The Official Memphis Grizzlies Thread - "Grit and Grind"

[Damon_3388]

As a newly-minted Grizzlies supporter (as of last year's playoffs, after having a soft spot for the team since their inception, having formerly a Detroit man for many years), I thought I'd start this thread. Surprised not to see one here already.

Anyway, the team has gotten off to its greatest ever start (12-2), and looks like it's poised to make a serious run at it's first NBA Championship. Marc Gasol is looking like a true All-Star on both ends of the court, Zach Randolph is solid as ever, Tony Allen is still 'The Grindfather', Courtney Lee is shooting the lights out, and Mike Conley is one of the better all-round point guards in the league. The Grizzlies are the oldest team in the league (even older than the Spurs), so their time is now.

Discuss all things Memphis here.

 

[djrossie16]

They are just incredibly competitive and tough. You have to admire the way they go about it.
Tony Allen owns my favourite flop moment of all time

 

[Damon_3388]

 

[Drummer_19]

Always the I like to bandwagon onto come playoff time. Gasol prob my favourite player in the league.

 

[Damon_3388]

C - Marc Gasol
PF - Zach Randolph
SF - Jeff Green
SG - Tony Allen
PG - Mike Conley
-----
C - Brandon Wright
PF - Jarell Martin
SF - Matt Barnes
SG - Courtney Lee
PG - Beno Udrih
PF - Jarnell Stokes
PF - JaMychal Green
SF - Vince Carter
SG - Jordan Adams
PG - Russ Smith
PG - Andrew Harrison

Need to move one of the guards for some extra size/experience up front. Would have liked to have kept one (or both) of Kosta Koufos and Jon Leuer this offseason.

 

[nufan]

Sub diddly ubbed

 

[Damon_3388]

Should the Grizzlies trade away their senior pieces, and completely start again?

Marc Gasol keeps on keeping on, but he'll be 33 soon, and is likely past his best. Could be the missing piece in the right situation (would love to see him on the Warriors, even though they clearly don't need him and couldn't fit him into the cap, just to see how goddamn unstoppable it would make the).

Mike Conley is a cornerstone of the franchise and the community, and has been severely affected by injuries this year, and is only 30 years old, but he would also have a fair bit of currency for a team looking to level up and get greater quality and leadership at the point. I would think teams like Minnesota, Indiana and Detroit might have interest, and even Sacramento and Phoenix (depending on which way they choose to go), or even Philadelphia or San Antonio, could also have some interest. His contract ($28.53M this year, $97.54M across the next three years) would be very hard to accommodate though.

Chandler Parsons has shot well this year, but for the most part he's been a failure of a big contract signing. The Grizzlies were expecting a consistent, reliable 17-6-3 from him as a starter (similar to what he was turning into in Houston), but he's just been so injury-prone and ho-hum, that I'm sure they'd be happy to part ways if the offer was right. With $49.21M owed to him in the next two years, would be very hard to move.

Mario Chalmers was good in his previous stint in Memphis in 2015-16 (before being injured), but after a year off last year, he has been awful this season, and might never get back to being the solid backup that he was. His contract expires at year's end, so I'd just let him walk in free agency.

Brandon Wright is a solid, efficient, capable back-up big in some situations, but isn't going to get any better, and still remains as injury-prone as ever too (has played 64 of a possible 208 games over the past 2 1/2 seasons). The team would want to get more minutes into young bigs like Deyonta Davis, Ivan Rabb and Jarell Martin going forward too. Wright's contract expires at year's end as well, so I'd let him walk too.

I would also try to move JaMychal Green, as I don't really rate him especially highly, and don't think he's really a starting-calibre player in the NBA.

Obviously with needing to meet the salary cap floor going forward, they can't dump all the big contracts at once. If they can somehow wrangle an additional lottery pick out of moving Gasol and Parsons (NFI how), then I'd go forward in 2018-19 like this:

C - Deyonta Davis
PF - Ivan Rabb
SF - Dillon Brooks
SG - Tyreke Evans
PG - Mike Conley
C - Mohamed Bamba (2018 Draft)
PF - Jarell Martin
SF - James Ennis
SG - Andrew Harrison
PG - Trae Young (2018 Draft)
C - Goga Bitadze (2018 Draft)
PF - Wang Zhelin (rights held from 2016 Draft)
SF - Ben McLemore (ideally would be rid of him too, but fit him in here)
SG - Wayne Selden
PG - Kobi Simmons

That's a solid young squad to work with. They'd still miss the playoffs in 2019 with that group, but if they can nab a good Small Forward in the 2019 Draft (maybe even luck out in the Zion Williamson sweepstakes), they'll have the foundation for a decent team going forward.

I'd love to give Trae Young the reigns completely, and see what he can do with infinite minutes and touches, but Conley would be hard to move (from a financial and personal level), and his guidance would benefit the squad and Young's development immensely. They could even small-ball Evans/Young/Conley running riot together too.