"Redick also said Rui will probably come off the bench since he will be on a minutes restriction. He has not yet decided if Hachimura will return to the starting lineup once the minutes restriction is lifted."
yeah, if we're simply not going to play defense, missing our only reliable three point shooter is going to hurt.
Good weapon to have and he was sorely missed especially in Sacto where I thought he has going to return. I’m still in favor of him coming off the bench the rest of the year. We’ll get to see that for at least a while with the minutes restriction and if LaRavia continues to play well with the starters.
I’m down to trade him if we don’t plan to extend him or re-sign him at a reasonable price, but I’m also not in a hurry to just get rid of him if he can be played off the bench as a scorer. I just don’t like the fit as a starter
i don't put too much credence into the reporting here. i'm sure rui's always been tradable at the right price. now that he's expiring, he can be traded for multiple reasons, though. the one thing i'm pretty sure has probably already happened is some numbers thrown out from his agent about what he's hoping to make this year. if that number is higher than we like, his agent may try to get us to trade him to a team that will be capped out but have his bird rights. conversely, were we to take on long-term salary by moving gabe and kleber, i'd think we might be more likely to retain rui, and that his agent would be ok with that.
Good with him as a backup. Not good with him as a starter. There's a lot that is fighting against that: contract year, fans in the FO, Japanese market, Rui wanting to start, risk of him going Casper as a backup. BUT we're at a point it doesn't matter what matters to him, it's what's best for the team and Jake is not the more talented player but the MUCH better fit.
Jake' a more talented player in terms of smarts, defense, rebounding, and motor which counts plus has not hit his ceiling as a scorer/shooter and has been up to around 40% from 3 in the past. Rui's more talented as a shooter. Scoreboard Jake?
in terms of future rui replacements, anyone thought about ousmane dieng? he's not playing much for okc, and they have 14 players under contract next year and three first round picks. i think given bigger minutes, he can do basically what rui does for us now at a much lower cost. could be next summer's laravia signing.
Rui isn't a scrub, he would be in OKC rotation now IMO. We have to stop with the undervalue of our players. As if we are the only team dumb enough to be paying and playing them! That's a reflection of poor personel decisions, being made by your GM if true.
Rui played some of best 1v1 D I've seen from him in the 4th and he bricked every open 3 in the fourth: the rui experience
i don't know if it's the injuries piling up messing with his rhythm or whatever, but he's regressed pretty hard this year after years of incremental improvement. bad timing as it's a contract year for him. bad timing for us as we needed him to be at least as good as last year, but not the worst, as i have no concerns about using him as an expiring if need be nor am i concerned about how to keep him in the offseason (answer there is only on a discount).