Memphis Grizzlies Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Grizzlies Waive Mario Hezonja, Sign Ahmad Caver

December 11th, 2020 at 1:14pm CST by Luke Adams

1:14pm: The Grizzlies have officially waived Hezonja, the team confirmed in a press release. Additionally, Memphis announced that it has signed free agent guard Ahmad Caver to fill the newly-opened roster spot.

Terms of Caver’s deal weren’t disclosed, but it’s likely an Exhibit 10 contract designed to get him a $50K bonus if he plays for the Memphis Hustle in the G League again this season, as he did last year.

12:50pm: The Grizzlies are waiving veteran forward Mario Hezonja, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Hezonja, 25, averaged 4.8 PPG and 3.5 RPG on .422/.308/.814 shooting in 53 games (16.4 MPG) for Portland last season. After he exercised his minimum-salary player option for 2020/21, he was sent to Memphis in a three-team trade that saw the Trail Blazers acquire Enes Kanter.

The Grizzlies were carrying 17 players with guaranteed contracts into training camp, leaving Hezonja and Marko Guduric as the likely odd men out for the regular season. Neither player was in camp with the club.

Hezonja hasn’t developed into a reliable and productive rotation player since being selected with the fifth overall pick in the 2015 draft, but being cut by the Grizzlies doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t play in the NBA at all this season. According to Charania, multiple teams are expected to express interest in the Croatian once he clears waivers and training camp ends.

Southwest Notes: Melton, Cousins, Forman, Aldridge

December 10th, 2020 at 7:32pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Third-year Grizzlies reserve point guard De’Anthony Melton bought cars for his mother and sister after inking a new four-year, $35MM extension with Memphis, according to Evan Barnes of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.

“It’s not a surprise anymore because they already know. But yeah, that’s definitely the first thing, they got cars,” Melton said.

The guard averaged 7.6 PPG, 3.7 RPG, and 2.9 APG for the 2019/20 season. His modest output last season, however, belies his defensive impact for the club.

There’s more out of the Southwest Division:

New Rockets center DeMarcus Cousins is enjoying training camp with his new team, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Cousins signed a non-guaranteed, one-year veteran’s minimum deal with Houston after missing all of his 2019/20 season for the eventual champion Lakers with a torn ACL.
The Pelicans have added former Bulls GM Gar Forman to their scouting team as a special advisor, as K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago details. Johnson notes that Forman has had a long relationship with New Orleans team president David Griffin.
Per the wishes of Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, center/power forward LaMarcus Aldridge has been working on his three-point shot during team practices this season, according to Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. Though he is a career 31.2% three-point shooter, Aldridge connected on a solid 38.9% of a career-high 3.0 long-range attempts during the 2019/20 season.

John Konchar Talks About Signing New Deal

December 3rd, 2020 at 10:00am CST by Luke Adams

After signing a two-way contract as an undrafted rookie last season, Grizzlies guard John Konchar parlayed a strong first-year audition into a four-year deal with the team this fall. As Evan Barnes of The Memphis Commercial Appeal writes, Konchar got on FaceTime with his mother immediately after agreeing to terms with the club. “It seemed like she was about to cry. I mean, the feeling was just amazing,” Konchar said.

Hezonja, Guduric Won’t Be In Camp With Grizzlies

December 2nd, 2020 at 12:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Veteran forward Mario Hezonja and guard Marko Guduric won’t be in training camp with the Grizzlies, tweets Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian.

Memphis is currently carrying 17 players on guaranteed contracts and must cut that number down to 15 before the regular season begins later this month. Herrington, who previously identified Hezonja and Guduric as the probable odd men out, says this is further confirmation that they’re the favorites to be waived if the Grizzlies don’t make a trade or two to trim the roster in the next couple weeks.

Hezonja, 25, averaged 4.8 PPG and 3.5 RPG on .422/.308/.814 shooting in 53 games (16.4 MPG) for Portland last season. After he exercised his minimum-salary player option for 2020/21, he was sent to Memphis in a three-team trade that saw the Trail Blazers acquire Enes Kanter.

As for Guduric, he signed a two-year, $5.4MM contract with the Grizzles in 2019. However, he fell out of the club’s rotation early last season and ended up just averaging 11.0 minutes per contest in 44 games. The Serbian shooting guard scored 3.9 PPG on .395/.301/.923 shooting.

As Herrington notes (via Twitter), assuming the Grizzlies release both Hezonja and Guduric, they won’t have to stretch either player’s guaranteed salary across three seasons in order to stay out of luxury-tax territory. However, the team could still decide to stretch one or both cap hits to create a little extra flexibility below the tax threshold.

Southwest Rumors: Harden, Westbrook, Grizzlies, Porzingis, More

December 1st, 2020 at 1:40pm CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets still expect to begin the season with former MVPs James Harden and Russell Westbrook on their roster, despite a handful of November trade rumors, Shams Charania of The Athletic said during an appearance on Complex’s Load Management podcast.

Although there’s no momentum toward a trade involving either player, Charania dropped a couple interesting tidbits during his podcast discussion about the Rockets stars, mentioning that the Warriors “made a call” about Harden and that the Cavaliers talked to Houston about Westbrook. Based on Charania’s comments, it doesn’t sound like any traction was gained in either case.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

The Grizzlies are currently carrying 17 players on guaranteed contracts, meaning a couple of those players will have to be traded or released before the start of the regular season. Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian suggests that Mario Hezonja and Marko Guduric appear to be the most likely odd men out.
Confirming a previous report, Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle reiterated today that Kristaps Porzingis (knee) won’t play until at least January, per Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). Carlisle did say that Porzingis’ rehab is going well and that the big man is doing “light court work.”
Mavericks rookie guard Tyrell Terry will receive $4.6MM in guaranteed money on his four-year contract, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. While we don’t know the exact terms of Terry’s deal, it sounds like his first three seasons will be guaranteed.
The three-year, minimum-salary contract that second-rounder Tre Jones signed with the Spurs is fully guaranteed for the first two years, as Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports details (via Twitter).

Xavier Tillman Signs Four-Year Deal With Grizzlies

November 29th, 2020 at 8:28am CST by marksuleymanov

NOVEMBER 29: The signing is official, the Grizzlies announced in a press release. Tillman will receive $4.6MM in guaranteed money, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. That breaks down to $1.3MM for the upcoming season, $1.5MM in 2021/22, $1.8MM in 2022/23 and $1.9MM in 2023/24. Marks notes that it’s the second-largest amount of guaranteed money ever for a second-round pick who is headed to the NBA immediately after being drafted.

NOVEMBER 28: The Grizzlies have agreed to a four-year deal with their second-round pick Xavier Tillman, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports (Twitter link).

Memphis traded up in a deal with the Kings to get the 35th overall pick Tillman. The team will be able to give him a four-year contract using a portion of its mid-level exception.

Tillman, 21, was regarded as a solid player in the draft who could be a late first-rounder or an early second-round pick. It was with good reason as he posted outstanding numbers as a junior with Michigan State.

The 6’8″ forward averaged a double-double for the Spartans, posting 13.7 PPG and 10.3 RPG to go with 3.0 APG and 2.1 BPG across 31 games. Tillman was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.

Grizzlies Explain Why They Traded Up For Bane; Jahlil Tripp To Join Team In Camp

November 28th, 2020 at 7:16pm CST by Arthur Hill

Desmond Bane‘s deadly outside shot, along with his maturity and competitiveness, inspired the Grizzlies to trade up to the 30th pick, according to Evan Barnes of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Bane averaged 13.6 PPG and shot 44.2% from beyond the arc last season at TCU. “He was a guy that kind of rose to the top because he fits so many things that we’re about here,” said Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins. “He’s a playmaker and he’s unselfish. Those are big things we talked about being a together and unselfish team.”
The Grizzlies signed Pacific guard Jahlil Tripp to a training camp contract, the team announced on Twitter. Tripp won Defensive Player of the Year honors last season in the West Coast Conference.

Contract Details: Adams, Hernangomez, Bol, Bacon, McDermott

November 26th, 2020 at 11:04am CST by Luke Adams

After receiving a trade bonus worth $2MM as part of the deal that sent him from Oklahoma City to New Orleans, Pelicans center Steven Adams will have a new 7.5% trade kicker on his two-year extension with his new team, tweets Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report. That kicker will give Adams a rare opportunity to potentially cash in on two trade bonuses between free agencies.

Meanwhile, Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports reports (via Twitter) that another new Pelicans center, Willy Hernangomez, will only have a partial guarantee on his new deal with the team. Hernangomez is assured of receiving at least $700K of his $1.74MM minimum salary for 2020/21, Smith notes.

Here are a few more notes on recently-signed contracts from around the NBA:

Both years on Bol Bol‘s two-year contract with the Nuggets are fully guaranteed, tweets Eric Pincus. Denver used a portion of its mid-level exception to complete the $4.2MM deal.
Dwayne Bacon‘s new two-year contract with the Magic is for the veteran’s minimum and will be non-guaranteed for 2021/22, tweets Keith Smith. If Bacon remains under contract for more than three days after 2021’s free agency moratorium ends, he’ll get that full guarantee on year two, Smith adds.
While most of the two-way contracts that have been signed by players in the last week are only for one year, Sean McDermott’s deal with the Grizzlies will cover two years, tweets Smith.

Grizzlies Sign Desmond Bane To Rookie Contract

November 25th, 2020 at 9:29am CST by Luke Adams

The final pick in the first round of the 2020 draft has signed his rookie scale contract, as the Grizzlies issued a press release today confirming they’ve locked up No. 30 selection Desmond Bane.

Bane, who tested the draft waters as a junior in 2019, returned to TCU for his senior year and had a strong season. He averaged 16.6 PPG, 6.3 RPG, and 3.9 APG on .452/.442/.789 shooting in 32 games (36.0 MPG) for the Horned Frogs.

The Grizzlies acquired Bane’s rights from the Celtics in a three-team trade that saw them surrender a pair of future second-round picks and cash while taking on Mario Hezonja‘s contract.

Assuming he receives his maximum allowable contract (120% of the rookie scale), Bane will have a first-year salary of $1.94MM and projects to earn nearly $10MM over the life of his four-year rookie deal.

Ten of 30 first-round picks have now officially signed their first NBA deals, as our tracker shows.

Western Contract Details: Grizzlies, KCP, Hood, Thunder

November 24th, 2020 at 5:21pm CST by Luke Adams

John Konchar‘s new deal with the Grizzlies, which will use part of the team’s mid-level exception, is guaranteed for the first two seasons, according to Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). In 2022/23, only $840K of Konchar’s full $2.3MM salary is guaranteed, and his $2.4MM salary for ’23/24 is non-guaranteed, Smith adds.

Konchar was one of a handful of Grizzlies who signed a multiyear contract that isn’t fully guaranteed on the back end. As Smith explains (via Twitter), De’Anthony Melton‘s four-year contract, which has a descending structure, only has a partial guaranteed of $1.5MM on his $8MM salary for 2023/24.

Meanwhile, Jontay Porter, who got a three-year deal, has a partial guarantee of $300K on his $1.95MM salary for 2021/22, then has a non-guaranteed $2MM salary in ’22/23, per Smith (Twitter link). Porter’s contract also came out of Memphis’ MLE.

Here are a few more contract details from around the Western Conference, all courtesy of Smith:

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope‘s new three-year deal with the Lakers is worth about $39.12MM in total and features exactly $30MM in guaranteed money. Only $4.89MM of $14MM is guaranteed in year three (Twitter link).
Rodney Hood, who re-signed with the Trail Blazers, will earn $10.05MM in 2020/21 and then will have to be retained through June 23, 2021 in order to have his second-year salary of $10.85MM guaranteed (Twitter link).
As expected, the three players who were signed-and-traded from the Pelicans to the Thunder for salary-matching purposes in the Steven Adams trade received three-year contracts with only the first year guaranteed. Zylan Cheatham ($1,445,697) and Josh Gray ($1,620,564) will make the minimum, while Kenrich Williams gets $2MM (Twitter links).