Memphis Grizzlies Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Western Notes: Gasol, Nowitzki, Armstrong

November 23rd, 2013 at 6:48pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Grizzlies aren’t releasing a timetable for the return of Marc Gasol, who’s out indefinitely with a sprained MCL in his left knee, as the team announced today. That hasn’t stopped reporters from speculating about how long Memphis will be without the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, and the consensus seems to suggest he’ll miss at least six weeks. The injury is a blow to the Grizzlies, though there’s no talk of the team looking for reinforcements yet. This summer’s trade for Kosta Koufos, who started at center for the 57-win Nuggets last year, could be about to pay dividends. Here’s more from the West:

Derrick Rose‘s diagnosis is the big injury news of the day, but Western stars, including Gasol, are being plagued with their share of physical ailments as well. ESPN.com’s Marc Stein reports that James Harden of the Rockets is expected to miss at least the next two games with a foot injury, while the Warriors announced that Andre Iguodala is out indefinitely with a strained hamstring. I doubt either injury will result in a roster move.
Jeff Caplan of NBA.com doesn’t put much stock in Mavs owner Mark Cuban’s revelation that Rockets GM Daryl Morey asked him this summer if he’d trade Dirk Nowitzki. The scribe notes that Cuban has vowed he’ll never trade the former MVP and that Nowitzki has said he plans to re-sign with Dallas next summer. About 70% of Hoops Rumors readers agree that the Mavs shouldn’t even think about trading their star.
According to Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link), the Santa Cruz Warriors announced that they’ve re-added former NBA veteran Hilton Armstrong to their roster. The big man played for Golden State’s D-League affiliate last season, so Santa Cruz still held his rights.
We looked back at the offseasons for a pair of Western Conference teams today, covering the Kings and the Jazz. You can find all the Offseason in Review pieces we’ve done so far on this page.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Southwest Notes: Asik, Mekel, Randolph

November 19th, 2013 at 1:57pm CST by Luke Adams

As the Rockets look to pull a half-game closer to the Spurs in the Southwest standings tonight, let’s round up a few of the latest notes out of the division….

Speaking to reporters today, including Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, Omer Asik indicated that he has just been “frustrated” about his role recently, but is looking forward to returning to the court and helping the Rockets win.
It’s only a matter of time until the Rockets find a taker for Asik, according to Grantland’s Zach Lowe, who says a deal will likely happen after December 15th. Lowe also addresses a pair of hypothetical deals for Asik, involving the Pelicans and Hawks. In Lowe’s view, a trade centered around Asik and Paul Millsap would work so well for Houston that, if it were to happen, rival Western teams would hold it against Hawks GM Danny Ferry “forever.”
Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld discusses a pair of Southwest teams in today’s NBA AM column, examining Mavericks offseason addition Gal Mekel and the Rockets‘ situation with Asik. According to Kyler, Houston is believed to be seeking either an impact frontcourt player or a combination of a frontcourt player and unprotected draft picks for Asik.
In a recent piece for the Los Angeles Times, Paresh Dave outlined the details of the deferred payments on Zach Randolph‘s last two contracts. While it doesn’t affect a team’s cap, up to 25% of a player’s salary can be deferred. In the case of Randolph’s current deal with the Grizzlies, $9.9MM of his $66MM (15%) is deferred compensation.

Western Links: Faried, Blair, Bledsoe, Nuggets

November 13th, 2013 at 4:37pm CST by Luke Adams

As we look forward to the first meeting of the season tonight between the Thunder and Clippers, two title contenders, let’s round up a few items from around the Western Conference:

Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post suggests (via Twitter) not to put too much stock in the rumblings about Kenneth Faried and the Knicks. According to Dempsey, Faried “is and will remain a Nugget.”
DeJuan Blair didn’t get the playing time he wanted with the Spurs, but is off to a very nice start with the Mavericks, telling Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News: “Another man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”
While the Suns have to be pleased with Eric Bledsoe‘s impressive play so far this season, he may be driving up his price tag and taking Phoenix out of the running for a top pick in 2014, writes Tom Ziller of SBNation.com.
In his latest piece for The Score, Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com explains why the Nuggets lost the draft-night trade that sent Kosta Koufos to the Grizzlies for Darrell Arthur.

Odds & Ends: Perkins, Gay, Walton

November 4th, 2013 at 9:38pm CST by Zachary Links

With the season barely underway, should teams getting off to a slow start be concerned? HoopsWorld ran down the league’s winless club and assessed their own level of concern. The writing staff isn’t too worried about the Jazz as they’re anxiously awaiting the return of highly touted point guard Trey Burke. The level of concern for the 0-2 Nuggets is at medium since they’re not at full strength at this stage. Meanwhile, it could be time to worry in D.C. as the Wizards are 0-3 and can’t blame a John Wall injury for their slow start. Here’s tonight’s look around the league as the Celtics failed to get in the win column..

Kendrick Perkins took to Twitter tonight to clear the air on his tweet from earlier today where he said it was “time for a change“. “Let me clear something up. I wasn’t talking about leaving OKC. I was talking to some of my family members. I love playing here,” tweeted the Thunder big man.
Rudy Gay is working to recapture his budding stardom with the Raptors, writes Shams Charania of RealGM. Meanwhile, the forward refutes any notion that the Grizzlies were a better and more savvy team without him on the court.
The Los Angeles D-Fenders, the D-League affiliate for the Lakers, announced that Luke Walton will join the team as a player development coach. Walton says that he still hopes to continue his playing career and his arrangement with the D-Fenders will allow him to work out with the team and stay in shape.
Bucks rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo readily admits that he has outpaced his own expectations for his basketball career, writes Sean Deveney of Sporting News. “Let me tell you the truth: No. I did not think I would be in the NBA, it was just a dream. How could I think this would happen? And happen now? But I am here now. So I am happy,” said the rookie.

Zach Randolph Wants To Retire With Grizzlies

November 3rd, 2013 at 10:16pm CST by Ryan Raroque

During a sit-down interview with ESPN’s Marc Stein, Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph made it clear that he’d like to remain in Memphis until he decides to retire:

“I’d like to be here. I’d like to retire here. You never know. If I’ve got to make some sacrifices to be here, I would. I still can play. I can still help a team out. I want to win a championship. I’ve made all the money in the world. I just want to win. I don’t know yet [about opting in or opting out], but Memphis is my home. If they trade me tomorrow, I’m here. I just bought a new house. My daughters go to school [in Memphis]. That’s my home.”

Randolph will make $18.24MM this season and has a player option for 2014/15 worth $16.94MM. The Grizzlies will have a handful of important decisions to make in the near future, especially with Ed Davis slated to become a restricted free agent in July and Marc Gasol due for a new contract in the summer of 2015. Memphis currently has three guaranteed contracts on their books for 2015/16 totaling about $21MM, so you’d have to wonder if/how much they’d be willing to spend to accommodate the 32-year-old Randolph’s desire to stay as well as how many years they’d offer.

Odds & Ends: Tinsley, Pondexter, Kings, Mills

November 3rd, 2013 at 3:43pm CST by Charlie Adams

Here are a few notes from around the league as the NBA’s first week comes to a close:

Jamaal Tinsley‘s one-year minimum-salary deal with the Jazz is entirely non-guaranteed, as Mark Deeks of ShamSports revealed today when he updated Utah’s team salaries.
Quincy Pondexter‘s four-year, $14MM extension with the Grizzlies starts at close to $3.15MM next year and has gradual raises in each subsequent season, according to Deeks.
Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro acknowledges that the decision not to pick up Jimmer Fredette‘s 2014/15 option was “agonizing,” but tells James Ham of Cowbell Kingdom that he ultimately decided the added flexibility for next season was too enticing to pass up.
Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee wonders if Fredette could prove more productive on a team that plays a style more suited to him and applauds the Kings for declining his option and giving themselves more time to evaluate him before they make a further commitment.
Ian Begley of ESPN New York reports that first-year Knicks GM Steve Mills is happy with the current state of New York’s roster: “I think we like the roster we have right now. And I think we want to give it some time and see how they come together on the team and how guys gel together.“
Keith Schlosser of SB Nation’s Ridiculous Upside breaks down the 2013/14 NBA D-League draft and highlights the most intriguing selections round-by-round.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Odds & Ends: Mavs, D-League, Collins, Dragic

November 1st, 2013 at 4:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Dirk Nowitzki publicly questioned Mark Cuban‘s approach to retooling the Mavericks back in January, and the team struck out on its top target again this summer when Dwight Howard decided to join the Rockets. But Nowitzki tells Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com that he’s pleased with the roster Cuban and Donnie Nelson put together this offseason, and he’s encouraged by the club’s direction.

“I think as a franchise, we’ve moved on,” Nowitzki said of the failed attempts to recruit star free agents. “We didn’t go for the whole cap space deal again, like we did last year, so I was obviously pleased to see that.”

Here are a few more Friday afternoon odds and ends:

With the D-League draft set to get underway at 6:00pm CT tonight, the Iowa Energy traded the third overall pick as part of a deal with the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Heat camp invitee and NBA champion Jarvis Varnado headed to Iowa in the move, as Keith Schlosser writes at Ridiculous Upside.
One player who won’t be playing on a D-League squad anytime soon is free agent big man Jason Collins, according to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein. Stein hears from a source that Collins isn’t considering playing overseas or in the D-League, since he still believes he’s an NBA player and prefers to continue his workout regimen at home in Los Angeles.
In a separate ESPN.com story, Stein writes that the Suns are comfortable with Eric Bledsoe heading into free agency next summer. However, it sounds like Phoenix hasn’t ruled out the possibility of facilitating a sign-and-trade involving Bledsoe in July if he gets too pricey, so the team likely won’t shop Goran Dragic for now.
John Jenkins tells Lang Greene of HoopsWorld it “feels great” that the Hawks elected to exercise his third-year option for 2014/15 yesterday.
$14MM over four years is a reasonable price for Quincy Pondexter, but he’ll have to continue to develop for his new contract to be a good investment for the Grizzlies, says Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com.
DeShawn Sims, who was in camp with the Celtics in October, has signed with Galil Gilboa in Israel, agent Mike Silverman tells Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
Since being released by the Rockets, Tim Ohlbrecht has remained in the U.S. in hopes of landing another NBA job, but continues to consider overseas offers, according to Schlosser at Ridiculous Upside.

Grizzlies Sign Quincy Pondexter To Extension

October 31st, 2013 at 3:48pm CST by Luke Adams

3:48pm: The Grizzlies have officially announced in a press release that they’ve signed Pondexter to a contract extension.

10:33am: The Grizzlies’ deal with Pondexter will be worth $14MM over four years, reports Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com (via Twitter).

8:03am: Ed Davis was viewed as the likeliest extension candidate on the Grizzlies leading up to today’s deadline, but his teammate Quincy Pondexter may be the only Memphis player who gets a new deal today, according to Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Tillery reports (via Twitter) that Pondexter and the Grizzlies are expected to finalize a four-year contract in advance of today’s deadline, while an extension is unlikely for Davis, who is far apart with the team in negotiations.

When ESPN.com’s Marc Stein examined extension possibilities 10 days ago, he indicated that a deal for Pondexter hadn’t been completely ruled out by the Grizzlies, though it didn’t seem probable. According to Tillery (via Twitter), the extension came together within the last few days, after the two sides exchanged proposals. The financial terms of the contract remain unclear, but it’s safe to assume that Pondexter’s deal will be much more modest than those signed recently by Paul George, John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Derrick Favors, and Larry Sanders.

Pondexter, 25, was limited to 59 games last season due to a sprained MCL, but had his best run during the playoffs, when he averaged 8.9 PPG and shot 45.3% on three-pointers. The 6’6″ shooter has played the last two seasons in Memphis after being acquired from New Orleans in a trade for Greivis Vasquez.

With today’s extension deadline looming, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see one or two players besides Pondexter secure new deals. Gordon Hayward of the Jazz and Eric Bledsoe of the Suns are among the candidates.

NBA Teams With Open Roster Spots

October 29th, 2013 at 12:55pm CST by Luke Adams

NBA teams are permitted to carry 15 players into the regular season, so now that opening night rosters are set, as many as 450 players could be under contract around the league. Instead, only 439 players are currently on NBA rosters, leaving 11 openings spread out among nine clubs. With the help of our roster count tool, here are the teams bringing open roster spots into the regular season:

Two openings:

Chicago Bulls
Memphis Grizzlies

One opening:

Boston Celtics
Golden State Warriors
Indiana Pacers
Los Angeles Clippers
Oklahoma City Thunder
Phoenix Suns
San Antonio Spurs

Teams carrying a full 15-man roster know that not all 15 players will see regular minutes in NBA games this season. Still, keeping an extra prospect or two under control, perhaps assigning them to the D-League to get them frequent playing time, could pay off in the long run, and has little downside. Many end-of-bench players are still on non-guaranteed contracts, so they don’t adversely affect a team’s roster flexibility, since they can be easily cut if the team wants to make a trade or signing.

The only real downside of carrying 15 players is having to pay 15 players. That’s why we shouldn’t be surprised to see that many of the teams listed above are either taxpayers or clubs hovering dangerously close to tax territory. For teams like the Bulls and Clippers, who are more focused on title contention than player development, carrying a 15th man all season isn’t worth the extra tax penalties. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies, Celtics, Thunder, and Pacers all have $68MM+ in guaranteed team salary on their books, so paying a 15th player would reduce cap flexibility for those clubs, who are looking to steer clear of the $71.748MM tax line.

We’ll be keeping our list of roster counts up to date throughout the 2013/14 season, so if you’re curious about whether or not a team has room to add a free agent or make an unbalanced trade, keep an eye on that page.

Grizzlies Unlikely To Extend Ed Davis

October 27th, 2013 at 11:37am CST by Chuck Myron

Ed Davis is a longshot to receive an extension from the Grizzlies before Thursday’s deadline, USA Today’s Sam Amick tweets. The two sides have been negotiating a deal, but for now, it doesn’t appear they’ll reach an agreement. Extension talks are prone to fits and starts, as Amick noted yesterday when he reported the stall in progress toward an extension for Gordon Hayward, but for now, it appears Davis is headed for restricted free agency in the summer.

Memphis acquired the 6’10” left-hander from the Raptors in last season’s Rudy Gay trade, and Amick reported shortly thereafter that the Grizzlies saw Davis as part of their future. Still, there hadn’t been much chatter about an extension until the past week, when Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported that talks have been taking place this month.

The Raptors drafted Davis 13th overall out of North Carolina in 2010, but his minutes per game have declined each season since he saw 24.6 MPG in his rookie year. The Grizzlies significantly reduced his role after the trade, plugging him in for only 15.1 MPG in the regular season and 6.0 MPG in the playoffs, preferring Darrell Arthur as the primary backup big man.

Memphis traded Arthur for Kosta Koufos in the offseason, but Koufos will likely see plenty of time backing up Marc Gasol, making it difficult to envision much of a jump in minutes for Davis. The 24-year-old’s value doesn’t figure to escalate if he’s tethered to the bench, so the Grizzlies probably stand to benefit from waiting to do a deal.