On the NBA: Rubio is a player worth tanking for

By John McMullen
The Phanatic Magazine

In another couple of weeks you will likely
start to hear whispers of the four letter word that drives David Stern crazy
-- "tank."

Prior to the NBA Draft Lottery, the first pick in the league's annual draft
was determined by a coin toss between the two teams in each conference with
the worst records.

Hurt by accusations that the Houston Rockets "tanked" their 1984 season in
order to obtain Hakeem Olajuwon, Stern and the NBA instituted the lottery
system in 1985.

The Draft Lottery was at first a chance drawing for the top seven draft picks
among the seven non-playoff teams, with each team having an equal chance of
landing the number one pick.

The New York Knicks won the first lottery and the prize was Patrick Ewing.
Meanwhile, the worst team that season, the Golden State Warriors, drew the
seventh and final lottery draft position. That result ignited the Oliver Stone
crowd and conspiracy theorists abounded, accusing the NBA of rigging the
lottery in order to send Ewing to the nation's No. 1 media market.

In fact, video of the event has become the NBA's own version of the Zapruder
Film with thousands of Jim Garrisons breaking it down frame-by-frame, looking
for the dinged envelope.

Since then, things have evolved into a "weighted lottery" where teams with
fewer wins have a greater chance at selecting higher in the draft.

No matter what the NBA does, it hasn't been able to stop the league's doormats
from conveniently sitting banged-up players down the stretch in order to
secure a few more ping-pong balls for the lottery.

Heck, Barack Obama could put together a G8 summit to tackle the issue of
"tanking" and nothing would get done. Desperate teams often take desperate
measures to get better.

That said, I don't expect the usual level of "tanking" this season. The names
atop this season's projected draft boards are hardly going to remind you of
Olajuwon and Ewing.

Players like Oklahoma's Blake Griffin and Connecticut's Hasheem Thabeet
certainly have the athletic ability to flourish in the NBA, but their skill
sets are extremely raw. In fact, there isn't one surefire superstar player on
the college level expected to enter June's draft.

One name could change everything, however -- Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio.

Rubio is the 18-year-old sensation who became the youngest player in the
Spanish ACB League's history when he debuted on October 15, 2005 for DKV
Joventut.

Rubio is regarded as the best European guard prospect since the late Drazen
Petrovic and many have compared him to Pete Maravich, pointing to his natural
scoring ability and creativity,

"I think he's a freak of nature - being so young and being so skilled and also
so cool all the time," Former NBA guard and Temple star Pepe Sanchez, who once
played for Spanish ACB League rivals Unicaja Malaga, said. "You can see that
he knows what he's doing. He knows the game and he can only improve. I think
he'll be a great player."

Currently Rubio would have to pay a buyout of 4.7 million euros to get out of
his deal with DKV Joventut, a figure that could be managed if Rubio is taken
with one of the top three picks in the draft.

"He's the real deal," one Eastern Conference general manager told Sports
Illustrated. "He could be the No. 1 player picked next year. He's going to be
a top five pick for sure."

The 19-year-old age limit to enter the draft (Rubio will not turn 19 until
October) does not apply to international players and Rubio's agent, German
Gonzalez, has indicated that the Barcelona native will decide whether he will
enter the draft or postpone his arrival for another season any day now.

Here's hoping Ricky agrees to come stateside.

After all, NBA teams should have a reason to tank games.