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Grizzlies In Limbo Between Contention And Rebuild

August 5th, 2018 at 8:49pm CST by clarkcrum

The Grizzlies are an interesting franchise to keep an eye on moving forward this season and beyond, as they are somewhat in a state of limbo – not quite rebuilding but not close to being a serious contender either – writes Mark Giannotto of The Commercial Appeal.

To be sure, Memphis had a relatively nice offseason. They drafted a potential future franchise cornerstone in Jaren Jackson, they signed Kyle Anderson to the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception, and traded for veteran guard Garrett Temple. By midseason, all three could possibly join Mike Conley and Marc Gasol in the Grizzlies’ starting lineup.

Yet, as Conley says, because of the new pieces learning to fit in and difficulty of the Western Conference, it may turn out to be an “awkward” year in Memphis.

“This season, expectations are still try to be that playoff team, that team that comes out and really makes it tough on everybody. But it is an awkward year with so many teams getting so much better [with] different acquisitions they made in the offseason.”

In addition to adding Jackson, Anderson, and Temple, the Grizzlies also traded away relative disappointments Ben McLemore, Deyonta Davis and Jarell Martin, while adding rookie Jevon Carter, a potential throwback-type player to the Grit ‘N’ Grind era.

Ultimately, it’s probably still going to be difficult for Memphis to make the playoffs in the West, even assuming a 22-win improvement from last year that would see Memphis literally double the amount of victories from a season ago. As such, a rebuild is probably closer to fruition than title contention.

As Giannotto notes, only seven players (not including Gasol’s player option) are signed beyond this season, and only rookie Dillon Brooks had a meaningful role on last year’s team. Accordingly, one would think that most teams would begin rebuilding this season. Only time will tell if the Grizzlies choosing to do otherwise was the right call.

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Contract Details: Bolden, Carter, Harrell, Smart

July 29th, 2018 at 10:21am CST by Arthur Hill

Sixers forward Jonah Bolden has received the largest contract of any rookie second-round pick this summer, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. The 36th player taken in the 2017 draft, Bolden spent a season with Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel before coming to the NBA. Philadelphia gave him a four-year, $7MM deal with a starting salary of $1.69MM, although the third and fourth seasons are non-guaranteed.

The Nets signed Rodions Kurucs to a similar arrangement, Pincus adds (Twitter link). The 40th pick in this year’s draft, Kurucs will make $1.62MM in his first year and has incentives that could bring the value of his four-year contract up to $6.96MM. The first three seasons are fully guaranteed.

Pincus passes on a few more details about deals signed this summer:

  • Although Jevon Carter was taken 32nd overall, he signed for just the minimum salary over two seasons, less than others in his draft range (Twitter link). However, he received a full guarantee from the Grizzlies on both years. Jalen Brunson, taken at No. 33 by the Mavericks, makes more per season but is locked into a four-year deal (Twitter link). He will receive $1.23MM in his rookie year, with minimum salaries for the next three seasons. The first three years are fully guaranteed. Elie Okobo, the 31st pick, signed a four-year agreement with the Suns that will pay him $1.24MM in his first year, with three seasons at the minimum to follow. Only his first two years are guaranteed, and Phoenix has a team option on the final season (Twitter link).
  • Among the two-way contracts handed out this summer, only four players signed multi-year deals. Kostas Antetokounmpo of the Mavericks, Billy Preston of the Cavaliers, Yuta Watanabe of the Grizzlies and Thomas Welsh of the Nuggets all have two-year agreements (Twitter link).
  • The Clippers will pay Montrezl Harrell $6MM in each season of his two-year, $12MM deal (Twitter link).
  • Celtics guard Marcus Smart has a base salary of $11.16MM in the first year of his new deal, but $500K of likely incentives place the cap hit at $11.66MM. The incentives remain in effect for each season of his four-year contract.
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Kings Trade Garrett Temple To Grizzlies

July 17th, 2018 at 3:03pm CST by Luke Adams

3:03pm: The trade is now official, the Grizzlies and Kings announced in a pair of press releases.

10:44am: The Kings and Grizzlies are in the process of finalizing a trade that will send Garrett Temple to Memphis, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). According to Wojnarowski, Sacramento will receive Ben McLemore, Deyonta Davis, and cash in the deal. The Kings will also get a 2021 second-round pick from the Grizzlies, tweets Chris Herrington.

The move will add a established, versatile contributor to Memphis’ rotation. Temple, who is a strong defender and can play multiple backcourt and wing positions, averaged a career-best 8.4 PPG last year for the Kings, chipping in 2.3 RPG and 1.9 APG with a .392 3PT%.

While Temple has seen most of his minutes on the wing in recent years, Grizzlies starting point guard Mike Conley is coming off an injury-plagued 2017/18 season and Memphis doesn’t have a reliable veteran behind Conley on the depth chart, with Andrew Harrison, Jevon Carter, and Kobi Simmons in the backup mix. Temple could provide the club with another ball-handler when Conley is on or off the court.

The Grizzlies will add a little money to their payroll as a result of the deal, but the salary difference is minimal, and won’t have an impact beyond 2018/19. Temple is earning $8MM in the final year of his contract and McLemore is on an expiring deal worth $5.46MM. Temple and McLemore will be unrestricted free agents next summer, while Davis – who is earning about $1.54MM this year – will be eligible for restricted free agency.

Memphis is now less than $1MM away from the luxury-tax line, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, who notes that recently-signed second-rounder Carter received a guaranteed two-year minimum-salary deal from the club.

For the Kings, the move represents a reunion with former seventh overall pick McLemore, who spent the first four years of his NBA career in Sacramento. He battled health issues and struggled last season for Memphis, averaging a career-worst 7.5 PPG on 4.21/.346/.828 shooting.

As for Davis, he showed some promise in a part-time role for the Grizzlies last season, posting 5.8 PPG and 4.0 RPG in 62 games (15.2 MPG). I wouldn’t expect either McLemore or Davis to take on a major role for the Kings, but they could earn spots in the rotation with strong showings in training camp.

The trade will open up a little extra cap room for the Kings, who now have about $20.5MM in space, easily the most in the league. Sacramento has 14 players under contract, so it will be interesting to see what the club has in mind for its remaining cap room and its final open roster spot.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Grizzlies Sign Jevon Carter To Multi-Year Deal

July 15th, 2018 at 6:28pm CST by Austin Kent

The Grizzlies have signed 2018 second-round pick Jevon Carter to a multi-year contract, the club announced in a press release.

The 32nd overall pick arrives in Memphis after four seasons at West Virginia and will compete with Kobi Simmons for reps at the backup point guard position.

Carter is currently with Memphis’ summer league squad competing in Vegas and has averaged 12.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game.

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Sixers Notes: Colangelo, Workouts, McConnell, Holmes

June 13th, 2018 at 10:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Sixers insist the loss of Bryan Colangelo hasn’t affected their draft preparations, relays Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Colangelo resigned last week as president of basketball operations after a Twitter-related scandal involving sensitive information released through burner accounts.

The front office has tried to stick to business as usual in his absence, conducting pre-draft workouts over the past three days. Coach Brett Brown has taken over Colangelo’s responsibilities on an interim basis, and draft decisions will be made as a group effort.

“I don’t think it’s going to change much, to be honest with you,” said VP of player personnel Marc Eversley. “All of our scouts have been on staff here for the past two years. I’ve been here for the last two years. You know, we’re in a position where we feel we are going to be able … to select somebody who’s going to be able to come in and help us contribute.”

There’s more tonight from Philadelphia:

  • After two days of bringing in high-profile prospects, today’s workout focused on potential second-round picks, summer leaguers and G League acquisitions, Pompey writes in a separate story. West Virginia’s Jevon Carter and Miami’s Bruce Brown highlighted the session, with Brown saying he is motivated by a stress fracture in his left foot that required surgery in February and limited his effectiveness at the combine. “I just have a chip on my shoulder that I know I can get back to where I was,” said Brown, who was viewed as a possible lottery pick before the season began. “I know teams are going to believe in me, and believe that I can do that. So it just adds a chip on the shoulder, and I’m ready to go after guys that go before me.”
  • Today’s move to exercise team options on Richaun Holmes and T.J. McConnell could lead to free agency decisions next summer, Pompey notes in another piece. Both will have non-guaranteed $1.6MM salaries next season then will become unrestricted free agents if they aren’t signed to extensions. “Like I said, I want to be here,” McConnell said. “So I’m excited they picked it up. But that’s not going to change how I approach every day.”
  • The Sixers are in contention for the top players on the free agent market, but Brown promises they won’t spend recklessly if they don’t get their main targets, tweets Jessica Camerato of NBC Sports Philadelphia.
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Eastern Notes: Hood, Ellington, Knicks, Sixers

June 12th, 2018 at 10:51pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The consensus among NBA insiders is that Rodney Hood cost himself a significant amount of future earnings in free agency after struggling to find his way in the playoffs, Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com writes. Hood made slightly under $3.39M this past season and is set to become a restricted free agent once the league’s new year begins July 1.

Sources tell Vardon that the Cavaliers still like Hood and can envision a future with him on the team. The shooting guard fell out of the rotation during the latter half of the team’s postseason run before playing 52 minutes over the team’s last two NBA Finals contests. He finished the postseason with a plus/minus of -92 in a total of 260 minutes.

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

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Draft Workouts: Simons, Allen, Grizzlies, Knicks

June 6th, 2018 at 9:15am CST by Luke Adams

IMG Academy guard Anfernee Simons, projected as a possible first-round pick, has a busy workout schedule leading up to the 2018 NBA draft. Having already auditioned for the Lakers, Trail Blazers, Suns, and Bulls, Simons will reportedly work out for the Magic as well, as we heard on Monday. During Simons’ Tuesday workout with the Lakers, he added several more teams to that list, confirming that he’ll also get a look from the Jazz, Knicks, Sixers, and Bucks, as Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com relays.

That workout with the Jazz will happen on Thursday, league sources tell Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link).

While Simons has a wide range of potential landing spots, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony has the youngster coming off the board at No. 38 to the Sixers in his latest mock draft.

Here are a few more updates and notes on pre-draft prospect workouts:

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West Draft Workouts: Jazz, T-Wolves, Blazers, Suns

June 4th, 2018 at 5:32pm CST by Dana Gauruder

UCLA point guard Aaron Holiday and Duke guard Grayson Allen were among the first-round prospects that the Jazz evaluated on Monday, according to a team tweet. Holiday is ranked No. 17 by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony on his latest Top 100 prospects list, while Allen checks in at No. 30. Creighton’s Khyri Thomas (No. 27), Villanova’s Jalen Brunson (No. 34), Louisville’s Ray Spalding (No. 52) and San Diego State’s Malik Pope were the other prospects who visited Utah.

We have some other draft workouts involving Western Conference clubs to pass along:

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Jazz Notes: T. Brown, Gobert, Lang, Favors

June 2nd, 2018 at 8:47pm CST by Arthur Hill

Utah’s desire to add players who can handle multiple positions could make Oregon’s Troy Brown attractive in the draft, writes Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune. The 6’7″ freshman, who worked out for the team Friday, has displayed an ability to play anywhere from point guard to small forward.

“I just wanted to show that I’m more of a playmaker and that I can score the ball and shoot the ball,” Brown said. “I wanted to show that I can play the game the right way. I want to be able to do everything on the floor. I want to be a two-way player. Just being versatile is important to me.”

The Jazz, who own the 21st pick, were happy with the results of Friday’s session, which also included Michigan’s Moritz Wagner, West Virginia’s Jevon Carter, Kansas’ Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and Malik Newman and Georgia’s Yante Maten.

There’s more tonight from Utah:

  • Center Rudy Gobert, one of the finalists for the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year Award, received a similar honor today from the players’ union, relays Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News. Gobert was the winner of the Locksmith Award, presented to the league’s best defender as part of the Players’ Voice Awards. “It really means a lot to me knowing that the guys that I compete against every night are showing some love and recognition and I really appreciate it,” Gobert said. Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell was chosen as the NBPA’s Leader of the New School.
  • The Jazz made a coaching move today, promoting assistant Antonio Lang to the front of the bench, Woodyard writes in a separate story. Lang, who was among Quin Snyder’s first hirings in 2014, will replace Igor Kokoskov, who left to become head coach of the Suns. “I’m truly blessed,” said Lang, who played six years in the NBA before turning to coaching. “Hope to continue to improve and help the group.”
  • The Wizards, Bucks and Warriors are all potential destinations for free agent Derrick Favors if he leaves Utah, according to Frank Urbina of HoopsHype. Favors, who started a career-high 77 games this season, has been with the Jazz since arriving from the Nets in a 2011 trade.
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Draft Notes: M. Bridges, Pinson, Farrell, Rowsey

June 1st, 2018 at 11:02am CST by Arthur Hill

With the deadline passing for underclassmen to withdraw from the NBA draft, pre-draft workouts are taking on a new level of importance. Here are a few notes to pass on as the draft looms 20 days from now:

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