| 19 August 2010
This isn't about Rudy Fernandez leaving Portland. This is about how he is choosing to leave.
After just two short years in the NBA, Fernandez is looking to head home to Spain.Yesterday, Jason Quick reported that "Rudy Fernandez is now saying he will not report to the Trail Blazers and he will sit out the final two years of his contract with the Blazers and is prepared to be suspended, forfeit his salary so he can get out of this and go back to Europe and play in Spain. He's done with the NBA."
It's not exactly news that Rudy has been unhappy with the Blazers team, but his recent desire to abandon the NBA in general comes as a little surprising.
Marc Spears wrote that Fernandez is “homesick" and is seeking an "amicable divorce" from the team. I don't know who's been giving Rudy advice, but somebody should have told him that this most recent tirade certainly isn't increasing his trade value or giving him more bargaining leverage. In fact, John Hollinger tweeted that "You could push on a string and get more leverage than Rudy Fernandez has right now."
Meanwhile, new GM Rich Cho stated, "I'm not going to be strong-armed into making a deal."
It would appear that Rudy understands the ramifications of his actions, however, and has already given up on the possibility of being traded altogether. What other options does he have? He's still under contract to the Blazers for two more years, but he does have a couple choices, including flat-out refusing to play or even possibly filing for retirement from the NBA.
Larry Coon addresses the rules for retired players in his Salary Cap FAQ.
He writes: "The only exception to [a normal contract retirement] is when a player is still under contract, wants to quit, and his team doesn't want to let him out of his contract. Under these circumstances the player can file for retirement with the league. The player is placed on the league's Voluntarily Retired list, forgoes his remaining salary, and cannot return to the league for one year. The latter requirement prevents players from using retirement as an underhanded way to change teams, but can be overridden with unanimous approval from all 30 teams."
Most likely, this does not mean that Rudy could retire, come back in a year, and sign a contract with a new team; rather, if he wanted to come back to the NBA after that one year he could do so, but would need to finish out the remainder of his previous contract before signing a new one. This "retirement" wouldn't solve his NBA woes, but it would give him an opportunity to return home to Spain and, if he is allowed, resume his basketball career there (one year from now if the Euroleague also honors the rules).
How does all the Rudy drama affect the Blazers in 2010-2011? It shouldn't affect them at all. It was already expected that Rudy would be traded during this offseason and people need to remember that the Blazers signed another player named Wesley Matthews to a pretty hefty contract less than one month ago.
Rudy has never fit in very well with Nate McMillan's style of play and now that the Blazers are looking to emphasize defense even more next season, Rudy would have been the odd man out.
Now he really is out - and Rudy has no intentions of coming back - so the Blazers are left to move forward without him.
Update: In other sports around Oregon....
Beyond The Beat's Ben Bradea breaks down the history of the MLS designated player rule and will have more on how the rule effects the Portland Timbers soon. Stay tuned.
Last night was Blazer season ticket holder night at PGE Park as the Portland Beavers baseball team matched up against the Round Rock Express. The game ended in a 4-2 loss, with all of the Express’ runs coming off of a grand slam by Collin DeLome in the 6th inning. The Beavers are in a bit of a hitting funk right now after going 23 straight scoreless innings before breaking that streak in the 9th inning of the loss. The team will get their shot at revenge tonight, however, as they continue their series vs. the Express at 7:05pm at PGE Park.
The PSU Vikings football team unveiled six new uniform combinations this week. They’re designed by Nike and feature a return to green as the predominant color. Head coach Nigel Burton quoted Deion Sanders, saying “If you look good, you play good” and then followed that up with a smirk and “so hopefully with these uniforms we should be undefeated and win the national championship.”
UP Pilots women’s soccer opens up its season with a great rivalry matchup versus the PSU Vikings tomorrow night, 7pm at Merlo Field. The Pilots are ranked fifth in the most recent NSCAA Preseason Top 25. Cross-town rival, PSU, is hoping to repeat as the Big Sky regular season champions and have created an in-depth video preview of their upcoming season.
President Obama has invited the UO Ducks women’s track team to be part of a ceremony honoring NCAA student-athletes next month in the nation’s capital. "It is an incredible honor to be invited to the White House," said Oregon Associate Athletic Director Vin Lananna. "We are extremely proud to represent the University of Oregon and Track Town, USA, as national champions."
Past OSU Beaver baseball standout Darwin Barney spoke to Bob Miller on KPAM 860 this morning about his first major league hit in the MLB and his journey of transitioning into the pros, now playing for the Chicago Cubs. “First pitch I saw, I swung at it and fouled it off my big toe," Barney said. "You know, I had so much adrenaline I didn’t even feel it until that night.”
photo: ap
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