When Red Auerbach spent the No. 6 overall pick in the 1978 NBA draft on Larry Joe Bird of Indiana State, there were a few eyebrows raised. You see, Bird wouldn’t be actually entering the NBA for another year because under the rules in place in those days, Bird — who had taken a redshirt season when he transfered from Indiana — was eligible to be drafted after his junior season.

But for one full year, the Boston Celtics would not have any benefit from that draft pick.

At the time, there wasn’t a lot of fuss. Nobody was too sure how good Bird was going to be — he hadn’t had a lot of big-time exposure. And oh well, Red usually knew what he was doing.

Did he ever. A year later, of course, Bird was a much hotter property.

But fast forward 30 years and the world isn’t quite as laid back. David Kahn, the new general manager in Minnesota, possibly having to wait two seasons for Ricky Rubio has set off a real fuss. He’s being called an idiot from coast to coast. Look, I’m not comparing Rubio to Bird in any way (or Kahn to Auerbach for that matter), other than to point out the way the world has changed to a results-right-now culture.

Kahn took Rubio in the first round last June, knowing full well how difficult Rubio’s buyout is. Now, with word coming out of Spain that Rubio’s been traded and is probably two seasons away from a cheap buyout, Kahn is still insisting that no deal with any team has been reached.

But really, Kahn has a long-term vision on this thing that most fans and media these days just can’t abide and his worst-case scenario isn’t as bad as it looks right now. He knows his Timberwolves aren’t going to be competing for a playoff berth next season. Or probably even the season after that. Frankly, they’re awful.

The way you build a solid franchise in the NBA isn’t through quick fixes and rapid transformations. You build with solid people, good young talent, astute trades, you do it piece by piece and it takes time. There are no shortcuts, other than getting lucky with the ping-pong balls at the draft.

What Kahn has done is decide that if Ricky Rubio is a pretty good player right now, with two more years of European experience he’s going to be an even better player and even more valuable to an NBA team.  Kahn has already taken a pretty good point guard in this draft and he can afford to be patient with Rubio.

At some point when Rubio buys himself out of Spain, Kahn will be able to better see the long-term needs of the T-Wolves and decide whether to bring Rubio aboard to his team or trade him for a missing piece. And oh yeah, they won’t have him on the salary cap for those years, either.

Either way, Rubio is a very big asset to the Minnesota Timberwolves, no matter where he’s playing.

It’s all a matter of patience. And that’s something in today’s world — not just in sports but everything — that’s really in short supply.

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Tags: Boston Celtics, David Kahn, Dwight Jaynes, Larry Bird, Minnesota Timberwolves, Red Auerbach, Ricky Rubio

This is from a blog by Pooh Jeter and I pulled this out of the comments section with a big thanks to “Shallwemaui” for finding it on draftexpress.com:

 Spanish players in the ACB that got drafted:

Ricky Rubio- The number one question I get from people is HOW GOOD IS RICKY RUBIO? My answer to the question is he is good, but I think if he continues to improve, he will be real good as he gets older. I seen him play a few times this season and I played against him once because he was hurt the first game. I saw how crafty and smart he is in this game of basketball. I think his IQ of the game is what makes him good because he knows where his teammates are at all times. When we finally played against each other, I had 18 points and 4 assists and he had 16 points and 8 assists. He led the league in steals and assists this season. A lot of 18 years don’t know the game like he does because he’s been a pro since he was 14 years old.

Sergio Llull- Sergio is a very explosive and quick point guard. I didn’t really see him score, but he brought energy off the bench for Real Madrid, especially on the defensive end.

Victor Claver- To be honest, I think Victor Claver is the best pro right now out of Rubio and Sergio. I know people may think I’m crazy for that comment, but hey, it’s my opinion. Victor Claver is like 6’9; he can score and is very athletic.

Jeter, a former star at the University of Portland, played in Spain last season.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Pooh Jeter, Portland Trail Blazers, Ricky Rubio, Sergio Llull, Victor Claver

The NBA ought to change its free agency date so that it could have a major extravaganza on draft night. It would be cool to have open season on free agents the same day as the draft — it would lead to a real three-ring circus of activity and a lot more publicity for the league.

Plus, teams could wheel and deal draft picks more using cap space, if it is available. A lot of times, the free agent stuff doesn’t get the publicity in July it should get — but having it part of a big night like this would help a lot. Plus, it would help the thing from becoming a four-hour snoozefest, which it was last night.

Everyone is confounded by Minnesota taking the two point guards. But I’m sure Jonny Flynn was the guy the Wolves wanted and Rubio falling in their laps was too much to resist.

I would assume that they’d like to hold Rubio up for auction to the highest bidder. He’s certainly the most marketable player in the entire draft and maybe the only legitimate ticket seller of the bunch. The guy’s magnetic, on and off the court.

But I’d be concerned that Rubio is magnetic enough that the Twin Cities are already geeked up about seeing him and it’s already resulting in the phones ringing to buy tickets. You better trade him quickly before everyone is too in love with him.

This draft was a real sleeper. For all the blockbuster trades made prior to it, the draft itself provided very little drama. I did like David Kahn’s interview with Stu Scott, though. Funny stuff — and yes, he used to play all the time in those noon games at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center. I know because they used to happen right after the Trail Blazers’ morning practices there. He wasn’t much of a point guard, though — at least according to the guys who played with and against him.

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Tags: David Kahn, Dwight Jaynes, Jonny Flynn, Minnesota Timberwolves, NBA Draft, Ricky Rubio

I couldn’t find anything about this trade in my morning paper but it’s supposedly done — with the Minnesota Timberwolves ending up with the No. 5 pick in the draft alongside the No. 6 choice they already owned.

David Kahn is no shrinking violet and he now controls a key part of the draft. He’s busting his tail to improve a team that sadly needs it. I have no idea what he’s going to do with those back-to-back choices but if he picks (or trades) wisely, the Wolves have a chance to get better in a hurry.

It looks now to me that he’s not going to get a shot at Ricky Rubio, though. All signs point to Oklahoma City grabbing him after Memphis takes Hasheem Thabeet. That leaves Sacramento in a tough spot and the word down there is the Kings like Jonny Flynn.

I think the Minnesota trade — and Rubio apparently coming to some agreement to play in Oklahoma City — drastically inhibits Portland’s chances of moving up. The Blazers may not be able to get up to get the players who would make great trade pieces (Rubio and Stephen Curry) now. You could see a Portland draft where not much happens, other than the move everyone knows they have to make — shipping Sergio Rodriguez somewhere, with probably not much coming back in return.

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Tags: David Kahn, Dwight Jaynes, Hasheem Thabeet, Jonny Flynn, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, Portland Trail Blazers, Ricky Rubio, Stephen Curry

You don’t need to see the entire 10 minutes of this to know what an attraction Ricky Rubio is going to be:

I could see him being the best trade piece a team could acquire in this year’s draft. And at last report, he may be falling toward No. 5, as Sacramento has grown a little recluctant because of all the buyout issues. If the Blazers are looking to move up and grab a player they could use to trade for an established point guard, this is the piece.

Man, this kid could sell some tickets for a team in economic trouble.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, NBA Draft, Portland Trail Blazers, Ricky Rubio, Sacramento Kings

Over and over I keep hearing that from my friends around the league. Portland, they say, is trying to get up among the top five or six picks. The Blazers are chasing somebody at the top of the draft.

I keep thinking it’s Stephen Curry. I’ve said that before. He makes sense for them — a star-quality shooter to play alongside Brandon Roy. But a thought occured to me last night:

What if they’re going after Curry — or Rubio or someone else — for another team? What if they’ve got New Orleans convinced that if it can replace Chris Paul’s massive salary with a rookie salary that Curry or Rubio would serve the team just as well in the long run and help the team stay in business through tough economic times? Or what if Phoenix is wanting a big name to soften the blow to its fans for shipping Steve Nash to Portland?

Some NBA teams are going through some difficult financial times and Portland is in a position to take on salary. Could drafting one of these players lead to a lopsided deal in Portland’s favor?

I don’t know. It’s just one more thing to think about as we get inside a week before the draft. The Blazers are creative and gutsy — and I just don’t think they are going to get through this draft without a big move.

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Tags: Chris Paul, Dwight Jaynes, NBA Draft, Portland Trail Blazers, Ricky Rubio, Stephen Curry, Steve Nash

Here are a few things I didn’t know yesterday when I wrote about the flashy, 18-year-old Spanish point guard:

– He’s got something like an $8 million buyout with his current team in Spain. NBA teams are allowed to pay only $500,000 of these buyouts and the player must pay the rest. The buyout could be negotiated downward, but certainly will still be very high. He’s not going to earn anywhere close to enough, in his first season in the league, to pay that off.

– In order to handle that buyout, he’s probably going to want to play in a major media market, where endorsements might help defray part of that fee.

– If he doesn’t like the situation with the team he’s going to end up with he can pull out of the draft right up until a couple of days before it happens. That means, I bet, that if Memphis says it will take him and not trade him — he’ll probably pull out of the draft. Certainly he’s young enough to wait another season.

– He wouldn’t fit well in Portland because, as talented as he is, he’s still pretty wild, wants to run all the time and can’t shoot. Those are attributes that Nate McMillan probably would not want to deal with.

Sorry to rain on a parade I helped start.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Memphis Grizzlies, Portland Trail Blazers, Ricky Rubio, Spain

I got more than one of these emails last night just minutes after the draft lottery results were announced on ESPN:

“So Memphis drafts second and takes Ricky Rubio . . . doesn’t that mean Mike Conley is now available?”

There’s the fact that Portland was rumored to be intersted in Conley for quite a while (remember the proposed Travis Outlaw-for-Conley deal earlier in the season?) and, of course, all that stuff about him being Greg Oden’s pal and a guy who might possibly motivate Oden.

My initial reaction is positive. I didn’t see much in Conley until Lionel Hollins took over that team last year. Immediately, Hollins put the ball in Conley’s hands, showed confidence in him and allowed him to blossom. Conley was up to that task.

I think Conley has shown he’s going to be a decent NBA player and there are lots of trade possibilities with the Grizzlies — although possibly icy relations between the front offices after the Darius Miles fiasco.

But what about Rubio? Is it possible that Memphis could decide it would rather hold onto Conley, trade the No. 2 pick (it’s going to be either Rubio or Blake Griffin) for a package of players that would allow them to improve a lot quicker than by adding an 18-year-old point guard?

Would the Blazers, who want to start adding experience to a team that’s emerging, be interested in an 18-year-old point guard? In the case of Rubio, considered a special player since he was 15, the answer would probably be a very loud yes.

(By the way, the Blazers somehow landing Rubio would cause massive strokes among basketball fans in Spain. They do NOT think Sergio and even Rudy have gotten a fair shake here from Nate McMillan and would die if Rubio ended up here, too.)

Maybe the Rubio/Conley scenario is what Kevin Pritchard meant yesterday on The Morning Sports Page (95.5 The Game) when he went on the air and said, “We’re not AT the lottery, but it doesn’t mean we’re not IN the lottery.”

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Greg Oden, Memphis Grizzlies, Mike Conley, NBA Draft Lottery, Portland Trail Blazers, Ricky Rubio