Vince Carter still thinks fondly of the Mavs, and he had expected he’d re-sign with the team this summer, as he told reporters today, including Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News. That was until he signed with the Grizzlies, who gave him a take-it-or-leave-it offer while Dallas was still waiting to see if the Rockets would match the offer sheet that Chandler Parsons signed, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com.
“They offered that young man a lot of money,” Carter said of Parsons. “I kind of understood how it goes from there. It’s a business. I get it, so there’s no hard feelings or anything like that. I understand how it goes. It was a great situation, a great offer from Memphis. It was kind of like, ‘If I pass on this now, what would be left here [in Dallas] for me?’ Obviously not much. Had to move on.”
There’s more on Carter’s new team amid the latest from around the Southwest Division:
- Beno Udrih felt maligned while with the Knicks, where he was former coach Mike Woodson‘s whipping boy, but the Grizzlies rejuvenated him after claiming him off waivers last February, as Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal details in a subscription-only piece. Udrih re-signed with Memphis this summer. “I always believed in myself,” Udrih said. “When my number is called upon I’ll do my best. When your number is not called you can’t compete. I was in a situation [in New York] where people didn’t really care about what I could do. So all I could do is hope to get in the right situation. In Memphis, I’m definitely in the right situation.”
- Jimmer Fredette‘s defensive shortcomings have limited his effectiveness in the NBA, but Pelicans coach Monty Williams believes that the former 10th overall pick can mirror the defensive competency of shooting specialists Marco Belinelli and Anthony Morrow. Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune has the details. Fredette signed for the minimum with New Orleans this summer, like Morrow did last year before parlaying his time with the Pelicans into a three-year, $10.032MM deal with the Thunder.
- Mike Conley admits he had some uneasiness this summer amid the turmoil surrounding the Grizzlies front office and coach Dave Joerger, but Conley’s excited to proceed with Joerger and most of his teammates back for another year in Memphis, as he tells Jeff Caplan of NBA.com.