Leeb, I get what you're saying but there's a strong distinction between staying flexible and spending as little as possible. Flexibility implies potential change if necessary. With comments from Heisley about payrolls of $50M or less, where is the flexibility in that? I'm still waiting for somebody to tell me how he's going to keep this promising group in tact, resign Rudy Gay AND stay below this $50M mark.
Memph Bleek's first solo album was hot. Jay-Z couldn't promote him correctly, and dude had flow. their first mistake was setting him up as Jay-Z's robin, in rap even in groups their is no main guy and lessor guys, you have to be "the guy", its the nature of the beast
I don't think Jay-Z was trying to make him his robin. That was Beanie Sigel. I believe Jay tried to do the same thing Dre did with Em and let him grow into his own super stardom yet keep him in distance. Coming of Age was great but after that he just kind of lost it. There was no reason for that to happen since he had very great MC's and producers starring in his albums (some examples: Jay Z, NORE, Just Blaze, TI, Trick Daddy, Timbaland, Twista, Swizz Beats etc..). Jay-Z gave him the tools to fly and he totally sunk after his debut album (M.A.D.E. sold a lot of copies but it was a different style, kind of repetitive). His album the Process is suppose to come out this year, he's had 5 years to make it. We''ll see how it turns out. If it's hot, i'll take it back but right now I stand by my statement.
Baller, the salary floor is like 53m or so. They will pay rudy just as they will mayo and gasol. Conley with his lack of developement might be moved later. The clippers have been frugal, but they haven't overpaid a guy like derek anderson and mo taylor, but did pay kaman and brand.
This is pure homer talk. When has Pau ever quit? He's just not good enough to lift scrubs to championships, very few people are. Dwyer predicted this type of fallout when Pau was traded to the Lakers, how ignorant fans would act like Pau had quit while in Memphis but suddenly turned things around when he arrived in Lakerland but the truth Pau has been doing the same thing the whole time. Anyway your second paragraph didn't even make sense. Baller already pointed you to the thread showing how Heisley actually saved money by signing Z-Bo. As he said, the fact that the team happened to get over 0.500 is just a coincidence, winning was never really their primary goal.
What are you serious? The reasoning is already in the article, why are you still denying it? They are not trying to acquire as much talent as possible in a fiscally responsible manner. Are you crazy? Why would they do the Gasol trade, and then let Warrick go for nothing if they were? Let's break it down: 1) Grizzlies trade Darko's 7.5 million for Q-rich's 9.5 million for "cash considerations" (anywhere from 1.5-3 million) 2) Grizz trade Q-rich for Z-bo 3) Z-Bo trade does several things: -gives a pretense about caring about winning -gets out of paying Q-rich but keep the cash considerations -gives an excuse not to retain Warrick (another 3 million) -more importantly allows the Grizz to meet the minimum salary requirement for next 2-3 years As the article already stated everyone on the roster except Z-Bo and Jaric are on rookie/small contracts. Z-bo was someone who will enable the team to meet the minimum requirement. IF Heisly was serious about winning, he would have signed David Lee as a free agent instead of trading for Z-bo. Z-bo was a notorious cancer at the time, while Lee was available as a FA. No one could have predicted Zach Randolph would suddenly turn his game around like he did, it was all just a pleasant surprise. Anyway we'll see you again in a couple of years when you look around and Memphis traded Mayo, Gay and Gasol for expiring contracts and draft picks.
Go back and read the articles. Gasol was moping and basically quit on the squad. If you watched them in gasol last 2 yrs and saw his effort level, it was a big difference.
I wasn't saying Pau was a happy camper in Memphis, clearly the losing was getting to him. However, like the upstanding player he is he didn't let his moping get in the way of his play: http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/gasolpa01/gamelog/2008/ Stats in Memphis 2007-2008: 18.9 pts, 8.8 rebs Stats when traded to Lakers midseason: 18.8 pts, 7.8 rebs If he really "quit" why are his numbers the same pre and post trade?
I don't deny losing can get to a player, but carter and mcgrady were accused of quitting and look at their numbers. You just have to watch the games and all the stuff surrounding the guy. I would also imagine being from spain and playing in memphis isn't the easiest thing to deal with. They got kwame for him partly because gm's saw a sulker.
Pau quit. That is a fact. Check the game logs right before the trade. He faked a back injury to force a trade which is why the Grizz didn't edit until the deadline.
I understand what you're trying to say Leeb, and I agree Pau's heart wasn't really in Memphis. However to say he quit on the team is stretching it a bit, let's look at Carter's numbers in comparison: Carter's toronto 04-05 numbers: 15.9 pts, 0.411% Carter's Jersey numbers when he was traded mid-season: 27.5 pts, .462% ^Now that's the statline of a quitter. I remember Carter wanted out of Toronto so bad he would actually tell the opponents the plays they were going to run. Not only that, he faked injury as well, leading me to believe whether his "injury prone" tag really was true or not. On the other hand Pau's numbers remained relatively the same. Are you telling me his performance when he has no interest in it and when he's playing all out results in the same numbers?
I already showed you his statline pre and post trade. That was all in the same season, his numbers are almost the same. If he really tanked then his averages would have dropped, then increased dramatically once he was traded to the Lakers just like Carter did when he went from Raptors to the Nets. Not only that, your conspiracy theory doesn't even make sense because you can't trade a player who's injured. If Pau wanted a trade he wouldn't "fake" a back injury, because then he won't be traded until he "recovers"
I live here outside of Memphis and never watch them. I've been a Rockets fan the last 15 or so years and used to live in Houston. I assume this must be their core. I'm shocked at Randolph's seasons numbers lolz. Zack is playing like a top 5 PF. They'd be stupid to break them up they are better off letting them jell some more looks like though they are coming along just needed time to adjust to each other.
'member us? It is just your friendly neighborhood grizz fan just letting you know better not blink, cause ur teams next. U lose again and you'll be looking up at us in the standings.
Grizz playing good against the Suns. This team is a legit playoff team in my opinion. They certainly have the required talent to stay competitive in the West- Gasol,Gay,Mayo,Randolph, and others. If they can keep playing like they have as of late they will no doubt be a playoff team, and will be all heck in the playoffs.
