Memphis early offseason in review (HW/bondom34/dbrandon)

[HartfordWhalers]

Memphis Offseason in Review

HartfordWhalers Review

Key Losses:
Matt Barnes
Dave Joerger

Barnes actually led the team in minutes. He's the type of guy you want being scrappy, and effected how things go. So while others might not have jumped out to see him as a key loss, I did.
Joerger is a good coach, and I have lower expectations for Fizdale.

Losses:
Lance Stephenson
Chris Andersen
Jordan Farmar
Bryce Cotton
P.J. Hairston.
RFA rights to Nick Calathes

The waiving of Calathes rfa rights made it onto my list, as those are the type of rights that could have been useful down the road.

Also, a brief word about Hairston. As far as I can tell, the Napier-Hairston trade is the opposite world version of Lee-Anderson trade. In the case of Lee-Anderson it was two late first picks who ended up having a ton of success in a bunch of spots since the trade. In the case of Napier-Hairston, it is two guys who keep seeming to flame out. Troy Daniels gets 3/10, Seth Curry gets 2/6, and Hairston is where?

Draft:
#17 Wade Baldwin
#31 Deyonta Davis (from trade)
#35 Rade Zagorac (from trade and then stashed)
#57 Wang Zhelin (stashed)

Going to be one of the more interesting drafts to see how this pans out. Baldwin and Davis are both guys with a bunch of physical tools and some immense rawness as well. These are guys who will need to be judged by year 3, and not what they do in year 1 (and I don't expect year 1 to be too awful).

Trades:
2019 Los Angeles Clippers first-rounder to Boston Celtics for Deyonta Davis (31st) and Rade Zagorac (35th)
Cash to Charlotte Hornets for Troy Daniels S&T

I'm okay with both of these trades, but obviously it all comes down to what you think of Davis. The Clippers pick was lotto protected in 19 and 20, and then a 2nd. As such, the value is fine.

Haven't seen how much cash, but I like Troy Daniels as a shooter, although at 3m a year? Would have rather seen Seth Curry get that offer. Or something else I think.

Free Agency:
David Fizdale Head Coach
Mike Conley 5/$152.3 m (last year ETO and partially gtd)
Chandler Parsons 4/$94.4m
Troy Daniels 3/10m (S&T)
James Ennis 2/5.9m
Wade Baldwin rookie scale
Deyonta Davis 3/3.9m
Partially guaranteed deals to
Andrew Harrison (3 years) D.J. Stephens (2 years) Troy Williams (2 years) Wayne Selden (1 year)

I'm good with the Conley deal. I'm good with the Parsons deal. I'm not sold that James Ennis was the best use of that money, but at least Memphis is adding youth across the board for a change. The big thing that I take from all these signings is that Memphis just upgraded if Gasol is healthy. If he isn't, the center rotation is a weakness and then some. But if he is healthy, they just did the rare retool on the fly (Parsons) and also look to have more interesting youth (Baldwin, Davis) than they have in a while. Coaching feels a downgrade, but if a bunch of 'we feel great to have a new coach' stories come out in December I won't be that shocked. At a certain point you just switch the coach and hit refresh for the team. Larry Bird said that, right?

Current Depth Chart: (as usual this is a rough draft taken from bbinsiders)
PG: Mike Conley, Andrew Harrison. Wade Baldwin
SG: Tony Allen, Troy Daniels, Vince Carter, Jordan Adams, D.J. Stephens, Wayne Selden
SF: Chandler Parsons, James Ennis, Troy Williams
F: Zach Randolph, JaMychal Green, Jarell Martin
C: Marc Gasol, Brandan Wright, Deyonta Davis

Gotta think Baldwin hops ahead of Harrison soon, if not already. Still I take their depth charts so I don't have to make my own. Also, I'm not sold Davis is a center and not a pf for now, which would worsen the issue if Gasol is out. Granted, in that case I think you play a plodding Zbo at center and pretend.

Needs: Gasol to fully recover, and do so soon enough to not put them behind the 8ball in the standings for seeding. Parsons and Conley to be healthy in 3 years and not make this the biggest oops offseason since the Nets went all in. Tony Allen and Vince Carter

Additional Thoughts:
Memphis should have signed a Dedmon type. Or WIllie Reed. Someone who would make me feel better as a bandaid. If Gasol misses most of the season, they will need a tourniquet and not a bandaid.

I think they should trade VC. To a team that will cut him. Or to the Lakers where he can increase the team's average age and be a vet to teach Ingram. VC for Nick Young and small incentives (2 2nds, 2nd and a bunch of cash). Memphis needs to regain the scoring punch of their bench, are capped out anyway next year and have shown a willingness to have that guy in the past (Lance, Hairston). And they have so many vets, if anyone can reign Nick in it is them.

I think we will hear a lot about how much money Portland and memphis are losing during the CBA talks.

Projected Win/Loss: 47-35 You know who wins in the NBA? Vets. You know what makes a team lose a lot more than expected? Injuries and sudden onset aging. This will be an interesting one.

Off-Season Grade: B+

bondom34 Review

Key Losses:
Matt Barnes
Dave Joerger

Losses:
Lance Stephenson
Chris Andersen
Jordan Farmar
Bryce Cotton
P.J. Hairston.
RFA rights to Nick Calathes

Draft:
#17 Wade Baldwin
#31 Deyonta Davis (from trade)
#35 Rade Zagorac (from trade and then stashed)
#57 Wang Zhelin (stashed)

Trades:
2019 Los Angeles Clippers first-rounder to Boston Celtics for Deyonta Davis (31st) and Rade Zagorac (35th)
Cash to Charlotte Hornets for Troy Daniels S&T

Free Agency:
David Fizdale Head Coach
Mike Conley 5/$152.3 m (last year ETO and partially gtd)
Chandler Parsons 4/$94.4m
Troy Daniels 3/10m (S&T)
James Ennis 2/5.9m
Wade Baldwin rookie scale
Deyonta Davis 3/3.9m
Partially guaranteed deals to
Andrew Harrison (3 years) D.J. Stephens (2 years) Troy Williams (2 years) Wayne Selden (1 year)

Current Depth Chart: (as usual this is a rough draft taken from bbinsiders)
PG: Mike Conley, Andrew Harrison. Wade Baldwin
SG: Tony Allen, Troy Daniels, Vince Carter, Jordan Adams, D.J. Stephens, Wayne Selden
SF: Chandler Parsons, James Ennis, Troy Williams
F: Zach Randolph, JaMychal Green, Jarell Martin
C: Marc Gasol, Brandan Wright, Deyonta Davis

Needs:
Health, and maybe a time warp for Z Bo, but mainly health. If they stay healthy they're a top 4 seed easily, last year was a wreck of injuries and they still scrapped into the postseason.
Additional Thoughts:
Parsons, if healthy, is exactly what they needed. An offensively talented wing with a shot. Conley was a no brainer and I really like nearly everything they've done. Lance would have been nice but isn't a massive loss.

The one thing that bumps them down is Joeger, he was a really great coach and didn't deserve the firing though the rumors of him not being committed I guess did him in. In the end I would have kept him though.
Projected Win/Loss:
51-31
Off-Season Grade: B+

dbrandon Review

Key Losses:
Matt Barnes
Dave Joerger

I don't know much about Fizdale and liked Joerger, so not sure what to think here. Barnes is a fairly useful player, but not that big of a deal on the whole.

Losses:
Lance Stephenson
Chris Andersen
Jordan Farmar
Bryce Cotton
P.J. Hairston.
RFA rights to Nick Calathes

Lance was actually solid for them. Everything else is ehhhhhhhhhh.

Draft:
#17 Wade Baldwin
#31 Deyonta Davis (from trade)
#35 Rade Zagorac (from trade and then stashed)
#57 Wang Zhelin (stashed)

I like Baldwin and Davis. Don't know much about the others. Draft looks reasonably solid.

Trades:
2019 Los Angeles Clippers first-rounder to Boston Celtics for Deyonta Davis (31st) and Rade Zagorac (35th)
Cash to Charlotte Hornets for Troy Daniels S&T

I think both of these are fine.

Free Agency:
David Fizdale Head Coach
Mike Conley 5/$152.3 m (last year ETO and partially gtd)
Chandler Parsons 4/$94.4m
Troy Daniels 3/10m (S&T)
James Ennis 2/5.9m
Wade Baldwin rookie scale
Deyonta Davis 3/3.9m
Partially guaranteed deals to
Andrew Harrison (3 years) D.J. Stephens (2 years) Troy Williams (2 years) Wayne Selden (1 year)

Bringing Conley back is the best possible move for them, and the Parsons signing is a risk, but fills a need perfectly. I actually really like their peripheral moves too. The Ennis signing might wind up very good.

Current Depth Chart: (as usual this is a rough draft taken from bbinsiders)
PG: Mike Conley, Andrew Harrison. Wade Baldwin
SG: Tony Allen, Troy Daniels, Vince Carter, Jordan Adams, D.J. Stephens, Wayne Selden
SF: Chandler Parsons, James Ennis, Troy Williams
F: Zach Randolph, JaMychal Green, Jarell Martin
C: Marc Gasol, Brandan Wright, Deyonta Davis

Needs:

Health above all. If this team is healthy, it's very scary. Imagine the bruising, gritty, grindy play of the Grizz before, except now they have shooting. Parsons is exactly the kind of wing creator with a dash of shooting that they've needed.

Their depth at SG isn't great for sure. I'd look to find someone more capable. Allen's good but aging, and you need someone to start training up to take over for him. I'm also not convinced on Andrew Harrison as the backup PG—would like a better veteran if it were me.

Additional Thoughts:

Memphis could make some serious noise in the playoffs this year. I'm an unabashed Memphis lover (if I wasn't an OKC resident, I'd probably be primarily a Grizz fan), and this year they made a lot of moves that I really like.

Watch JaMychal Green. He's shown some ability, and I think he could have a good year. If he does, Memphis can start to transition towards a post-ZBo future

Projected Win/Loss: 55

Off-Season Grade: A

[HartfordWhalers]

Apologies for the delay in getting this one posted, but our OKC fans were too busy pouring Champagne around like they were JR Smith, and I was busy eating popcorn and reading the other threads.

[bondom34]

Apologies for the delay in getting this one posted, but our OKC fans were too busy pouring Champagne around like they were JR Smith, and I was busy eating popcorn and reading the other threads.

I just put my shirt back on this morning.

[HartfordWhalers]

Apologies for the delay in getting this one posted, but our OKC fans were too busy pouring Champagne around like they were JR Smith, and I was busy eating popcorn and reading the other threads.

I just put my shirt back on this morning.

I've got 50-50 odds it wasn't even your shirt. Did you check to see if it had your name written in sharpie on the tag?

[bondom34]

Apologies for the delay in getting this one posted, but our OKC fans were too busy pouring Champagne around like they were JR Smith, and I was busy eating popcorn and reading the other threads.

I just put my shirt back on this morning.

I've got 50-50 odds it wasn't even your shirt. Did you check to see if it had your name written in sharpie on the tag?

Whoa, it was JR's.

[Andre Roberstan]

I just put my shirt back on this morning.

I've got 50-50 odds it wasn't even your shirt. Did you check to see if it had your name written in sharpie on the tag?

Whoa, it was JR's.

I still haven't put mine back on

If it works for JR Smith it works for me.

But I'm too poor to spray champagne, so I just bought a couple of 2-liters of Dr. Pepper.

[Texas Chuck]

I loved this off-season. Loved it. I agree with HW that it has a ton of risk attached, but when you are Memphis you take that risk. I think their upside is a top 4 seed in the West and I think they present some serious match-up issues for some of the best teams in the West.

Parsons is what they needed Rudy Gay to be. He is going to make their offense so much more dangerous and a Parsons/Wright PNR should be deadly. And the other signings around him make sense. Plus I loved their draft.

And I'm okay with the coaching change. I like Joerger, but it was clear for a while that he and others in the organization didn't always see eye to eye. I think a chance is fine and I think Fizdale has a chance to be good.

They do need another center---I'd be calling Memphis about Koufos for sure. And I'd love to see another PG. Maybe a Vince/Calderon swap?

[Slava]

Liked the draft, loved their aggressiveness in free agency to just throw caution to the wind and go for the big plays. Dislike the coaching hire even if they had to move on from Joerger.

At the beginning of the summer I was very certain they'd lose Conley to Dallas or NYK and end up having to trade Marc Gasol once he regains his fitness to gain any semblance of youth, in short they were in a dire situation but they rebounded by not only keeping their core together but having a very nice draft and enticing Parsons in free agency, which for a market like Memphis is amazing.

A lot hinges on health, Z-Bo will remain healthy as he barely gets off the floor but Marc's foot is a major concern and Parsons gave Cuban enough jitters to wash his hands off him after the very public courting it took to steal him off Morey and Houston. Otherwise they have defense, selfless players and a decent enough bench to be as good as the #2 - #4 seed if all breaks well for them and may be give Golden State their sternest test in the west semi finals.

I still would like them to pursue a bench scorer like Lou Williams if the Lakers decide they are not going anywhere by midseason even if it costs a pick.

W/L: 52-30, 4th seed in the West and a 2nd round loss in 7 games.
Grade: A-

[loserX]

I loved their offseason, one of my favourites in the league. This is a team that really needed to try something different, and they were aggressive about it.

Best move: Parsons. The Grizzlies *finally* juiced up their offence with a guy who can shoot, pass, and play either forward spot. There are health risks added to a team that already has them, but Parsons is a great fit, and Memphis proved they could sit at the big boys' table by landing a coveted free agent.

Also liked the Baldwin pick (that team was desperate for PGs), and the trade of the Clips' pick for Davis and Zagorac. Value aside, the Grizzlies need young depth *now*, not in 2019. This was a smart play, especially with someone like Davis sliding so far.

Worst move: I'm still not sure what to make of the Joerger situation. It's too bad he's gone, and I just don't know enough about Fizdale to say he's a good hire or a questionable one. It may just be lip service, but FWIW at least Conley and Parsons have both spoken about him as a reason they signed.

On another note, that bench still looks really green. I agree with the suggestions that the Griz should look to move VC for pretty much anyone who can play.

The Griz still have question marks, but getting everything filled in one off-season is an awfully big ask. They solved their top needs (SF, scoring, playmaking, adding youth) in grand fashion. They get an A from me.

[blind prophet]

Hard to grade Joerger loss without some time in the regular season.

[Woody Allen]

I don't see anything special about this team. Conley Jr. has to be the most overrated player on the league right now. Their ultimate ceiling is a second round exit and that is not exciting at all.

[gom]

First of all, I was prepared for a pretty bad 2016-17 version of Memphis with it being questionable about keep Conley and Marc Gasol also a big question mark. Memphis did extremely well, though. First, they didn’t bat an eye and maxed out Conley - an excellent point guard - showing their commitment to him. This is a message to Gasol and Randolph too. The Grizzlies aren’t going away. They intend to fight.

Bringing in Chandler Parsons was another good move. Signing Ennis and Williams to play behind him was smart too. They should not have let Ennis get away - he’s a physical defender with good tools that can get into the paint. His 3 point shot is improving too. Williams will give them some quality shooting.

I loved their pick of Wade Baldwin and the trade that exchanged a 2019 protected first for two players they can use now to reinforce their youth movement - something that was so unlikely before but now is real. Deyonta Davis was a good pickup and Rade Zagorac is someone they can use in the future. I don’t really know Wang Zhelin, but he’s stashed as well.

Another move I like was their signing of Wayne Selden (undrafted Junior out of Kansas). He faded a bit from the season with Embiid and Wiggins, but I’ve always thought he might have potential in the NBA. He can catch and shoot pretty well, so getting paired with Conley may really be profitable.

Anyway, Memphis fans should be pretty happy with their haul. There was every reason for pessimism, but the FO came through. Great job. I also like the Fizdale hiring. This will be an interesting season.

B+ and nearly an A-. (They should have kept Birdman and Bryce Cotton.)

[RexRyan]

I give Memphis a ton of credit - I thought they were going to blow it up and rebuild - instead they pushed more chips towards the center of the table, while adding some youth as well. There's now a lot of movable pieces to complement their top five. Health, like last year, will be their biggest concern (Parsons adds to this), but all of these moves could lead to a successful resurgence. I give them an A.

[HartfordWhalers]

Anyone want to give the official guest review win prediction for the spreadsheet?

[Golabki]

Conley and parsons gets are great, I liked Baldwin and Davis a lot in the draft...

But right now I don't see any perimeter players off the bench that I'm confident can be viable NBA players at this point

[Golabki]

This is the most shallow team in the league at pg/SG/SF

[HartfordWhalers]

Conley and parsons gets are great, I liked Baldwin and Davis a lot in the draft...

But right now I don't see any perimeter players off the bench that I'm confident can be viable NBA players at this point

Give me a win prediction for the spreadsheet?