Three straight DPOY awards, like ten all-star appearances. He was at one point the face of the league with LeBron and even eliminated his team to go to the NBA Finals. Dude should be first ballot.
Memphis is holding up free agency for the Clippers, Rockets, and players like Iman Shumpert. Looking at the Grizzlies depth chart and they are overloaded with players, many of whom are older veterans who don't fit their rebuilding roster. Contending team want these veteran players who don't fit with Memphis's timeline. The Grizzlies are delaying waiving their players because they are attempting to trade for more assets. I admire their gumption, but the problem Memphis faces is that they lose trade leverage with each passing day. Smart organizations like the Rockets, Nuggets, and Clippers will likely just wait them out. Eventually the Grizzlies will have to loosened their petty trade demands --petty since the grizzlies already were compensated in prior trades for these same players and now are attempting to double dip -- and do right by these veteran players by waiving them so they can go one with their careers. The Grizzlies are bluffing, and these other organizations are calling their bluff which is causing a delay in free agency for the remaining top free agents and championship contenders alike. The Grizzlies will inevitably buyout Iggy, Howard, and possibly even Solomon Hill.
Can anyone think of any player that went from the #1 or #2 player in the NBA to the most hated??? This guy was right next to Lebron as the most favorite player in the NBA before he started trashing Orland and Stan van gundy. The first thing any new GM of a ball club do is get rid of Howard, to undo what the previous GM did, who I guess got fired... Newiest GM for Wiz: "Trading him away was a signal that Sheppard was trying to reset of the Wizards culture." According to an interview with Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, new Wizards GM Tommy Sheppard didn't need much time to move on. The Howard deal was "the quickest trade I've ever done in my life," Sheppard told Wojnarowski.
Think you just answered your question with lebron. Lebron's popularity was at an all time high before he left Cleveland for the 1st time. Yeah he was criticized for not getting a ring yet, but he was still extremely popular.
Good points. Here's the rest of the story. The Grizzlies have no reason to buy out anybody without picking up assets UNTIL and UNLESS the Thunder and the Heat and the Warriors all get out of the tax. Those 3 teams HAVE TO ESCAPE THE TAX this season. Hardly anybody has any cap space to take on salary. The Hawks have about 7 million left. Everybody else is over. And Dallas has a nice trade exception left. That is about it. Here is the complete list of outstanding traded player exceptions copied from hoopshype (https://hoopshype.com/salaries/players/) : Cleveland Cavaliers Amount: $2,760,095 Expires: 12/9/19 Amount: $1,544,951 Expires: 2/7/20 Amount: $1,512,601 Expires: 2/7/20 Dallas Mavericks Amount: $1,233,152 Expires: 1/31/20 Amount: $11,825,694 Expires: 2/7/20 Detroit Pistons Amount: $2,500,000 Expires: 2/6/20 Amount: $1,140,682 Expires: 2/7/20 Golden State Warriors Amount: $17,185,185 Expires: 7/7/20 Amount: $1,597,100 Expires: 7/8/20 Amount: $1,597,100 Expires: 7/8/20 Houston Rockets Amount: $1,544,951 Expires: 8/2/19 Amount: $2,584,136 Expires: 9/2/19 Amount: $955,172 Expires: 1/7/20 Amount: $1,512,601 Expires: 1/22/20 Amount: $3,620,016 Expires: 2/7/20 Amount: $3,206,160 Expires: 2/7/20 Amount: $1,544,951 Expires: 2/7/20 Amount: $1,512,601 Expires: 2/7/20 Amount: $1,621,415 Expires: 2/7/20 Memphis Grizzlies Amount: $1,512,601 Expires: 2/7/20 Amount: $3,126,308 Expires: 7/6/20 Amount: $3,440,000 Expires: 7/7/20 Amount: $1,416,852 Expires: 7/7/20 Amount: $4,736,842 Expires: 7/8/20 Miami Heat Amount: $6,270,000 Expires: 2/6/20 Oklahoma City Thunder Amount: $6,930,269 Expires: 7/25/19 Amount: $1,544,951 Expires: 2/3/20 Amount: $9,346,153 Expires: 7/8/20 Amount: $10,389,997 Expires: 7/10/20 Portland Trail Blazers Amount: $1,790,993 Expires: 7/8/20 Toronto Raptors Amount: $1,569,360 Expires: 2/6/20 Amount: $1,512,601 Expires: 2/7/20 Amount: $2,536,898 Expires: 2/7/20 Washington Wizards Amount: $3,386,480 Expires: 12/9/19 Amount: $5,000,000 Expires: 7/7/20 I took the liberty of removing the smaller unusable TPE's in hoopshype's list. Now keeping in mind also that the Cavs have to stay out of the tax and they're $2.8 million from it, and Detroit is right at the tax line and most likely looking at a rebuild, Portland is deep in the tax, and Washington is right below the tax line unless they drop 3 nonguaranteed deals, there is going to be a premium placed on helping any of those 3 teams (GSW, OKC, and MIA) out of the tax. And to get them out of the tax will likely involve using the 125% or the 175% rule for teams that are $4 million or more below the tax line so they can take on salary without going into the tax themselves. In that environment...... the Grizzlies have every reason to keep holding their expiring contracts without buying anybody out. There's no reason for them to buy anybody out when they can possibly flip those expiring contracts for assets from one or more of GSW, OKC, MIA. That's why we're in a holding pattern here with buyouts and it's not likely to change until the trade deadline in February.
