When they start playing defense and playing consistently, they might be kind of scary. If they do get into playoffs playing really well and reached 8th seed, I will be cheering them on harder than any fans in Memphis for upset and breaking out every wish spell. They'd be the perfect team to knock off, you know who?
Because it is as stupid a notion as I said in my previous post. How does it make since for an NBA team to take on Zach Randolph's contract in order to save money? Is the contract structure beneficial for the team? Hell, yes! However, that does not make it a "cheap" move. Now if you are trying t make the accusation that the Grizzlies are trying to acquire as much talent as possible in a fiscally responsible manner, then guilty as charged. Now the Grizz owner laid out a plan that he has followed to a tee. Now that it seems to be ahead of schedule, it is supposed to be luck. What?
Your previous post reeked of bias and ignorance hence why I didn't bother to break it down. If you would like me to, I will. No, actually....I don't even need to give you the EXACT figures. It's all very simple: without the Randolph trade or a major FA signing you guys were way under the league's salary minimum. You had the opportunity to acquire a guy that nobody wanted, who happened to make the type of salary you needed to run on fumes all the while potentially boosting your team. It also only involved a two-year commitment as opposed to a standard 4-5 year free agent deal. Nothing in your previous post dismisses or dispels this notion. Absolutely nothing. Overall, it was a very calculated (and low-risk) type of move. So far, so good -- you satisfied the league's salary minimum, you still have the league's lowest payroll and you're surprisingly above .500. A very odd but pleasant mix. Potential buyers out there: TAKE NOTE! Even your own fans aren't convinced of Heisley's commitment towards fielding a winning product. After all, how can you be hell bent on selling the team -AND- committed to winning at the same time? I just don't buy that (no pun intended). You're 18-17 right now. I don't mean to take anything away from what your Grizzlies have a accomplished but the season is still young and this isn't exactly a sustained winner we're talking about here. We'll see how things play out first before we start operating under the whole "We're winning so don't mess with it" approach. A lot of things could change between now and mid-February.
Great post! I feel sorry for Memphis fans, at least until the ownership and location issues are settled. Heisley, having wasted big money on such players as Jason Williams, now decides to punish fans for his failures with Scrooge-esque pennypinching. The team has such young talent but you just know that the organization will let most of it walk.
No, your post reeks of bias. You go in to an argument with a notion and then disregard facts in route to prove that notion. If Heisley was so calculating in wanting to just satisfy the NBA minimum salary there were easier, less risky ways of doing so. In fact, the team could have simply kept Hakim Warrick and Quentin Richardson which would have satisfied the league minimum without adding any additional salary for next season. Oh but I know that doesn't satisfy your tinfoil hat theory that team/owner that was willing to pay the luxury tax is now hell bent on operating like the Clippers. Choosing to trade for Zach Randolph over over paying inferior players in Paul Millsap and David Lee does not make sense to you even though there was no guarantee they could acquire Lee or Millsap? You read the ramblings of one Grizz fan and decide it is 100% on the money when it isn't. The Grizzlies biggest needs were low post scoring and toughness. I am sure I will be proven 100% correct when they resign Rudy Gay this offseason. I am sure you will be as quiet as a mouse at that time.
No offense, but A) Heisley's greed is well documented; B) there is no way that Chris Wallace would've signed off on the Gasol trade unless he were the owner's cost-cutting bagman; and C) there is a reason they were able to acquire Randolph so cheaply. Interior toughness? Maybe when he's attacking a quarter pounder with cheese. He's a black hole on offense and can't deal with double teams. He can't play a lick of defense. Even the Knicks and Clippers didn't want him. Marc Gasol, however, I will credit as a tough player--much more-so than his brother.
Grizzlies fans should enjoy this season (and maybe next) while it lasts. A playoff push or two should be very exciting for them. If someone wants to drink the Kool Aide known as Michael Heisley, fine, as long as they understand nobody else will. When you think about it, doing so probably helps them enjoy this season without distraction. I might be in the same boat of grasping every positive straw I could while ignoring the fact they chopped their entire scouting department and that the team is for sale. I might even delude myself into thinking their pathetic owner cares about the team's long term competitive future. NOT! In all sincerity, I wish the Grizzlies well this season and feel good every time they win as long as it's not against the Rockets or 4-5 other teams. I hope it lasts.
Reread. I said it was a calculated and low-risk move with the operative word there being: calculated. I never said the move didn't make some sense. I never said it didn't fulfill a need. You're absolutely right that the Grizzlies needed a low post scorer. Given how the Grizzlies figured to not have much to play for, I liked the idea of acquiring a radioactive player like Randolph all the while satisfying Heisley's apparent urge to spend the bare minimum. Clearly, that's worked out so far. If you think I have some anti-Grizzlies bias, you're absolutely wrong. Despite being in the same division as the Rockets I still want them to do well and have spoken highly of their success this year. As a Pittsburgh Pirates diehard, I know aaaaaaaaall about what horrific ownership can do to the mindset of an otherwise sane and rational sports fan. Even after 18 years of misery, if the Pirates magically started winning next year I would probably play the "What have you done for me lately?" game too and forget about everything leading up to that point -- as you seem to have done. All the same, I agree with what A_3PO and others have said that i'm just not convinced Heisley cares about winning. I'm really not.
In all fairness to Heisley, they have spent money and if you look at the gasol trade, they replaced him with payroll. They paid SAR max money, but they're a team that has to build through the draft like SA and many other small market teams. Lets not get it twisted, trading gasol and the others were not about the money. Gasol,Battier, and the other couldn't win a playoff game. The team appeared to go as far as it could unless someone else stepped up, but they didn't. Gasol was traded because he basically quit on the team and was moping around and stuff. I do think they could've gotten more, but they have paid their talent when it came to do it. I wouldn't pay gay 12 m either, but he is a 9m player and thats what he will get.
The Gasol trade was too about money. Not in it's entirety but freeing themselves from the long-term obligation of second banana player in exchange for youth + picks + expirings is most certainly at least partially about money. Other than that, I agree with what you're saying in how realizing that Gasol/Battier/Miller core had peaked. I don't have a problem with accepting that reality and moving on. What I do have a problem with is GM's that make trades without considering how the outcome could adversely affect and bolster their trading partners. Let's be honest here: the Gasol trade shifted the balance of power in the Western Conference and won the Lakers a championship. Does that make it a bad trade for Memphis? No. Smart, though -- given the big picture? You be the judge.
I wouldnt have traded him to the lakers, but i wouldve traded him. It was clear after the team went into the tank early after his injury, gasol wasn't the same. At least they were smart enough and had enough scouting to get a good deal out of it. The rockets continue to believe a 2nd banana like yao is the answer. I think at some point when a guy is just good and not great, you have to move, but as i said, not many teams wanted to give up the 3 first rd picks and the talent. Think about this, they got crittendon, who was a 1st rd pick, plus 3 more first rd picks and gasol. Thats 4 1st rd picks albeit they will be in the late first. If they don't trade away any of them, that will be 7 first rd picks in a 3 yr period. Thats alot of firepower and if you just look at that team, they don't need anything but experience and stay together. They could use those picks on dept like they did with young and carroll. Not to mention they have the #2 pick on the bench. Imagine what they could get for conley,thabeet, and a pick. Their biggest weakness seem to be pg right now, but with the firpower they have on the bench and picks, they can get that guy. I would be very worried about memphis next year.
I'll let Memphis fans have their joy until Heisley decides to trade Rudy Gay and Mayo in the future to save money
Why would the grizzlies trade for zbo at all if they wanted to save a few bucks. That seems like the more logical approach, rather than the alternative you propose which is, trade FOR zbo, then start playing well, and then trade him off because they want to save a few bucks. The ridiculousness in that seem self explanatory.
To make minimum payroll (the Grizzlies have a lower payroll than the Clippers, who always dole out at least one big contract to meat the league minimum) and acquire a player who, though a bloated ballhogging cancer, helps the team win enough games so that at least some people show up.
