JULY 7th: Memphis has officially confirmed Randolph’s signing via press release.
JUNE 30TH: It’s official – Randolph delivered his $16.5MM player option to Memphis today and inked his two-year, $20MM extension, a league source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).
JUNE 27TH: The Grizzlies and Zach Randolph have struck a deal on a two-year, $20MM extension, agent Raymond Brothers confirms to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal was the first to report that the two sides had reached an agreement (Twitter link). Randolph is opting in to his contract as a part of the arrangement, Wojnarowski writes. He’ll collect more than $16.9MM in salary for next season as a part of his existing deal, and the extension will kick in for 2015/16.
Negotiations had reportedly hit a snag over money earlier this week, but the talks otherwise seemed to indicate momentum toward a deal. The extension will keep Randolph from free agency, where it appeared as though the 32-year-old would have been able to command a three-year, $30-35MM deal from Memphis or other suitors. He was 10th in the most recent edition of the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings.
Randolph spoke on multiple occasions within the past year of his affection for Memphis, and it seemed like GM Chris Wallace‘s reinstatement as the head of the team’s basketball department made those feelings mutual between the team and the power forward. Former CEO Jason Levien had been a fan of backup Ed Davis and reportedly made at least two attempts to trade Randolph. Randolph’s new deal casts the future of Davis in limbo as he’s set to enter restricted free agency.
The Grizzlies will likely be over the cap entering free agency next week, as they’ll have more than $65.9MM in guaranteed salary for 2014/15 with Randolph opting in. The Grizzlies will have about $35MM in salary on the books entering July 2015, when Marc Gasol is set to hit free agency.
I wonder if Memphis is too cheap to go after Pau or don’t think its a good fit. Because last year once Randolph and Marc Gasol were off the floor because of fouls or rest this team sucked. Why not get Pau to comeback to play with his Brother and be a goodback up at the 4/5 for both of them.
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