Months of trade speculation have gone by and now Rudy Fernandez is officially asking out of his contract so that he can return to Spain. His agent Andy Miller is making that perfectly clear. Per The Columbian…
“There’s nothing to fix,” Miller said. “He does not want to come back to the NBA.”
“This is not a bluff,” Miller said. “In his mind, he’s not coming back.”
Miller said he has attempted to be fair and reasonable with the Blazers during negotiations. But after waiting
months for Portland to make a move, the “light is out.”
“In my mind, we’re at a very unnecessary juncture,” Miller said. “I’m certainly not happy as an NBA agent that this is happening.”
The Oregonian has more details…
Rudy Fernandez will not report to the Trail Blazers training camp in October and the disgruntled guard has no intention of playing for the Blazers for the remaining two years of his contract, his agent said Wednesday.
Fernandez, 25, is unhappy with his role and is frustrated with the offensive style of coach Nate McMillan, whom he says limits him to just a shooter, and not the playmaker he has shown he can be in international play.
Miller said new Blazers general manager Rich Cho has “overreached” in his attempt to trade Fernandez, turning down offers from Chicago, New York and Boston, leaving Miller and Fernandez with no option other than to hold firm that the former first-round pick will not report.
“All I can do now is stand on the roof top and scream ‘He’s not coming!’,” Miller said. “He’s just not coming back … I’ve made that clear.”
“Why would anyone want to hold anyone against their will?” Miller asked. “He’s not going to want to practice, he’s not going to want to be around his teammates. I mean, if they thought he was difficult when he was contributing, imagine how difficult he will be when he is not.”
Last week, I examined Fernandez’s case that he should get more playing time, and found that it wasn’t all that strong. He certainly hasn’t been the guy that we saw play so well in the 2008 Olympics, but then again, the NBA is a different animal. Fernandez has far more freedom when he plays for Spain than he does in Portland, and clearly he craves that kind of responsibility.
For his part, new Portland GM Rich Cho is taking a hard line with Fernandez and has said repeatedly that he’s not going to make a trade just to make a trade. But now Fernandez isn’t asking for a trade. He wants to leave the NBA altogether — will the Blazers let him out of his contract?
