I’ve been telling you this story for months: Long-term, Portland is not the right place for Rudy Fernandez
Now he’s reportedly upset with the Blazers for chasing Hedo Turkoglu:
Portland’s pursuit of a certain player from Turkey has infuriated the Trail Blazers’ lone remaining Spanish player, Rudy Fernandez, to the point where he’d prefer to play in Greece, Russia or even Spain again, ESPN.com learned Tuesday.
A league source told ESPN.com that Fernandez has already been courted informally by European powerhouses Olympiacos, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and CSKA Moscow as word spread that the Blazers had become the apparent front-runners to land free agent Hedo Turkoglu.
And then this:
The Blazers have been made aware of Fernandez’s feelings, the source said. The source added that Fernandez has not formally requested a trade but has expressed his dissatisfaction with the way he was used by Portland coach Nate McMillan over the course of his rookie season. Fernandez averaged 26 minutes off the bench and scored 10.2 points per game, rarely handling the ball or acting as an offensive initiator — two of Turkoglu’s specialties.
Every time I write it, people want to skewer me, but the fact is, Rudy didn’t come over here to be somebody’s backup. He’s been a star his whole life. Long-term, as long as Brandon Roy is here, Rudy is never going to be a starting off-guard, which is what he wants to be. You might as well trade him now — because later you’re going to lose leverage if he stomps his feet and goes home in a snit.
Better to trade him while you have options than wait until he’s holding all the cards. You might get one more season from him where he’s content, but that’s going to be about it.
LATE ADD: The word around the league is that Rudy’s agent has made it clear to the Trail Blazers that if Turkoglu signs with Portland, it’s time to trade Rudy.
NBA, Trail Blazers | Dwight Jaynes | July 1, 2009
Dwight Jaynes, Hedo Turkoglu, Portland Trail Blazers, Rudy Fernandez
Rudy is not an NBA Small Forward – he is too weak. And he obviously isn’t going to start anytime soon over Roy.
I would be willing to see if he could play more with Roy in the backcourt, but if that doesn’t work out, I would rather have a very tough and big defensive-minded guard to come off the bench and push people around.
If Rudy is upset, it is about potential playing time, not about Hedo. If per chance it was about Hedo, it would take on the appearance of being to childish for a professional sports franchise to determine their future on.
What I am saying is that these are two separate issues, and should be dealt with separately. If Hedo is our man, then so be it. If Rudy has problems regarding playing time, then talk with him about it and see what can be done. I personally think that Hedo helps the following players careers substantially: Rudy, Oden, Blake (if he is here), Roy, and Webster. Batum may lose somewhat in the short term, but gain in the long term. Outlaw is the biggest loser here, and Bayless if he can’t hit his shots.
Lone remaining Spanish player?? Did I miss something? been in Hawaii for almost 2 weeks.
What a baby!
I have been waiting to celebrate a Trailblazer NBA championship since CBS cheated me from doing so in 1977. Instead of showing the post-game interviews and trophy presentation, CBS went to the Kemper Open golf tournament. I was 12 years old and will never forget the pain of missing something so special.
The years/decades following the 1977 Championship have been painful. One injury and draft mistake after another. We let players go and they prosper elsewhere. We approach the promised land just to be let down again.
When the Blazer’s traded Drazen Petrovich for Walter Davis(“The Greyhound”) in 1991 I knew it was a mistake, but the Blazer’s wanted a veteran. That was a bad move and another trade mistake. We all know the outcome of that playoff run… We passed on Michael Jordan in 1984 because we had Clyde. Another mistake. Clyde could have played SF and Michael the SG. Now we have the Rudy/Turkoglu mess(potentially)…
If Kevin Pritchard(who I trust)goes with Turkoglu as “point forward”, that should not mean reducing the talent that Rudy provides. The answer is to make Brandon our starting point guard. Turkoglu will take pressure off of Brandon as he won’t need the handle as much. Rudy should be the starting SG. His basketball IQ and increased minutes will accelerate our dominance in the western conference.
I can see a line up like this:
PG: Roy/Blake/Turkoglu
SG: Rudy/Roy/Webster
SF: Turkoglu/Batum/Webster
PF: Aldridge/Pryzbilla/?
C: Oden/Pryzbilla
Rudy is the man. Lets not be hasty or foolish in our comments. This guy payed $500K out of his own pocket to come play in the NBA. He was a fan favorite and a spark.
Matty-
He also is the greatest female player in the world
Little bitch
Trade him and Outlaw to New York for David Lee and Nate Robinson. It works for everyone.
I don’t believe this report at this time. It could be an outright lie. It’s not accredited. No one should assume it’s true. To me, it sounds like a set up as a prelude to moving Rudy. I’d like to hear it direct from Rudy on a video interview or taped phone call. Funny how no Portland “journalist” can get an official statement from the man himself. But we’re supposed to believe the equivalent of “some say Rudy’s upset”. Jeez….people.
Quick of the Oregonian said that he didn’t believe this at all. He was speaking to the guys on 1080 the fan.
Think this through. Rudy had talent!
Opps – I meant HAS talent.
Quick is all over it. It is BS. Dwight is full of it as usual.
Tim:
What a ridiculous thing to say.
Any player in the league that is happy being a backup, isn’t one I would want on my team. I am not some great “Rudy” advocate, but he plays hard, and is on my team. So I say, give him the benefit of the doubt. Besides…isn’t the jist of the whole story here on from “Blazer Insiders”? Good lord that could mean anything, or nothing.
I would pay money to see you say that to his face. I can see it now….eyes down, frog in throat, hands behind back, voice quivering, eyes watering…
I have always loved Hedo Turkoglu’s game and my mouth waters at the prospect of him taking some of that late-game pressure off Roy, as well as create scoring opportunities off screens w/ Oden. But I would hate to see a situation like what the Hornets experienced with Peja after signing him a few years ago. He has never been the same player he was under Adelman in Sacramento, and could we never see the Turkoglu who had career years under SVG? just a thought.
Not to shoot down ol’ Dwight.
But this story is complete B.S. According to J Quick.
Rudy has said nothing, and neither has his agent. And “league sources” could be just about anybody.
So, whatever. Rudy is under contract and has no choice
The story is not complete BS. But both Rudy and the agent are smart enough to distance themselves from it. That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. It means they won’t own it. And of course he has no choice. But the point of the whole thing is simple — he isn’t going to play as much if all these pieces are added and that’s not going to make him happy. It wouldn’t make anyone happy.
I think how much Rudy will play depends on what other moves they make. It seems to me the guy who should be most worried about signing Hedo is Outlaw.
If they follow up signing him with a Blake/Outlaw for a PG trade then all of a sudden a lot of minutes are opened up.
I would imagine that KP has several scenarios, Hedo is part of one of them, if he signs somewhere else they have a plan B, C etc.
C’mon Dwight, Rudy, Nate, Pritchard, Quick, Hohdahl,Rudy’s agent..all deny it.
While some “anonymous person” is the word we should take?
Admit it, this story might as well have little red riding hood in it…
I would think a media guy, with your pedigree, would understand the blogisphere is not always the living word.
Dwight, your the man and all..but this is pushin’ it..
Agree with Matty.
League sources could have been the Toronto Raptors for all we know. And I dont see how turk has any effect on Rudy’s PT.
Surely if we get Hedo, we are shipp Travis or Martell or Nic or some combination of the two in order to get a point guard. I doubt we roll into the season with 4 Small Forwards. And that isnt even Rudy’s position. Even with Hedo, Rudy is probably the first or second player off the bench (excluding przybilla when Greg gets in foul trouble)
Im just not buying into this annonymous story.
Look, if the only people you’re going to talk to are Blazer sources — of course, it never happened. You think they’d say it happened? No way. I didn’t get it from the web. Are you kidding me? I got it from someone in the NBA. I would imagine Chris Sheridan did, too. It was all over the league Wednesday. If you’d stop and think about it, you’d have a fairly easy time, too, in figuring where it came from.
Dwight wrote:
“I got it from someone in the NBA. I would imagine Chris Sheridan did, too. It was all over the league Wednesday. If you’d stop and think about it, you’d have a fairly easy time, too, in figuring where it came from.”
Maybe someone in Toronto who doesn’t want him to sign with the Blazers?
Sure Greg… you’re probably right — because the whole world is against the Blazers. And as far as the Toronto stuff is concerned, their first priority is probably Shawn Marion. If they can’t keep him, they probably will come after Hedo. Of maybe they’d just do it because all teams just want to pick on Portland.
Dwight: Peter Vecsey and Stephen A. Smith get their sources from NBA insiders too. Aren’t they the newspaper world version of James Frey?
Maybe it happened, maybe it didn’t, but I will wait to here it from a credible source, not some NBA hanger-on…
“A league source told ESPN.com that Fernandez has already been courted informally by European powerhouses Olympiacos, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and CSKA Moscow…”
Is it just me, or are those some very nice SOCCER clubs supposedly courting Senor Fernandez?