Latest Grizzlies Stories
Posted: Jul 3rd 2009 2:17 AM ET by Matt Moore (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Grizzlies
Allen Iverson needs to lay low for a while.
After establishing himself as a potential Hall of Fame guard, with offensive skills never before seen in the league and establishing himself as a perennial winner who's only flaw was that he was surrounded by insufficient backup, the last year has done a lot to tarnish that reputation. After being traded to Detroit he was an outright disaster, unable to find his place in the offense or in the locker room. Meanwhile the guard he was traded for,
Chauncey Billups, lead his team to the Conference Finals.
As a free agent this summer, Iverson needs to go somewhere quietly and rebuild his image, much the same way that his old coach
Larry Brown has in Charlotte. But it might be another small market team Iverson ends up with. One that now features an... eclectic makeup of personalities.
Iverson might be headed South for the Winter.
Posted: Jul 1st 2009 10:56 PM ET by Matt Moore (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Clippers, Grizzlies

OK, sure. They traded their franchise player a year and a half ago for
Kwame Brown and some Skittles. And yes, with the No. 2 pick they managed to select the only basketball player available who's biggest weakness is his ability to put the little ball in the big circle with the net attached (which I hear is kind of important). But hey, they needed to rebuild, and they rebuilt. But they have tons of cap space now, so much in fact, that they're actually under the CBA limit and have to spend some.
So they've stopped torturing their fans with one terrible decision after another right? Right? Guys? Anybody?
Oh, hi
Zach Randolph. What are you ... doing ... here ...?
Oh, no.
Posted: Jun 27th 2009 11:30 AM ET by Tom Ziller (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Clippers, Grizzlies, NBA Rumors

Ronald Tillery of the
Memphis Commercial-Appeal emptied his notebook on the paper's Grizzlies blog. The most incredible (if not
uncredible) rumor had Clippers owner
Donald Sterling nixing a trade which would have sent troubled/troubling
Zach Randolph to Memphis for
Darko Milicic and
Greg Buckner. Darko instead went to the Knicks
for Quentin Richardson and cash. Z-Bo remains directly in
Blake Griffin's path and peripheral vision.
I have absolutely no clue why Sterling would nix a deal like this. The Clippers had nearly a full season to realize Randolph isn't worth it. He scores frequently but inefficiently, which is spyspeak for "he takes way too many shots." He's a great rebounder ... but so are
Marcus Camby,
Chris Kaman and Griffin. Randolph will make more than $33 million over the next two seasons, while Darko (a far better defender than Z-Bo) has a $7.5-million contract which expires after 2009-10 and Buckner's contract can be bought out for about $2 million.
Posted: Jun 26th 2009 3:45 AM ET by Matt Steinmetz (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Clippers, Grizzlies, Hornets, Jazz, Kings, Lakers, Mavericks, Nuggets, Rockets, Spurs, Suns, Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, Warriors, NBA Draft, Thunder

The NBA Draft started with a no-brainer --
Blake Griffin going No. 1 overall to the Los Angeles Clippers. Then, the fun happened, with Memphis taking Hasheem Thabeet and the Timberwolves' vexing decision to horde as many point guards as they could. A few other teams lucked out when players dropped down the board and into their laps. Check out the grades for the Western Conference after the jump.
Posted: Jun 25th 2009 10:37 PM ET by Tom Ziller (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Grizzlies, Knicks, NBA Rumors, NBA Transactions

A potential trade sending
Darko Milicic to New York in exchange for
Quentin Richardson has been rumored for a couple days now. Adam Silver announced it has been consummated. The Darko Knicks jersey immediately becomes the greatest shirt in the history of synthetic garmentry.
One big takeaway from this deal is that Memphis will apparently take back $2 million in extra salary, unless New York is forking over some dough not yet reported. Darko's flight opens up the frontcourt for
Hasheem Thabeet, who (I assume) will turn
Marc Gasol into a power forward. We'll see how that works out -- Gasol isn't exactly fleet, and 7-foot-3 centers typically lack lane agility. Luckily, Mike Conley and O.J. Mayo are fantastic defenders on the perimeter. Oh, wait ...
Posted: Jun 25th 2009 7:50 PM ET by Matt Watson (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Grizzlies, NBA Draft
Blake Griffin went first, of course. There was no drama about that -- Clippers VP Andy Roeser essentially let the cat out of the bag with his
unbridled praise for Griffin minutes after winning the NBA lottery. The real question mystery started at No. 2, and the Grizzlies answered that question by going with
Hasheem Thabeet from Connecticut.
Thabeet is a bit of a project offensively, but that's to be expected -- unlikely most prospects who practically grow up in a gym, Thabeet has only been playing the sport for seven years. Will he pan out? Or will he follow the path of another failed No. 2 pick who happens to be Thabeet's new teammate,
Darko Milicic, who never found stardom before settling into the life of a role player?
Time will tell, just like time will tell if Thabeet and Darko will ever share a locker room -- with
Marc Gasol already anchoring Memphis' frontcourt, Milicic is rumored to be on the block. Stay tuned. (
Update: That didn't take long --
Darko was traded to the Knicks for
Quentin Richardson and cash.)
Posted: Jun 25th 2009 5:00 PM ET by Gary Washburn (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Bulls, Grizzlies, Heat, Timberwolves, NBA Draft, Thunder
FanHouse fixes a decade of draft-day blunders in Revisiting the NBA Draft.It's almost unfair to judge a draft after one year, but this is what we're going to do. The final edition of our Revisiting the Draft series examines the 2008 Draft and believe or not, there are teams already harboring regrets from their picks.
Despite the extensive scouting, workouts and interviews involved in the draft, teams still make major mistakes and these days, prospects don't get three years to develop. Of the 14 lottery picks in 2006, six have already changed teams and players such as
Patrick O'Bryant and
Mouhamed Sene are not guaranteed jobs next season.
The NBA waits for no one, especially if they are taking too long to make an impact. So while teams won't freely admit they made mistakes 12 months after draft night, they will privately admit they overestimated talent and heart, and sooner or later, that will cost front-office jobs.
Posted: Jun 24th 2009 10:35 PM ET by Gary Washburn (RSS feed)
Filed Under: 76ers, Bucks, Bulls, Celtics, Clippers, Grizzlies, Hawks, Hornets, Kings, Knicks, Pistons, Rockets, SuperSonics, NBA Draft, Thunder
FanHouse fixes a decade of draft-day blunders in Revisiting the NBA Draft.Hard to believe that several NBA general managers can have regrets after two years, but it's true. The results of the 2007
NBA Draft are slowly reaping, which should teach a lesson to their 2009 brethren on Thursday about taking chances on raw college players, international prospects and even those who are allegedly "proven."
The biggest debate two years ago was whether the Portland Trail Blazers should take
Greg Oden or
Kevin Durant first overall. Oden was a franchise center out of Ohio State while Durant was the smooth scoring swingman from Texas. Durant had the better workout with the Blazers, apparently blowing the mind of coach
Nate McMillan. Yet, the Blazers stuck with conventional thinking and took the big man.
Posted: Jun 24th 2009 3:38 PM ET by Tom Ziller (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Grizzlies, Timberwolves, NBA Draft, NBA Rumors

With Tuesday's talent dump netting the No. 5 pick for Minnesota, the initial theory followed that said pick combined with the Wolves' own No. 6 could net the team Memphis' for-sale No. 2 pick, a selection coveted by several teams. Minnesota quickly blew back that idea, saying it would not be giving up both top-six picks in any such deal.
But the quest for No. 2 -- and the
Ricky Rubio or
Hasheem Thabeet it entails -- isn't over yet.
Posted: Jun 23rd 2009 7:30 PM ET by Tim Povtak (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Cavaliers, Grizzlies, Knicks, Suns, Wizards, NBA Draft, NBA Fans
This is the time of the year when
NBA executives earn their salaries, making the decisions that often determine the success or failure the following season.
They make the trades, draft the players, and sign the free agents that set the stage. They can make or break a season long before it actually begins. The winning and losing generates the enthusiasm or leads to the apathy that surrounds your favorite team, but it's the executive decisions now that can give you a glimpse into the future.
The general managers usually sleep well during a season while the coaches fret every minute. In the summer, the GMs don't sleep at all, and with good reason today. When the economy is booming, NBA owners can be a little forgiving when things don't go their way. In an era of economic hard times, dwindling ticket sales and shrinking salary caps, there is no room or patience for mistakes. Here are five GMs on the hot seat in a very hot summer.