to go, and I'd rather hedge my bet. If Batum ends up being the guy, then you trade Green.

Being able to contribute in the NBA from day 1 as a raw 19 year old is highly impressive. I think Batum has a much higher ceiling than Green and is only a bit worse than him right now. I agree with andalusian that Green projects as an average small forward to me. It's still beneficial to OKC have a young, average starter, but I wouldn't take Green's future over Batum's.