Rubio-Griffin Could Spark Little-Big Man Debate

I’ve always thought it was kind of stupid that the NBA Draft comes immediately on the heels of the playoffs (unless they’re nothing but sweeps). In part, this can’t be helped -- things get serious when players start declaring, and that happens as soon as teams start bowing out of the NCAA Tournament. But given what a circus, and attention-magnet, the NFL draft is, you’d think the NBA would want to try and pump theirs up, too. While the summer league is important, and you can’t put the lottery off till the last minute, couldn’t it be pushed back a few weeks, so it didn’t sneak up on us most years?↵
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↵So although we’ve yet to see a game of playoff action, and are in fact still waiting for the final picture to develop, the 2010 draft class is already taking shape. With Blake Griffin declaring yesterday, the prized prospect of the college ranks is now officially up for grabs. UNC’s championship run, in which Ty Lawson really took control of his team and every team they faced, has put the junior PG way up on draft boards at a time when his position is particularly coveted.
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And speaking of point guards, and potential franchise players, the authoritative DraftExpress is cautiously including Spanish sensation Ricky Rubio in its mocks:↵↵⇥Sources close to the situation indicate that Rubio’s family is now in favor of him entering this year, and that will almost certainly be on the early-entry list when it’s released on April 27th. His buyout still needs to be negotiated, which is easier said than done, but a final decision on whether to stay in likely won’t come until very close to the pull-out deadline, on June 19th. Unlike college players who are bound by the more restrictive NCAA rules, International players can enter the draft up to three times, which gives him plenty of wiggle room.↵↵Rubio also plans to attend Reebok’s EuroCamp, the first installment of what should be a byzantine guessing game of “is he in or out,” as well as a showcase for the teen’s unearthly skills. But more importantly, with Griffin in, Rubio entering what had been thought of as a weak draft will have at least two highly-touted stars. Maybe we’ll get a big/little debate like last year’s Beasley/Rose dilemma, as well as more talk about whether the point guard is the new franchise foundation. Wishful thinking, perhaps, but at least the top two teams could come away from this draft with a new direction.↵