The Grizzlies have brought in Tyrus Thomas for a workout, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). Thomas apparently left Memphis without an reaching an agreement with the team because he’s scheduled to let the Lakers take a look at his wares next, Kennedy adds, though the date of the Los Angeles workout was not relayed in Kennedy’s tweet.
Memphis looks to be in the market for a reserve big man with the team having brought in veteran forward Kenyon Martin earlier this week, though the reports were conflicting as to whether or not Martin was being looked at as a player or a coach. The Grizzlies have only 14 players on their roster after waiving Kalin Lucas this past weekend, so the team has the flexibility to take on Martin without needing to let anyone else go.
With Memphis less than $1MM shy of the luxury tax line, any deal would likely be a non-guaranteed, minimum-salary arrangement so as not to hamstring the franchise for any further moves later on in the season. But with Thomas looking to make a comeback after being out of the NBA since the Hornets placed him on amnesty waivers back in July of 2013, that would likely be in line with what the player and his new agent, Roger Montgomery of the Montgomery Sports Group, would expect.
As for the Lakers, the team has the league-maximum 15 players currently on its roster, so a corresponding move would be needed to accommodate Thomas if the team chose to sign him. The NBA recently granted Los Angeles a disabled player exception worth $1,498,680 as a result of the season-ending injury to Julius Randle, but it’s unlikely that the team would spend any more than the minimum salary to ink Thomas, though that is just my speculation.
Thomas’ career averages through 400 contests are 7.7 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 0.9 APG, and 1.3 BPG. His career slash line is .438/.235/.732.