WEDNESDAY, 8:10am: Today’s meeting is about a coaching position, tweets Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter links). Given the conflicting reports, it seems possible that the Grizzlies have interest in Martin both as a player and as a coach, though that’s just my speculation. Player-coaches aren’t allowed under the current collective bargaining agreement, so the Grizzlies and Martin would have to choose one or the other.
TUESDAY, 11:42pm: The Grizzlies are set to work 14-year veteran Kenyon Martin on Wednesday, reports Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal (Twitter link). No signing is imminent, Tillery cautions, but Memphis nonetheless apparently wants a close look at the former No. 1 overall pick who’s a month and a half shy of his 37th birthday.
The Andy Miller client met with the Rockets last month, though there were conflicting reports about whether the visit was in connection with a possible roster spot or a coaching gig. There’s otherwise been paltry interest in Martin since last season, when he finished up his second year with the Knicks. In April he expressed a desire to return to play for New York and suggested that he had no intention to retire just yet.
Memphis has only 14 players after waiving Kalin Lucas this weekend, so the team has the flexibility to take on Martin without letting anyone else go. The Grizzlies have a sliver of the mid-level exception left over, but it’s not enough to accommodate Martin, whose prorated minimum salary would exceed that amount. The team is less than $1MM shy of the luxury tax line, and while it appears as though a prorated minimum salary contract for Martin would fit beneath that threshold, it would severely limit the Grizzlies’ flexibility to make other moves unless it were a non-guaranteed arrangement.