- Tyreke Evans‘ resurgence has put him in the Sixth Man of the Year discussions through the first portion of the season. Once Ben McLemore and JaMychal Green return from injury, the Grizzlies are going to have a tough decision on their hands when it comes to balancing playing time, Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal writes.
- Tyreke Evans had a near-historic performance off the Grizzlies’ bench on Wednesday, scoring 32 points. As Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal writes, it may be time to accept that Evans’ shooting — once considered a weak point of his game — has improved.
Here are the G League moves from around the Association today:
10:53pm:
- The Sixers assigned Furkan Korkmaz to the Delaware 87ers, Keith Pompey of The Inquirer tweets. The 20-year-old has yet to see action with Philadelphia.
- The Clippers sent Brice Johnson and Jawun Evans to the G League, according to the team.
8:03pm:
- The Nets have assigned guard Isaiah Whitehead to the Long Island Nets, an official press release reports. The big man is expected to play with the G League affiliate in their season opener on Saturday.
- The Grizzlies recalled sophomore Deyonta Davis from the Memphis Hustle, the team’s Twitter account said. The center had been assigned to the G League affiliate on Thursday.
- The Grizzlies have assigned guard Ben McLemore and forward Ivan Rabb to the Memphis Hustle, the Grizzlies’ G League affiliate, according to an official release from the team. McLemore is a veteran recovering from a foot injury who has yet to appear in an NBA game this year.
- The Grizzlies assigned second-year forward Deyonta Davis to the G League to practice with the Memphis Hustle, according to the team (Twitter link). Davis hasn’t been part of the Grizzlies’ rotation this year, appearing in just one game for the club so far.
- The Grizzlies also made a series of moves with rookie forward Ivan Rabb today, recalling him from the Memphis Hustle this morning, only to re-assign him to the G League and recall him again later in the day (all Twitter links). After participating in the Grizzlies’ shootaround and the Hustle’s practice, Rabb is with the Grizz for tonight’s game.
- The Grizzlies are sending Ben McLemore to the G League as he continues to recover from offseason foot surgery, reports ESPN’s Chris Haynes (via Twitter).
- The Grizzlies also made a series of moves with rookie forward Ivan Rabb today, recalling him from the Memphis Hustle this morning, only to re-assign him to the G League and recall him again later in the day (all Twitter links). After participating in the Grizzlies’ shootaround and the Hustle’s practice, Rabb is with the Grizz for tonight’s game.
1:38pm: The Grizzlies have officially exercised their fourth-year option on Martin, the club confirmed today in a press release.
9:01am: The Grizzlies will exercise their 2018/19 team option on Jarell Martin‘s rookie contract in advance of Tuesday’s deadline, league sources tell Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). It’s a fourth-year option for the young power forward.
It’s an impressive turn of events for Martin, who appeared on the verge of being waived earlier this month. Entering training camp, Memphis was carrying more than 15 players on guaranteed contracts, and Martin appeared to be the odd man out. However, the club gave him the opportunity to make an impression during the preseason and he did just that, earning a roster spot over youngsters Wade Baldwin and Rade Zagorac, who were both waived.
In the early going this season, Martin has been the Grizzlies’ starting power forward, averaging a career-high 23.9 minutes per game. He’s contributing a modest 7.1 PPG and 4.6 RPG.
Now that Martin has earned his place on the roster for the 2017/18 season, it makes sense for the Grizzlies to pick up his 2018/19 option, which has a small cap charge of approximately $2.42MM. Even if the team decides next summer that Martin isn’t part of the plans for the ’18/19 season, it likely wouldn’t be hard to find a taker for a player on an expiring contract with such a minimal cap hit.
Martin will now be extension-eligible during the 2018 offseason, so that could be an option for the Grizzlies if they really like what they see from the 23-year-old this year. If he doesn’t get an extension, the former 25th overall pick will become eligible for restricted free agency in the summer of 2019.
Chandler Parsons may have won over Grizzlies fans with his 24-point performance in Saturday’s win over Houston, writes Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal. Beset by injuries and disappointing numbers since signing with Memphis in the summer of 2016, Parsons was being being booed on his home court as recently as last week.
Here are the G League updates from around the league today:
- The Grizzlies have assigned center Deyonta Davis and forward Ivan Rabb to the Memphis Hustle, their G League affiliate, the team announced in a press release. Neither Davis nor Rabb saw action with the big league club in the first week of the regular season.
- The Jazz sent Tony Bradley to the Salt Lake City Stars, their affiliate team in the G League, the organization revealed in a press release.
Chandler Parsons‘ stint with the Grizzlies has not gone according to plan. The former Rockets and Mavericks standout has been hampered by knee injuries, including three knee surgeries the last three years. Now, after playing just 15 minutes in Memphis’ first few regular season games this year, Parsons is frustrated with his limited playing time, Ronald Tillery of the Commercial Appeal writes.
Parsons appeared in just 34 games last season, averaging 6.2 PPG and 2.5 RPG in a career-low 19.9 minutes per game. After signing a four-year, $94MM deal with the Grizzlies in July 2016, Parsons has not come close to his past performance. If he continues to show he’s over his prior knee injuries, the Grizzlies will look salvage the remainder of their pact with the 28-year-old.
As of this Thursday, a pair of Grizzlies minority owners will have the opportunity to make a play for majority ownership of the franchise, as Brian Windhorst and Zach Lowe detail in an ESPN.com report.
The unusual ownership situation in Memphis, which we outlined last month, allows Steve Kaplan and/or Daniel Straus, who each own about 14% of the Grizzlies, to make an offer to majority owner Robert Pera, who owns approximately 25-26% of the franchise.
If either Kaplan or Straus makes an offer during a 60-day window, which opens on Thursday, Pera would then have a 60-day window of his own to decide whether to buy Kaplan’s or Straus’ shares at their valuation, or whether to sell his own shares to them at that price.
Kaplan and Straus are under no obligation to initiate the process, but there’s a belief that one or both of them will do so, sources tell Windhorst and Lowe. Still, it’s possible that the process could take months to play out, with Straus and Kaplan standing by and watching to see what the other will do. If neither minority shareholder places a formal bid at this time, they’ll have another chance to do so in 2020.
It will be interesting to see whether either minority stakeholder moves forward with an attempt to supplant Pera as the Grizzlies’ controlling owner. The amount of a potential bid from Straus or Kaplan would be equally fascinating — Forbes’ franchise valuations earlier this year pegged the Grizzlies’ worth at $790MM, but those estimates are typically conservative. For comparison’s sake, Forbes’s valuation for the Rockets was $1.65 billion, and Tilman Fertitta bought the club several months later for $2.2 billion. The current Grizzlies’ ownership group bought the team for about $350MM in 2012.
Of the Grizzlies’ top two minority shareholders, Kaplan appears to be the more likely of the two to make a move, though that’s just my speculation. He has made an effort in the past to gain a more significant stake in an NBA team, but attempts involving the Hawks and Timberwolves didn’t pan out. Kaplan currently has a controlling interest in Swansea City, a Premier League soccer team in Wales.
While the Grizzlies’ ownership situation is somewhat uncertain going forward, the team is off to a great start on the court. Memphis is 3-0 so far, with victories over the Warriors and Rockets.