Memphis Grizzlies Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southwest Notes: J. Jackson, Blossomgame, Curry

October 3rd, 2019 at 2:35pm CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies‘ decision to have Josh Jackson skip training camp and start the season in the G League could be viewed as an ominous sign for his future in Memphis. However, executive VP of basketball operations Zach Kleiman praised the former No. 4 overall pick for his willingness to embrace the unconventional plan, as David Cobb of The Memphis Commercial Appeal notes.

“I would give him a lot of credit,” Kleiman said. “I think Josh recognized that this could be a great opportunity for him. When I sat down with him, he was open and candid and he said, ‘whatever you want me to do, I’m going to do.”

Meanwhile, new Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins conveyed a similar sentiment when discussing Jackson, who has underachieved on the court and has run into trouble off of it since being drafted in 2017.

“He’s willing to come into this situation and really grow, both on the court and off the court,” Jenkins said. “With the support we’re going to provide him, I know he’s excited about it. I’ve got high hopes for him to just take it one day at a time and focus on being the best version of Josh Jackson that he can be. We’ll see how it all plays out.”

As we wait to see whether Jackson can get his career on track in Memphis, let’s round up a few more notes from out of the Southwest…

Former second-round pick Jaron Blossomgame has impressed the Rockets so far in training camp, according to Alykhan Bijani of The Athletic, who says that multiple coaches have raved about the young forward. Blossomgame looks like a strong candidate for one of Houston’s open two-way contract slots, per Bijani.
Seth Curry, who played for the Mavericks in 2016/17 and spent the 2017/18 season with the team while he rehabbed a broken leg, cited familiarity with the organization as a key reason why he signed in Dallas this summer, writes Dwain Price of Mavs.com.
The Spurs‘ offseason free agent and trade acquisitions – DeMarre Carroll and Trey Lyles – were modest, but the most significant addition of the team’s summer might be a healthy Dejounte Murray, says Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. Murray appeared to be a breakout candidate a year ago before he torn his ACL.

Hollinger No Longer With Grizzlies; Anderson A Full Participant In Camp

October 1st, 2019 at 4:12pm CST by Luke Adams

Longtime Grizzlies executive John Hollinger has transitioned back into the media world, announcing this week that he has joined The Athletic. When Memphis shook up its front office in the spring, Hollinger was re-assigned to an advisory role, but he has apparently decided he’d rather return to his media roots — he formerly worked for ESPN, where he developed the Player Efficiency Rating (PER) stat.
After saying on Monday that he wasn’t ready to fully participate in training camp, Kyle Anderson reversed course and was a full go today, per head coach Taylor Jenkins (Twitter link via Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian). The Grizzlies‘ forward is recovering from offseason shoulder surgery.

Josh Jackson Won’t Join Grizzlies For Camp, Will Start Season In G League

September 27th, 2019 at 11:18am CST by Luke Adams

Having already reached an agreement with Andre Iguodala that will allow the veteran swingman to skip training camp, the Grizzlies have apparently agreed to a similar arrangement with another one of their offseason trade acquisitions.

According to reports from Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com and Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter), Josh Jackson won’t join the Grizzlies for training camp, and is expected to start the season in the G League.

Jackson’s stock has declined precipitously since he was selected fourth overall in the 2017 draft. In the wake of two up-and-down seasons on the court and some worrisome incidents off the court, the former Kansas forward was shipped from Phoenix to Memphis this offseason in what was essentially a salary dump.

Still, this is an unusual development. If the Grizzlies want to try to develop Jackson and rebuild his value, it seems like having him in camp would be a good first step. However, Wallace writes that Jackson’s camp and the team have agreed to let the 22-year-old rehab his reputation “through an undisclosed set of guidelines.” He’ll spend the next few weeks training and preparing to start the season with the Memphis Hustle.

Although Jackson’s future is cloudy, today’s update seems to point strongly toward the Grizzlies turning down his 2020/21 rookie scale option. The club has until October 31 to officially make a decision on that option, which would be worth $8.93MM.

Grizzlies Notes: Iguodala, Jackson, Allen

September 26th, 2019 at 6:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Mark Giannotto of The Memphis Commercial Appeal believes the Grizzlies are handling the Andre Iguodala situation exactly right. Iguodala remains under contract with the team but won’t report to camp as the front office continues to weigh trade or buyout scenarios.
David Cobb of The Memphis Commercial Appeal examines where things stand with Josh Jackson and Grayson Allen, two former first-round picks acquired this summer by the Grizzlies. Memphis must make 2020/21 option decisions on both players by October 31, and Jackson’s option in particular is no lock to be exercised.

Grizzlies’ Morant Ready For Camp; Melton Out 4-8 Weeks

September 26th, 2019 at 4:44pm CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies issued a series of injury updates on their players this afternoon, most notably announcing that No. 2 overall pick Ja Morant will be ready to fully participate in training camp next week. Morant, who sat out Summer League, is recovered from the minor arthroscopic procedure he underwent on his right knee in June, according to the team.

The Grizzlies also confirmed that Kyle Anderson (thoracic outlet decompression surgery), Dillon Brooks (toe surgery), and Jaren Jackson Jr. (thigh bruise) are good to go for training camp. Brooks and Jackson were dubbed “fully recovered,” while Memphis said that Anderson is “progressing as expected” in his recovery.

It wasn’t all good news for the Grizzlies though. According to the club, newly-acquired guard De’Anthony Melton has been diagnosed with a stress reaction in his back. The former Sun is undergoing off-loading and treatment to resolve the injury, and is expected to recover and resume basketball activities in about four to eight weeks.

Melton, the 46th overall pick in the 2018 draft, was traded from Houston to Phoenix a couple months after being drafted, then was dealt from the Suns to the Grizzlies earlier this summer. The 21-year-old averaged 5.0 PPG, 3.2 APG, and 2.7 RPG in 50 games (19.7 MPG) as a rookie and is expected to be Memphis’ third point guard behind Morant and Tyus Jones this season.

First though, he’ll have to get healthy. And with the Grizzlies’ opener less than four weeks away, it appears Melton will almost certainly miss the start of the regular season.

Iguodala Won’t Report To Grizzlies Training Camp

September 23rd, 2019 at 6:37pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Grizzlies and Andre Iguodala have reached a mutual agreement that will allow Iguodala to skip training camp, Chris Herrington of the Daily Memphian reports.

Iguodala will work out at a location of his choosing while the front office seeks the best trade offer for the veteran forward, Herrington adds. Iguodala will not make an appearance at the team’s annual Media Day, freeing him from the awkwardness of talking about his uncertain future.

His absence could stretch into the first couple of months of the season and he has braced for that possibility, Herrington adds. Many of the players signed as free agents this summer won’t become trade-eligible until December 15.

Iguodala said in an interview over the weekend that he and the Memphis front office were “on the same page.”

Iguodala has the highest salary on the roster at a shade below $17.2MM. He’s in the final year of his deal.

He was acquired in a salary dump by the cap-strapped Warriors, who sweetened the deal with a future first-round pick. Memphis believes it can obtain even more assets for Iguodala in another trade, which is why the club hasn’t shown interest in a buyout.

The 35-year-old Iguodala spent the last six years with the Warriors, mainly as their sixth man.

Iguodala is among 15 players with fully guaranteed contracts for the hard-capped Grizzlies, who are building around their last two lottery picks, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Ja Morant.

Latest On Andre Iguodala

September 23rd, 2019 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Andre Iguodala hasn’t said much publicly since being sent from Golden State to Memphis at the start of July in a cost-cutting trade the Warriors had to make to accommodate the acquisition of D’Angelo Russell. However, he spoke to Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area on Sunday, with Poole suggesting it was “evident” that Iguodala isn’t exactly excited to join the Grizzlies.

“We’ll see,” Iguodala said when asked about his situation. “OK, maybe I shouldn’t say we’ll see. But we’re trying to figure out things on both sides. They’re trying to figure out some things, and I’m trying to figure out some things. As of today, we’re on the same page. Camp opens the next week. We’ll see. We’re on the same page though.”

As Iguodala hints, it seems safe to assume that neither he nor Memphis expects him to still be on the team’s roster when the 2019/20 season ends. But it remains to be seen whether he’ll move on in a trade or a buyout — and when exactly it might happen. Reports have indicated that the Grizzlies aren’t eager to buy out the former Finals MVP, while his potential trade suitors appear willing to be patient.

Asked about the possibility of a buyout, Iguodala explained to Poole his thoughts on the concept.

“At this point, the only buyout that makes sense — if I’m speaking on someone else’s behalf, thinking as an agent — is you don’t leave money on the table,” Iguodala said. “Especially in this league. Because you’ll never get it back, no matter what people say. Negotiations are a tactic, so you’ve got to be careful how you approach it, or how you verbalize what you would do going forward. But you can’t leave anything on the table.”

If Iguodala is approaching buyout negotiations with that stance, the stalemate between him and Memphis makes some sense. As Sean Deveney of Heavy.com notes, the Grizzlies likely want Iguodala to give back a decent chunk of his $17MM+ salary if they’re going to give him a clear path to join a contender without getting an asset in return.

If the two sides can find common ground on a buyout agreement, expect the Clippers, Lakers, and Rockets to be in hot pursuit, according to Deveney, who names the Nuggets and Nets as potential dark horses. In the meantime, training camps will get underway very soon, and Iguodala will have to remember that he won’t be reporting to the Warriors this fall.

“I forget that I’m not on the same team,” Iguodala told Poole. “I was texting with Loon (Kevon Looney) and asking him what he was eating and talking about Jiu-Jitsu training. And then, it’s like, ‘Oh, I forgot. We’re not even on the same team anymore.’ I laugh about that all the time.”

Zach Randolph: “I Ain’t Retired Yet”

September 23rd, 2019 at 3:37pm CST by Luke Adams

Zach Randolph was technically under contract for most of the 2018/19 campaign, spending much of the season with the Kings before he was traded to Dallas at the deadline and was subsequently waived by the Mavericks. However, he didn’t appear in a single game all year.

Now more than a year removed from playing in a regular season contest, Randolph acknowledged to David Cobb of The Memphis Commercial Appeal that he has “a lot of stuff going on outside of basketball” and has considered transitioning to the next phase of his career.

“I’ve been working on some things, just really trying to see what I want to do with the next part of my life,” Randolph said. “I’ve been thinking about hanging it up and seeing what’s going on and what I want to do in the next phase of my life.”

However, the 38-year-old isn’t ready to officially call it a career at this time, telling Cobb, “I ain’t retired yet.”

While Randolph may not be ready to announce his retirement, it would be a little surprising if he returns to the NBA. The longtime power forward added a decent three-point shot to his arsenal in 2017/18, when he made 34.7% of 147 attempts for Sacramento, but his skill set otherwise isn’t an ideal fit for the modern NBA and there are only a small handful of players still in the league who are older than him.

If Randolph does decide to formally retire, he’d be a candidate to sign a one-day contract with Memphis to go out as a member of the Grizzlies. He spent eight of his 17 years in the NBA with the franchise, earning a pair of All-Star nods and an All-NBA spot during that stretch.

Southwest Notes: T. Jones, Rockets, Nowitzki, Ingram

September 20th, 2019 at 1:07pm CST by Arthur Hill

After carving out a role as a valuable reserve during his four years in Minnesota, Tyus Jones tells David Cobb of The Commercial Appeal that he’s looking forward to a fresh start with the Grizzlies. The Timberwolves elected not to match Jones’ three-year, $24MM offer sheet, sending him to a new organization for the first time in his NBA career.

“The thing that impresses me is everyone knows the goal, and that’s we’re one team trying to improve and trying to win a lot of games this year,” Jones said. “Everyone has the best interest of the guy next to them and everyone is looking out for the guy next to them. That’s what it takes to be a great team.”

Part of the point guard’s duties will be to serve as a mentor to rookie Ja Morant, the second selection in this year’s draft. It may seem like an unusual responsibility for a 23-year-old, but Jones virtually qualifies as an elder statesman on the rebuilding Grizzlies.

“It’s weird when you look at it in the grand picture, in the grand scheme of things,” Jones said. “I’m 23, but I’m one of the older guys on the team. We have at lot of younger guys just in terms of the NBA years. But that’s what you get when you come into the league at 19.”

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

The Rockets‘ addition of Thabo Sefolosha could come at the cost of Ben McLemore or Michael Frazier, tweets salary cap expert Albert Nahmad. Even though GM Daryl Morey has said he has the freedom to pay the luxury tax, Nahmad cautions that he won’t do it to keep an average player. Nahmad expects Houston to either start the season with the minimum of 14 players on its roster or possibly keep 15 with the intention to make a salary-cutting trade by the February deadline (Twitter link).
Mark Cuban plans to talk with recently retired star Dirk Nowitzki about joining the Mavericks‘ ownership group, relays Dalton Trigg of DallasBasketball. “I’ll have the convo with Dirk in the future,” Cuban said. “There is a lot of things involved to make it all work. But it would be awesome.”
The Pelicans should take a cautious approach toward an extension for Brandon Ingram, contends Bryan Toporek of Forbes. Although Ingram has been a full participant in offseason workouts, Toporek believes his health concerns make him too much of a risk unless he agrees to a discount somewhere in the neighborhood of the three-year, $52MM deal that Caris LeVert accepted with the Nets.

Contract Bonus Notes: Nene, KCP, Randle, Jones

September 19th, 2019 at 8:53am CST by Luke Adams

Veteran big man Nene officially signed his new contract with the Rockets back on September 6, but the NBA has yet to formally approve the deal, writes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link). Sources tell Marks that the league has been discussing internally whether it should disapprove of the incentives in the agreement, which create a $10MM trade chip despite the fact that Nene will likely only be paid about $2.56MM.

The NBA has the right to challenge deals that it believes violate the spirit of rules in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, even if those deals are technically legal based on what’s written in the CBA. While it seems unlikely that Nene’s deal would be nixed, it wouldn’t be surprising if the league looked to adjust the rules related to bonuses and incentives in the future to prevent teams from manipulating a player’s cap hit to such a significant extent.

In the meantime, Nene’s deal is hardly the only one signed this offseason heavy on bonus money. We’ve gone into detail on the incentives included in a handful of other contracts, such as the ones signed by Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, but Marks has even more details on bonuses available to players around the NBA this year.

We won’t pass along every single note included in Marks’ article, but here are a few of the noteworthy new bonuses worth watching in 2019/20:

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope can earn three separate $350K bonuses if he averages 1.85 assists, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game this season with the Lakers. Caldwell-Pope’s new deal also includes a $163K bonus for being named to either All-Defensive team and a $50K bonus if the Lakers reach the Western Finals.
Julius Randle‘s contract with the Knicks includes three separate $900K unlikely bonuses that he could earn if he makes the All-Star team, is named to an All-Defensive team, or makes the playoffs (and appears in at least 65 games).
Tyus Jones‘ $9.258MM cap hit with the Grizzlies in 2019/20 includes an $858K bonus that has been deemed likely. Jones will earn the bonus if Memphis wins 33 games. If the rebuilding Grizzlies fall short of that mark, Jones’ cap hit for the season will dip to $8.4MM.
Maxi Kleber‘s new contract with the Mavericks features a set of four unlikely bonuses that could be worth up to $475K in total. To earn them all, Kleber must make an All-Defensive team ($150K), make at least 80% of his free throws ($75K), make at least 40% of his three-pointers ($150K), and average more than nine rebounds per 36 minutes ($100K).
Again, if you’re an ESPN Insider, be sure to check out Marks’ full story for more details on some of the more unusual incentives around the league.