Memphis Grizzlies Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Elliot Williams Signs With Greek Team

February 11th, 2016 at 7:58am CST by Arthur Hill

THURSDAY, 7:58am: Williams is making a little more than $200K, a source tells international journalist David Pick (Twitter link).

11:15pm: Williams’ salary is closer to $300K in total value rather than the $1MM previously relayed, Johnson tweets.

WEDNESDAY, 11:14am: Williams will get $1MM for three months, Johnson hears (Twitter link).

TUESDAY, 7:53am: The signing is official, the team announced (Twitter link; hat tip to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia).

MONDAY, 7:00pm: Elliot Williams, who played five games with the Grizzlies last month, has signed with Panathinaikos of Greece, tweets Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor. The offer was “too good to pass up,” according to Adam Johnson of D-League Digest (Twitter link). Williams was the D-League’s leading scorer, averaging 28.4 points per game with the Santa Cruz Warriors, and his absence means a replacement will have to be found for the league’s All-Star Game, Johnson adds (on Twitter).

The 6’5″ combo guard scored eight points in 45 minutes of playing time in his brief stay with the Grizzlies. Williams signed a 10-day contract with Memphis on January 8th, but he was let go when that deal expired. Once starting point guard Mike Conley returned from injury, the Grizzlies decided to sign Ryan Hollins to a 10-day deal instead.

The 26-year-old Williams has bounced around the NBA, mostly on 10-day contracts, since the Blazers drafted him in 22nd in 2010. He has also played for the Sixers, Jazz and Pelicans.

Western Notes: Gasol, Harden, Chalmers

February 10th, 2016 at 9:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Rockets shooting guard James Harden is growing increasingly frustrated with the team’s up-and-down play this season, Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com notes. “Yeah, because my first year was different,” Harden said. “We weren’t as talented and we still made playoffs, which was a big step for us. We have a lot of talent in this locker room, of course, coming off the Western Conference finals and being in the seventh spot right now. It’s frustrating, but we still have opportunities.”

Harden has come under fire for being careless with his turnovers and not being more of a playmaker, but interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff says that the swingman has shown marked improvement this season in both areas, Watkins adds. “One thing, his turnovers are down dramatically,” Bickerstaff said. “If his turnovers are down, then his assists are up. That’s one of the things he said he wanted to improve on, and obviously he’s done it, the decision-making … the creativity has been there. It’s been outstanding the last month. It’s not surprising, we knew he could do it.” It should be noted that despite Bickerstaff’s praise, Harden is still averaging 4.4 turnovers per game on the year, which would be a career high if he were to finish the season with that mark.

Here’s more from out West:

The Grizzlies have been second-guessed for not resting Marc Gasol when he complained of foot soreness, but doing so would only likely have delayed his injury, not prevented it, Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal opines. The center is out indefinitely with a broken foot, though Herrington speculates Gasol won’t return to action this season, which goes along with an earlier report from Marca.com that indicated the Spaniard would miss four to six months of action.
Mario Chalmers has solidified the Grizzlies’ bench with his play as reserve point guard since arriving via trade earlier this season from Miami, but when the Heat were looking to find a taker for the veteran, a number of teams, including the Jazz, were turned off by Chalmers’ stubborn personality and propensity to make poor decisions on the court, notes Zach Lowe of ESPN.com.
The Mavs are pleased with the development of 2015 first-rounder Justin Anderson, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News writes. “He’s not putting up big numbers or anything like that, but he’s playing solid within the system and has had some good plus-minus stretches,” coach Rick Carlisle said of the young swingman. “So he’s making progress. He’s learned a lot over the last three months. He’s doing what he needs to do. Generally, he’s in there with other primary guys and playmakers. Many of his shot opportunities will come off of other activity. But defensively, he’s made progress. Where we are right now, we need him.“
Nuggets camp cut Matt Janning‘s deal with the Russian club Lokomotiv Cuban includes a team option for 2016/17, international journalist David Pick informed Hoops Rumors.

Marc Gasol Breaks Foot, Out Indefinitely

February 10th, 2016 at 3:14pm CST by Eddie Scarito

WEDNESDAY, 3:14pm: The Spanish website Marca.com (h/t Peter Edmiston of The Commercial Appeal) reports that Gasol could miss four to six months of action. The Grizzlies still haven’t issued an official projection for how long the big man will be out of commission.

5:33pm: The Grizzlies have confirmed the report regarding Gasol’s injury in a press release. The team’s statement read, “This morning at Campbell Clinic, Marc underwent a thorough evaluation by team physicians. During the course of this evaluation, a magnetic resonance imaging [MRI] revealed a fracture in his right foot. Marc is a cornerstone of our franchise, and we are focused on getting him healthy. Marc will be out indefinitely and a further update will be provided after the All-Star Break.”

TUESDAY, 5:16pm: The Grizzlies suffered a major blow today when it was revealed that Marc Gasol suffered a broken right foot and will be out of action indefinitely, Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal reports (Twitter link). The injury occurred during the team’s game against the Trail Blazers on Monday night. The 31-year-old Spaniard re-signed with the team this past offseason on a five-year, maximum salary deal. Gasol suffered a sprained ankle in an early December, but he’s been relatively healthy since recovering from an MCL sprain he suffered in 2013. The Grizzlies hold the fifth playoff slot in the Western Conference, possessing a slim two game lead over the Mavericks.

With Gasol hurt and potentially lost for a significant chunk of time, the team will need to make a difficult decision regarding Ryan Hollins, whose second 10-day deal is set to expire on Wednesday. Teams may only ink players to a maximum of two 10-day pacts per season, so Memphis would need to ink the big man for the remainder of the season if it wishes to retain him. The team would gain a free slot to sign or acquire another player if Hollins is not retained. If the team looks to the trade market, possible targets may include Anderson Varejao, Omer Asik and Timofey Mozgov, though that is merely my speculation.

Gasol has appeared in 52 games this year, notching averages of 16.6 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 34.4 minutes per contest. His career numbers are 14.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists to accompany a slash line of .503/.182/.764.

And-Ones: Silver, Martin, Motiejunas

February 9th, 2016 at 10:44pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Commissioner Adam Silver says that he loves the parity that exists in the NBA right now and believes it is good that smaller market teams are able to compete with larger ones for free agents, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today relays. “What we’re seeing now is that players are moving to markets that have cap room and players are moving to markets where they see opportunities to play,” Silver said. “It’s not a function of market size these days. It’s a function of the management of the team and the opportunity in that market. That’s what you want for a league.”

Silver is concerned at how this summer’s anticipated cap spike will change the league’s dynamic, Zillgitt notes. “It will be disruptive and having been around the league for a long time, I only know it’s going to be disruptive in ways that we can’t even predict,” Silver said. “It’s not the way we modeled the CBA going into the last collective-bargaining agreement. We thought we would have more regular increases from year to year [in the salary cap]. You like to have a system where planning is rewarded and management is rewarded. Now, with all this unexpected cap room, teams that should not have had that kind of room [to spend] of course will have it.”

Both the National Basketball Players Association and the league can opt out of the current CBA by December 15th, and Silver noted, “clearly we’re operating under the premise that if we can’t get a new deal negotiated by then, they are likely to opt out. That puts a lot of pressure on both sides to work over the next 10 months, which is a long time, to get an extension done,” the USA Today scribe adds. Here’s more from around the league:

The Grizzlies have recalled power forward Jarell Martin from their D-League affiliate, the team announced. Martin has averaged 13.6 points and 6.3 rebounds in 30.6 minutes in seven games during his five assignments to Iowa this season.
The Pistons have recalled Spencer Dinwiddie from their D-League affiliate, Keith Langlois of NBA.com tweets. The move was made so Detroit’s team doctors could examine the point guard’s sprained ankle, Langlois adds.
The Rockets have recalled swingman K.J. McDaniels and power forward Donatas Motiejunas from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, their D-League affiliate, the team announced.

Western Notes: Chalmers, Pekovic, Janning

February 9th, 2016 at 8:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Wolves big man Nikola Pekovic‘s surgically repaired right Achilles tendon continues to bother him, and he’s frustrated as a result while he plays his way back into shape, Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune writes. “I’m still not pain-free. I’m still feeling pain,” Pekovic told Zgoda. “It’s kind of a little of everything. I’m just learning to play with pain again. That’s the biggest adjustment. And, of course, when you don’t play for 10 months, what do you expect? Come back in two games? It’s not possible.”

“We appreciate the fact that Pek’s dealing with something I can only imagine,” interim coach Sam Mitchell said regarding the center’s struggles. “He’s doing the best he can to play through it, play as much as he can and get his game back to as close as it was. If he can do that, it’d be a minor miracle and it’d help us out. We just take it day-by-day and whatever Pek can give us, we have to be appreciative of that.”

Here’s the latest from out West:

The Grizzlies will have a difficult time extracting value out of Jeff Green and his expiring contract if they decide to deal him prior to the trade deadline, Bobby Marks of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports opines in his deadline primer for Memphis. The team should hold onto point guard Mario Chalmers, who has solidified the position off the bench, and would likely come to regret parting ways with him down the stretch considering the lack of quality backup guards available around the league, Marks adds.
Nuggets camp cut Matt Janning has signed with the Russian club Lokomotiv Cuban, the team announced (translation by Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). International journalist David Pick notes (on Twitter) that Janning’s deal includes an option for 2016/17, though it is unclear if it is a team or player option.
Kobe Bryant acknowledges that the Lakers‘ struggles this season have changed his approach and perspective, in this, his final year in the league, writes Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report. “It’s just us not being as competitive as we used to be has changed my role substantially,” Bryant said, “to be more of a teacher, more of a coach, to a person who understands more and has more patience in dealing with the young guys. It’s much, much different in that aspect.“

Knicks Rumors: Conley, Grant, Jackson, Fisher

February 6th, 2016 at 9:47pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Knicks may dream of adding point guard Mike Conley in free agency, but it won’t be easy to sell him on leaving Memphis, writes Anthony Rieber of Newsday. Conley sparked the hopes of fans in New York and other cities with a comment that “everything will be on the table” when he becomes a free agent this summer. But the hurdles for the Knicks are much higher than that statement makes them appear. Start with finances. The Grizzlies can offer Conley a five-year max deal starting at a projected $25MM with annual raises up to 7.5%. Other teams can match $25MM for the first year, but are limited to four-year deals with 4.5% increases.

Then there’s the matter of loyalty. Conley has been with Memphis for his entire nine-year career and has strong ties to the organization. In New York for a game Friday, Conley denied having a “pact” with Marc Gasol to stay in Memphis, but suggested his free agency could go the same way his teammate’s did last summer. “We’ve grown up together in this league, me and Marc, and with the Grizzlies,” he said. “We don’t know anything different. So just like he did last year, it’s something I’m going to wait and talk about later, because at the end of the day, it is a business and anything can happen. But obviously, they know how I feel about Marc and my teammates here.”

There’s more news out of New York:

Conley would be a nice solution for the Knicks if they don’t trade for Atlanta’s Jeff Teague first, according to George Willis of The New York Post. He notes that point guard has been a problem area in New York for a couple of decades and says first-round pick Jerian Grant has been a disappointment so far.
Knicks president Phil Jackson is doing a disservice to coach Derek Fisher by not talking to the media, contends Marc Berman of The New York Post. Jackson hasn’t made a public comment on the team since late September, leaving Fisher to take the heat for the team’s current 1-8 slide. Berman argues that the Knicks’ failures are the result of Jackson assembling a fragile roster and says the best strategy would be to clear some cap space by the February 18th trade deadline.

Southwest Notes: Conley, Parsons, Anderson

February 5th, 2016 at 1:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

Mike Conley isn’t ruling out any option as he approaches free agency this summer, as he said to reporters today in New York, where the Grizzlies are in town to play the Knicks, notes Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News (Twitter links). Conley also said that he hasn’t made any promises to Marc Gasol, Bondy points out, despite the point guard having recently pegged the difficulty of leaving the Spanish center as 11 on a scale of one to 10.

“Everything will be on the table when the time comes,” Conley said. “I haven’t committed to anything.”

See more on the Grizzlies amid items from the Southwest Division:

Chandler Parsons and Rick Carlisle have a close relationship off the court, but they don’t always see eye to eye about Parsons’ on-court role, with Carlisle hesitant to use him the way most teams feature their stars, as Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com examines. Parsons can opt out at season’s end, but he’s indicated that he wants to remain in Dallas for the long term and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wants that same outcome, with the team having signed Wesley Matthews in part because he fits so well with Parsons, MacMahon writes. “What I see 100% is we’re going to keep those guys together for a long, long time,” Cuban said to MacMahon. “When they’re both 100% and have all their explosiveness, that’s a crushing tandem on the wing and we’ll fill in around them.”
The Spurs have turned to Kyle Anderson and Jonathon Simmons more of late, allowing Anderson to respond on the court to doubts that preceded San Antonio’s decision to draft him 30th overall in 2014 and Simmons to continue impressing on his minimum-salary deal, as Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio News-Express details. The pair figure to have more opportunities to play with Manu Ginobili sidelined for at least a month.
The use of 10-day signee Ryan Hollins at the expense of minutes for JaMychal Green seems to show the disparity between coach Dave Joerger‘s full attention to the present and the front office’s broader attention to both now and later for the Grizzlies, opines Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal.

Western Notes: Griffin, Howard, Carter, Warriors

February 5th, 2016 at 10:28am CST by Chuck Myron

The Clippers plan to make a concerted effort to look for Blake Griffin trades if they don’t make a long playoff run this spring, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports (video link). That’s regardless of whether an opportunity arises to swap Griffin for Kevin Durant, a move the Clippers wouldn’t hesitate to make, according to Wojnarowski. Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers suggested before the season that he would be open to major changes if the team disappointed in the playoffs, as Zach Lowe of ESPN.com reported, adding that it appears as though Rivers isn’t eager to trade any members of the team’s core before the trade deadline this month. See more from the Western Conference:

The Celtics aren’t the only team the Rockets have engaged about Dwight Howard, but it’s unlikely a Howard trade happens this season as Houston isn’t shopping him so much as gauging his market value, reports Chris Mannix of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. Three executives from around the league told Mannix they wouldn’t approach the max in an offer to Howard in free agency this summer, and an Eastern Conference GM pegged a fair contract for him at three years and $60MM, Mannix relays.
Vince Carter plans to play next season, which would be his 18th in the NBA, and while he’s taking a year-by-year approach, he’d like to play 20 seasons, notes Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal. Carter’s salary of more than $4.264MM for next season is partially guaranteed for $2MM, and fellow Commercial Appeal scribe Chris Herrington suggested recently that the Grizzlies will “almost certainly” waive him this summer and pocket the savings. Still, coach Dave Joerger expressed a fondness for the veteran swingman, as Tillery relays.
Executives from other teams know that so much as asking the Warriors about any of the key players on their roster would be ill-advised, writes Bobby Marks of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports as he analyzes Golden State’s trade assets.

Nets Interested In Tommy Sheppard For GM Job

February 4th, 2016 at 7:58am CST by Chuck Myron

The Nets have requested permission to interview Wizards senior VP of basketball operations Tommy Sheppard for their GM vacancy, a source said to Brian Lewis of the New York Post. He joins Bryan Colangelo, Arturas Karnisovas and Gersson Rosas as contenders for the position, Lewis notes, having reported earlier this week that Danny Ferry was no longer a viable candidate. John Calipari is a long shot candidate, but remains a possibility because of his strong support from CEO Brett Yormark, according to Lewis.

Brooklyn already reportedly received permission to speak with Karnisovas and Rosas. Washington denied a June 2014 request from the Grizzlies to interview Sheppard, as Chris Vernon of 92.9 FM ESPN in Memphis reported at the time, so it’s no lock that the Nets will have the chance to pursue him. Sheppard has been with the Wizards for 12 years and assumed his current position under GM Ernie Grunfeld shortly before the 2013/14 season.

The Nets reportedly want to hire a GM before the trade deadline, which is two weeks from today. Assistant GM Frank Zanin has been running the front office since the team removed Billy King from the GM job nearly a month ago.

D-League Notes: Motiejunas, Dunleavy, Whittington

February 3rd, 2016 at 10:28pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The NBA’s relationship with the D-League continues to grow, and this season a total of 19 NBA teams possess one-to-one affiliations with D-League clubs. Those 11 NBA teams without their own D-League squads this season have to assign players to D-League clubs affiliated with other NBA franchises. We at Hoops Rumors track all the NBA D-League assignments made during the course of the season and you can view the complete tracker, which is updated regularly, here.

Here are the D-League happenings for today:

The Pacers recalled center Shayne Whittington from their D-League affiliate, the team announced. Whittington has appeared in 24 games for the Mad Ants, averaging 12.0 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game during his four stints with the team this season.
The Bulls have recalled small forward Mike Dunleavy from the Warriors’ D-League affiliate, where the Bulls had sent him via the flexible assignment rule, the team announced via press release.
The Grizzlies recalled James Ennis and Jarell Martin from their D-League affiliate earlier today and later reassigned the pair to the Iowa Energy, the team announced. This will mark Ennis’ eighth jaunt to the D-League on the season and Martin’s fifth.
The Jazz recalled big man Tibor Pleiss from the Idaho Stampede, their D-League affiliate, the team announced.
The Rockets have reassigned Donatas Motiejunas to their D-League affiliate, the team announced. As was the case with his previous assignment this season to Rio Grande Valley, both Motiejunas and the NBPA had to sign off on the move because he is a fourth-year veteran.