Memphis Grizzlies Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Grizzlies Sign Bryce Cotton For Rest Of Season

April 11th, 2016 at 11:21am CST by Chuck Myron

11:21am: Cotton won’t be on the playoff roster, as Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal clarifies (Twitter link).

11:07am: The Grizzlies have signed Bryce Cotton for the rest of the season, the team announced via press release. The move, which comes after Cotton’s 10-day contract expired Saturday, gives Memphis 16 players, one over the normal limit. The NBA allowed the extra roster spot via hardship, the Grizzlies say, though it’s unclear if the league will allow Cotton to take part in the playoffs.

Rest-of-season deals normally carry into the postseason, but the press release from the Grizzlies states that he’s signed for the remainder of the regular season and doesn’t mention the playoffs. The team was exploring the possibility of having extra roster spots in the playoffs, but it didn’t seem as though the league would allow it, as Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal wrote last week, shortly before the team waived Ryan Hollins in a move that appeared to signal the NBA wouldn’t provide hardship exceptions for the postseason.

Injuries have beset Memphis this season, leading to the extra roster spots and a flurry of moves. Marc Gasol is out for the season, and the same appears to be true for Mike Conley, Brandan Wright and Jordan Adams. Tony Allen missed Saturday’s game with a sore left hamstring. Memphis has had an NBA-record 28 players at one point or another this season.

Cotton has appeared in three games, but for less than a minute each time. The 23-year-old point guard also made it into three games with the Suns earlier this season before they released him in January. He began this past fall with the Jazz, who waived him in October, about a week shy of opening night.

His new deal with the Grizzlies will have to be a prorated minimum-salary arrangement, since that’s all Memphis has left to give. So, it’ll be worth $14,913, presuming he formally signed the contract today.

Williams Gets Offer From Greece

April 10th, 2016 at 8:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Combo guard Elliot Williams, who played five games for the Grizzlies in January, has an offer to continue playing for Panathinaikos in Greece, as Lefteris Moutis of Eurohoops.net details. The Greek team, which signed him in February to a three-month contract, is offering a two-year contract at $2MM per season, but the deal is being held up over negotiations on an out clause for the NBA, Moutis writes. The Greek team wants a commitment from Williams that he will stay there for both years of the contract, as Moutis explains. Williams averaged 1.6 points and 0.8 assists per game while with Memphis on a 10-day deal.

Details On Xavier Munford's Contract

April 9th, 2016 at 4:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Xavier Munford‘s multiyear deal with the Grizzlies has him set to earn $874,636 next season, which is a team option, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders relays (Twitter links). Munford’s salary for 2016/17 includes a partial guarantee of $50K, but it will become fully guaranteed if his option is exercised by June 29th, Pincus adds.

Six Contracts In One Season For Ryan Hollins

April 8th, 2016 at 3:57pm CST by Chuck Myron

Ryan Hollins has lived a journeyman NBA existence, playing for nine teams in 10 NBA seasons and starting just 76 times, but he’s had a knack for staying in the league. The 31-year-old entered this season having been waived only once in his career, by the Cavs in 2012, and that was reportedly a mutual decision that led to his signing with the Celtics shortly after he cleared waivers. Circumstances changed this year, however.

When Hollins hit waivers Thursday, it was the fourth time a team released him this season. If no team claims his contract, a prorated minimum-salary deal for the rest of the season, Saturday will mark the sixth time he’s become a free agent this year since Memphis originally signed him on September 25th.

The Grizzlies and the Wizards are the only teams Hollins has played for this season, and Washington only signed Hollins to one of the six contracts he’s been on, so much of his whirlwind of movement is courtesy of the Grizzlies. That’s not just because of the injury problems in Memphis, which only became profound over the past six weeks or so.

Instead, several other factors have been at play, as we’ve detailed below as part of this timeline of the moves involving the Todd Ramasar client this season.

September 23rd — Hollins agrees to a non-guaranteed, minimum-salary deal with the Grizzlies after fielding interest from multiple other teams over the summer.
September 25th — Hollins formally signs with the Grizzlies, though the team doesn’t announce it until three days later.
October 26th — The Grizzlies waive Hollins, keeping Jarell Martin instead.
October 28th — Hollins clears waivers, becoming a free agent.
November 30th — The Wizards sign Hollins to a non-guaranteed deal for the minimum salary to replace the injured Martell Webster. The contract includes language stipulating that Hollins’ salary would become fully guaranteed if he sticks through December 27th.
December 22nd — The Wizards waive Hollins to instead sign Jarell Eddie, though they don’t announce the move until the next day.
December 24th — Hollins clears waivers, becoming a free agent and missing out on the December 27th guarantee date.
December 29th — The Grizzlies again sign Hollins to a non-guaranteed, minimum-salary contract, waiving Russ Smith to make room. Brandan Wright‘s injury had created the need for a big man like Hollins, and coach Dave Joerger asked the front office to re-sign him.
January 7th — The Grizzlies waive Hollins on the final day they could without his minimum salary becoming fully guaranteed, electing to keep James Ennis and guarantee his salary instead. Memphis signs Elliot Williams to a 10-day contract the next day.
January 9th — Hollins clears waivers, becoming a free agent.
January 21st — The Grizzlies sign Hollins to a 10-day contract, electing not to re-sign Williams on a second 10-day.
January 31st — Hollins’ 10-day contract runs to term, so he again becomes a free agent.
February 1st — The Grizzlies sign Hollins to a second 10-day contract.
February 11th — Hollins’ 10-day contract runs to term, so he again becomes a free agent. The Grizzlies carry an open roster spot into the February 18th trade deadline, filling it through a three-way trade with the Hornets and Heat in which Chris Andersen and P.J. Hairston come in and only Courtney Lee goes out.
March 2nd — The Grizzlies backtrack on a decision they made nearly a month prior to keep Ennis over Hollins, waiving Ennis and signing Hollins to a minimum-salary contract for the rest of the season. Hollins’ prorated salary is guaranteed through the end of the season.
April 7th — The Grizzlies waive Hollins again, this time to re-sign Xavier Munford. Memphis had been allowed to carry Hollins and Munford, along with others, via the hardship provision, but it doesn’t appear likely the NBA will allow the team to continue carrying extra roster spots once the playoffs began.

The RealGM transactions log was used in the creation of this post.

Grizzlies Sign Xavier Munford To Two-Year Deal

April 7th, 2016 at 11:24am CST by Chuck Myron

THURSDAY, 11:24am: The signing is official, the Grizzlies announced via press release, referring to it as a multiyear deal. Memphis is limited to the minimum salary exception, so that means Munford’s new contract is a two-year arrangement that covers the rest of the 2015/16 season and 2016/17. He’ll make $874,636 next season and, provided the contract begins today as the team indicates, it’ll pay $21,621 for this season. The Grizzlies have a team option on next season, a league source tells Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal (Twitter link). The team waived Ryan Hollins minutes ago, so Memphis has 16 players as it stands.

WEDNESDAY, 9:06am: The Grizzlies will sign shooting guard Xavier Munford for the rest of the season and the playoffs, a league source tells Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal suggested earlier this week that such a move would come in light of his increasing role and production. Still, it’s unclear whether the Grizzlies would be allowed to carry extra roster spots in the postseason as they’ve done since last month via the hardship provision, so the fate of some Memphis players is unclear. The Grizzlies currently have 16 players, one over the usual limit, and that doesn’t include Munford.

Bryce Cotton is on a 10-day contract that expires after Saturday’s game against the Warriors, and the other 15 Grizzlies have contracts that cover the rest of the regular season and the playoffs. If the NBA won’t let the Grizzlies carry extra players into the playoffs, they’ll have to waive one of those 15 for Munford to stick around, and two if they also want to keep Cotton.

The Grizzlies haven’t clinched a playoff spot yet, but they drew closer to doing so with Tuesday’s win over the Bulls. Memphis has a three and a half game lead on the ninth-place Rockets.

Munford is averaging 5.6 points in 14.2 minutes per game for the Grizzlies and has nailed eight of his 13 attempts from behind the arc. He played nearly 34 minutes in Sunday’s game against the Magic and has averaged 24.4 minutes over the last three outings for Memphis. The 23-year-old who went undrafted out of Rhode Island in 2014 had never signed an NBA contract before he inked his first 10-day deal with the Grizzlies last month, having instead played most of this season and last for the D-League affiliate of the Suns. It’s unclear if his new contract with Memphis will also cover next season, but if it doesn’t, the Grizzlies would be able to make him a restricted free agent this summer and match offers for him.

Grizzlies Waive Ryan Hollins

April 7th, 2016 at 11:07am CST by Eddie Scarito

THURSDAY, 11:07am: The move is official, the team announced via press release.

WEDNESDAY, 9:34pm: The Grizzlies intend to waive Ryan Hollins, Chris Vernon of ESPN 92.9 FM reports (Twitter link). The roster move was necessary in order to allow Memphis to ink Xavier Munford for the remainder of the season, Vernon notes. The franchise will be on the hook for the remainder of Hollins’ $239,605 salary, provided he clears waivers. Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal first noted that Hollins was a candidate to be released.

This appears to signal that the NBA won’t issue the Grizzlies any hardship exceptions for the playoffs. Memphis has 16 players under contract at current, not counting Munford, who’s reportedly due to re-sign for the season. Among the 16 is Bryce Cotton, whose 10-day contract will expire after Saturday’s game against the Warriors. The other 15 Grizzlies have contracts that run until the end of the season, so to formally add Munford on a rest-of-season deal without any hardship help from the league, the Grizzlies have to waive somebody, and that somebody appears to be Hollins.

This marks the end of Hollins’ fourth stint with the Grizzlies in 2015/16. He also spent a few weeks with the Wizards in November and December. In 32 games for Memphis this season overall, Hollins averaged 3.6 points and 2.7 rebounds in 12.9 minutes.

Herrington: Munford Making Case To Stick

April 4th, 2016 at 2:10pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Grizzlies appear to be exploring the feasibility of carrying more than 15 players on their playoff roster, though it seems unlikely the NBA would allow it, writes Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal in his Pick-and-Pop column. Memphis is at 17 players, including Xavier Munford, whose second 10-day contract runs out after Tuesday’s game. His minutes and production have increased, and he’s making a case for a deal that would keep him around for the rest of the season and the playoffs, as Herrington details. Such a move would likely necessitate offloading someone already signed through season’s end, and Herrington speculates that Ryan Hollins and P.J. Hairston are candidates to be cut.

Southeast Notes: Beal, Batum, Dragic, Hawks

March 31st, 2016 at 9:52pm CST by Arthur Hill

Bradley Beal‘s harsh comments toward his teammates after Wednesday’s loss in Sacramento are a sign of underlying problems on the Wizards, contends J. Michael of CSN Mid-Atlantic. Beal, who is headed toward restricted free agency this summer, said the team isn’t “hungry enough” and seemed to give up in the closing moments of the game. “We bark too much,” Beal said. “We say what we need to do. We scream at one another. We can even try to blame [coach Randy Wittman] if we want to, but at the end of the day we still the ones playing. … We just do dumb mental lapses that just mess up the game and end up hurting us in the long run.” Michael thinks Beal and John Wall need to get together as team leaders and work out whatever personal differences they have with each other before their relationship is too far gone.

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

Nicolas Batum figures to be the most sought after among a large group of Hornets free agents, writes Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. Contracts for Marvin Williams, Courtney Lee and Al Jefferson will also expire at the end of the season and Jeremy Lin has the choice to opt out, but Batum has risen above the crowd with his versatile play. “I’ve been around teams where people think about their contract and their personal situation. I can’t understand that,” Batum said. “With this team, we know if we do great as a team, if we all do our jobs, everything will work out.”
If the Heat were giving any thought to trading point guard Goran Dragic and pursuing Grizzlies free agent Mike Conley, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald says Dragic has changed their minds with his recent performance. “We love Goran,” said team president Pat Riley. “Now he’s playing like The Dragon. His game has opened up. I’m very happy that we have this point guard.”
The Hawks plan to keep Lamar Patterson and Edy Tavares with the Austin Spurs through the D-League team’s playoff run, according to Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Both rookies have spent extensive time in the D-League this season. Tavares, a 7’3″ center, has played in 27 games for the affiliates of the Spurs, Suns and Cavs, while Patterson has been in 17 games with San Antonio’s and Cleveland’s D-League teams.

Grizzlies Sign Bryce Cotton To 10-Day Contract

March 31st, 2016 at 12:52pm CST by Arthur Hill

FRIDAY, 12:52pm: The signing is official, the team announced via press release. The contract will cover five games, against the Raptors, Magic, Bulls, Mavs and Wizards.

THURSDAY, 8:37pm:Bryce Cotton will join the Grizzlies on a 10-day contract, tweets Chris Vernon of 92.9 FM ESPN in Memphis. He will replace Ray McCallum, whose second 10-day deal with Memphis will expire overnight. It would thus appear that the Grizzlies will maintain a 17-man roster, two over the usual limit, and that Memphis has received its latest in a line of hardship exceptions to supplement an injury-racked lineup.

Cotton had been with the Spurs’ D-League affiliate in Austin until late January, when he signed with Xinjiang in China. The 6’1″ point guard reached a deal with the Suns on November 25th, but appeared in just three games before being waived in January prior to contracts throughout the league becoming guaranteed.

Cotton, who will earn $49,709 on the 10-day contract, will become the record 28th player to play for the Grizzlies this season. The team has had as many as 18 on its roster at a time because of injury exceptions.

Grizzlies Sign Jordan Farmar For Rest Of Season

March 31st, 2016 at 11:54am CST by Chuck Myron

The Grizzlies have signed Jordan Farmar for the rest of the season, the team announced via press release. The veteran point guard’s 10-day contract expired overnight. The move restores the Memphis roster to 17 players, two over the normal regular season roster limit, so it appears the NBA has once more given the injury-hit Grizzlies a hardship provision for an extra roster spot. Normally, the league hands out extra roster spots for only 10 days at a time, but it appears it’s made an exception for Memphis and Farmar, just as with the contract Tim Frazier signed for the rest of the season with the Pelicans last week.

Farmar has put up strong numbers, averaging 10.8 points, 3.6 assists and 1.2 turnovers in 25.6 minutes per game across five appearances, three of which were starts. The 10-day deal was his first NBA contract since he reached a January 2015 buyout deal with the Clippers, who are the likely first-round playoff opponent for Memphis this year. Farmar’s contract will carry through the playoffs.

The 29-year-old has received the bulk of the playing time at point guard of late, instead of fellow 10-day signee Ray McCallum, while Mike Conley continues to sit out with a sore Achilles tendon. Four other Grizzlies are also dealing with injuries, as the CBSSports.com injury log shows, including Marc Gasol, who’s out for the season. The team faces a decision regarding McCallum in the next couple of days, as his 10-day contract will expire tonight. Xavier Munford, who’s also on a 10-day deal, is under contract through Tuesday.

Farmar, who’s in his ninth NBA season, will make $111,683 on his new contract. The Grizzlies are on the hook for only $78,011 of it, with the league picking up the rest, presuming Farmar and Memphis didn’t tack next season onto the deal, as is sometimes the case with midseason signees.