Rudy Fernandez

Pick 26: One guy falls a long way every year, and this year it was Jordan Hamilton, whose slump is getting Rashard Lewis-esque here. It finally ends, however, when he is picked by Dallas at #26.

Dallas just won the NBA championship, and they did it without Rodrigue Beaubois (injured, then DNP-CD) or Caron Butler (out for the year) playing in the second half of the season. They had enough depth even without those two players, who, conceivably, would be a pretty strong starting wing rotation in their own right. And now they've added to that depth with both Corey Brewer and Jordan Hamilton. Hamilton is a lottery talent that should never have fallen this far. With no buyout or injury issue, it's bizarre why he did. He's somewhat selfish on the court, but not THAT selfish. Dallas gets a steal.

.....At least, they briefly get a steal. The Mavericks later make an entirely unexpected deal - they wriggle their way into the aforementioned Blazers/Nuggets deal, and trade Hamilton's draft rights to Portland [edit: Denver], in exchange for Rudy Fernandez and the draft rights to Petteri Koponen. Koponen is largely irrelevant - there is not a great chance that he ever joins the NBA, and even if he does, Nick Calathes is better - and so the inclusion of Rudy is the main one. It is also a bizarre one. Assuming Jub Jub Barea is re-signed - and he surely must be - the Mavericks will now have a five guard rotation of Barea, Rudy, Beaubois, Jason Terry and Jason Kidd. Shawn Marion and Corey Brewer are at small forward; if Butler is retained, as well as perhaps Peja Stojakovic, then the depth becomes ridiculous. And that all assumes that there's no chance DeShawn Stevenson, who started the vast majority of their championship season, returns.

Where, exactly, is Rudy going to play? And why would you give up what may go on to be the draft's biggest steal just to get a 37% shooting temperamental Spaniard who doesn't play much defense and who is fully committed to returning to Spain at the earliest possible opportunity? Not a Mavs-like move.

- Garret Siler * - Siler was linked to the Heat; however, with 15 guaranteed contracts and 2 partially guaranteed ones ahead of him, it now no longer makes sense. Maybe if Miami completes the Mario Chalmers/Dexter Pittman for Moody Fernandez trade, but in light of Aunt Flo's latest message to Rudy, that doesn't now look possible either.

Rudy had a great rookie year, showing terrific athleticism, a fine outside jumpshot, and uncanny chemistry with fellow Spaniard Sergio Rodriguez. He became one of the most desired backups in the league, and thus became overrated by fans and the Blazers alike.

Unfortunately for them, Rudy had a bad sophomore year. He suffered from a couple of injuries to his back and quadriceps, which did not help, but he also did nothing but cast up bad shots and added nothing notable to his game. He's still an awesome athlete and spot-up shooter with good passing vision, but Fernandez drove the ball even less than before, defended with whatever the opposite of aplomb is, shot 38%, and managed to turn it over quite an impressive amount for a man who rarely dribbles against traffic. Worse still, Rudy sulked his way through the season, complaining about his minutes constantly, missing Rodriguez openly, and further remonstrating his sulking through his apathetic play. It was not a good year, and the "at this point we're only trading Rudy for a star" brigade soon turned into a "just let him go back to Spain, he's not an NBA player" clamour within a few short months.