http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/sports_columnists/article/0,1426,MCA_468_4809480,00.html For once, things work out just right for Griz Nikki Boertman/The Commercial Appeal Geoff Calkins The trade was set up in advance, but it was a long shot, to say the least. The Grizzlies would send Shane Battier to Houston for the No. 8 pick in the draft. The catch: Houston would only do the deal if all of the five players they wanted at No. 8 were gone by the time they picked. Five players! Surely, one would still be there, right? Things never work out for the Grizzlies. Remember LeBron and the ping-pong balls? Incredibly, the players Houston wanted started to go. One, two, three, four ... "It had to break perfectly," said Memphis president Jerry West. With the No. 7 pick, Portland picked Randy Foye. "There were some pretty excited people in the draft room," said West. All five players were gone. Houston picked Rudy Gay from Connecticut, then shipped him along with old friend Stromile Swift to Memphis. The Grizzlies had a guy West described as "the first- or second-rated talent in the whole league." He meant draft, but give the guy a break, OK? He deserves one, after the frustration he's endured. West spoke plainly and openly about it after the draft, even as he apologized to Grizzlies fans for the remarks he'd made the day before. "Our job is to win games," he said, then. "If it doesn't satisfy the press or the fans, the hell with 'em." It was a really dumb thing to say, and West understands that. He interrupted his draft preparations to issue an apology. But if West can sound dour, even angry at times, it's at least in part because of his almost maniacal desire to win. He sees the grind his scouts put themselves through. He's like, why can't the rest of you see that? So he lashed out. So he apologized. That works, doesn't it? Especially given what West put together over the course of the next few hours. "Jerry West and Mike Fratello are geniuses!" hollered Dick Vitale, and it's been a while since anyone said that. But why not, given Wednesday night's astonishing haul? The Grizzlies got the star of the future with Houston's first-round pick (Gay), a gutty point guard with their own first-round pick (Kyle Lowry), a breathtaking physical speciman in a second-round trade (Alexander Johnson) and, oh by the way, you remember this guy named Stro? He's back and -- in Gay, Johnson and Hakim Warrick -- he now has competition for the most electrifying dunker on the team. And all it cost the Grizzlies was ... OK, can we all pause for a moment of silence here? Whatever happens to the Memphis franchise, it may never have a more important player than Battier. He was drafted at a time the city was roiled by the FedExForum debate. Opponents wondered why Memphis would want anything to do with "those NBA thugs." Then the Grizzlies drafted Battier. Uh, did someone say thugs? At the first open practice, Battier took the microphone and talked to the fans. He never really put the microphone down. He's been the voice, the face and the soul of the Grizzlies. As much as anyone, he helped build this team. And now he's off to Houston. "It's a business," said Battier, two nights ago, as he returned to the city to start his camp. It was as if he knew, really. As if he understood what was to come. The Grizzlies needed more talent. The Rockets needed more character. The city will miss you, Shane. But how could West resist the deal? How could anyone? Gay might not sell as many jerseys as Battier, but he could be the star West has looked for ever since he arrived. There was the near-miss with LeBron. The failed effort to trade up for Dwyane Wade. "It's been a long, hard process," said West. So maybe it was cosmic justice, this time around. As recently as two days ago, reports had Toronto taking Gay with the first pick in the draft. He has that kind of raw ability. "He's cut from the same cloth as Ray Allen," said his college coach, Jim Calhoun. "He is cut from the same cloth as Donyell (Marshall) and Caron (Butler). In some ways, they are all different, but they are also the same. They have a sense of greatness about them." A sense of greatness. Is there anything the Grizzlies needed more? The only way the evening could have worked out better is if Gay's teammate, point guard Marcus Williams, had fallen to the Grizzlies at No. 24. He nearly did, too, falling all the way to the Nets at No. 22. The Grizzlies recovered by taking Lowry, a scrapper of a point guard. "If there's a loose ball out there, he'll get it," said West. Anyone remember Game 3 against the Mavericks? And the remarkable thing about all this is that West was able to remake the future of the Grizzlies without denting the present all that much. Pau Gasol, Mike Miller and Eddie Jones will all be back. Damon Stoudamire is on the mend. Throw in Gay, Warrick, Swift, Johnson and Lawrence Roberts, and the team can run a little, too. So West leaned back into his chair. Someone asked if he had anything else planned. "No," he said. "I'm tired." The guy owes no apologies for that.
we got robbed. shane is a great guy to have and a very nice player. great fit for us too. we should've at LEAST got a future first round pick in return.
The rockets are too scared to roll the dice. scared to be great. being solid is not gonna get you championships. we have the foundation to be awesome. but our GM and coach are two nincomputes who are not into being great. solid suits them down to a T..... BTW, what there saying in Memphis is, " we robbed there stupid asses TO THE POLE"...
sorry...actually i went looking for memphis news sources to make sure they were reporting it the same way.
I just can't believe we traded a Top 5 Talent and a decent PF for Shane Battier TO FREAKING DIVISION RIVALS!! I'm tired of the Rockets having to find "JVG-Type" players regardless of talent.
I went from the highest of highs when Randy Foye was picked, to the lowest of lows when we dealt away Rudy Gay .... so it's so crazy to read that the Rockets were crushed and the Grizzlies ecstatic when Foye was picked. I'm starting to think had the Blazers opted for Rudy Gay, we would have Brandon Roy right now .... since we probably would have taken Foye then dealt him to Minnesota. Wow.
The problem I have is couldn't we have waited to see what else we could have got for Rudy Gay? Maybe we could have found some interest in Seattle (for Rashard Lewis) etc
This is just JVG trying to save his job by getting a few more wins this year, which is what this trade will probably do, but at a sacrifice of the our future.
Me too. I don't mind us not taking Gay, I just thing we could have got more for him. It doesn't matter if he has the potential to be a bust or not. Right now, he has value. I don't think we maximized that value with this trade. Not even close, actually.
Indeed. The irony of the whole situation is that most of us were ECSTATIC when Foye was picked. Little did we know that we should have been hoping Gay was picked. As much as I was oppossed to landing Foye as another tweener, even getting and keeping him would have been better than Shane Battier. How can management not see that we need mroe athleticism on this team...at least more excitement, something. Oh well, I foresee another year of not watching the second half of a lot of games...even if you're winning it's hard to watch a game in the 50's in the fourth quarter.
The teams that are better than us have all drafted well. This was our opportunity to get an impact player. We need impact players. I like Battier, but those players are easier to get in the lower rounds or with free agency or with trade exceptions. Van Gundy does not know how to judge talent and is trying out players and missing all the time. Subsequently, he then needs to make a more stupid deals to get rid of the player or the team suffers with its contract. (What about James, Anderson, Swift, Ward, Weatherspoon, Barry, Lampe, Baker, Lucas, Davis). He gets these players in and ends up not liking them. To a large degree Van Gundy has traded away all our young talent. The players he does like have so limited potential and are too old (Sura, Mutombo, Wesley, Brunson) In the end, he will not be pleased with Battier in about a year and will want to ship him out as well, but we will be stuck with his contract to about 2011.
F U Tennesee, stealing Gay and taking Young after the Texans were dumb enough to pass on him. And taking the Oilers. F U.
That part pisses me off- why would we tell Memphis which players we wanted 1) their a division rival 2) thats like showing your hand in poker CD and Morey basically grabbed their ankles on this one after their "five players" were gone and didn't have a contingency plan and just settled for a horrible trade with Memphis.
