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Grizzlies to trade Speights, Ellington, Selby and draft pick for Cavs' Jon Leuer

By Ronald Tillery
Posted January 22, 2013 at 8:25 a.m., updated January 22, 2013 at 8:56 a.m.

929espn: From @ChrisVernonShow : #Grizzlies to sign F Bill Walker G Delonte West G Sasha Vujacic.

I absolutely can't stand Delonte West. I have a hard time supporting this team. I'm totally beside myself right now!!!!!!!

I'm really sad to see Speights go, but with a healthy Darrell Arthur I suppose it makes sense. Ellington also was a nice surprise with his scoring, he'll surely be missed.

I understand the reservation about signing West, as he has had significant issues, but this is a solid team with unshakeable character. He could seriously flourish if he is kept in check, & I'm sure the vets here will not allow his antics.

Bill Walker is also a solid player. Loved him when he was on the Knicks.

What a **** trade by horrible GM and front...

MEM
Marreese Speights
Wayne Ellington
Josh Selby
1st round draft pick top 5 protect

CLE
John Leuer

I know this trade is salary cut trade. but why we gave up 1st round draft pick?
This trade is absolutely horrible terrible miserable for Grizzlies.

I do not remember who offered Rudy Gay Max contract???
If Grizz GM and front and owner negotiate with Rudy Gay he might be accepted 11-13M per year.
Rudy Gay Max contract is killing our team today.
New Onwer must fire GM or GM must walk way from our team tomorrow.

rudy wanted a 5 year $60M and they refused him... then a year later had to pay MORE to keep him. it was really bad. They didn't want him to test the market and overpaid.

If he is the Allstar he could be... the contract ain't bad. He's no allstar though. Allstar doesn't dribble it and turnover like he does every game.

I don't agree with the 1st round pick to Cleveland, BUT...

This doesn't mean that Rudy Gay is staying. He is until further notice still being shopped around. You guys can still swing him to the Suns, Raptors, etc. & receive compensation back (i.e. draft picks, etc.).

I'd be surprised if Memphis doesn't make another move of some sort before the February deadline.

Well the pick is protected from 1-5 and 15-30 in 2015 and 2016, top 5 protected in 2017, and unprotected in 2019 (the article i read doesn't mention 2018). So the chances we relinquish a pick before 2018 or 2019 are slim IMO.

But the point of the trade is to get under the tax and try to re-establish continuity by reducing trade speculation. Gay and Randolph can now focus on just basketball rather than constant trade speculation.

There still is a chance we move one of those guys though, but now we have some flexibility, and can afford to take back full salary (although I'm sure we'd prefer at least some of it to be expiring). This means we can get fairer value if we are able to absorb one bad contract in the process.

For instance, we could conceivably get the Warriors to give up H. Barnes and a 1st for Gay if we are willing to take back Biedrins or Jefferson in the process. We could then use the amnesty clause over the summer to dump that player.

The deal is a setback for this season, there is no way around it. Ellington is our best shooter and Leuer is a big downgrade from Speights (wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of Haddadi from here on).

But this move frees us up to take on one more shooter (if we are willing to pay a small tax perhaps) or to get a better deal for Gay or Randolph. Management has its eye on the long term health of the franchise, and I can't argue with it until we see it play out.

One last thing though (that some others have already mentioned)... NO DELONTE WEST. He's just Jerryd Bayless with even more baggage. The team should play Wroten and sign a veteran third PG as insurance. Let Bayless play SG where he is more comfortable and can ease the loss of Ellington's shooting. But Delonte West will just end up being Gilbert Arenas the sequel.

Billy Walkers a great pick up.

Oh my God...
1 st round Draft Pick could be really hurt Grizzlies in the future.
This f*** trade reminded to me the Otis Thorpe nightmare trade long time ago.

the grizzlies radio announcer is saying on the radio right now the 2015 pick was traded also as salary dump. they don't want to pay another player. I'm so confused. He was irate and screaming at callers on the show about it. It's really weird!

Hollins already quoted that Tony Wroten is going to have a huge role now. Haddadi won't get PT even if Gasol was injured.

Interesting tidbit I came across on an espn insider article....

Winner: Jon Leuer

After a solid rookie season in Milwaukee, Leuer was traded and then waived over the summer. He's spent this season languishing on the bench in Cleveland, playing just 91 total minutes and spending time in the D-League. Now he heads to a Memphis team that has an opening for a fourth big man and a crying need for the floor spacing he can provide. Better yet, guess who was one of Leuer's biggest supporters before the 2011 draft? Former ESPN Insider John Hollinger, who is now vice president of basketball operations for the Grizzlies. Hollinger's Draft Rater pegged Leuer fourth among big men in his class.

His draft rater has been pretty solid, so it will be interesting to see if Leuer plays well.

LOL @ the Otis Thorpe mention.

That was a lifetime ago, & this trade is no where near as horrible. The pick is top 5 protected & this years draft class has been getting the thumbs down since day one.

The Grizzlies will be fine & will still be top 5 in the West come playoff time.

^ The problem is assuming we are top 5 in the west come playoff time (which is underachieving for this team), our pick is 15-30 protected as well, so we won't give up the pick in this year's draft. This means that two to three years from now, we might be giving up a top pick. For a team that has a hard time luring free agents, that isn't a smart move by any measure, salary dump or not.

I'm in support of keeping Gay and Randolph. But, just pay the luxury tax and give our squad a fighting chance without sacrificing our future....

I can understand avoiding the luxury tax. It's just the whole trading away our depth just to get under the tax is what's puzzling. It's like the mgmt could be saying this team may not have what it takes to get far in the playoffs. It's still inevitable that the trade for Rudy could still happen at the trade deadline or in the offseason(depends on playoffs). Now with these FA signings the Grizzlies are involve in, these signings are at best subpar. Vujacic? Too inconsistant. Walker-Tony Allen P2. West- decent skills, bipolar issues. Feels like a trapdoor has been pulled.

darkangle901 wrote:Well the pick is protected from 1-5 and 15-30 in 2015 and 2016, top 5 protected in 2017, and unprotected in 2019 (the article i read doesn't mention 2018). So the chances we relinquish a pick before 2018 or 2019 are slim IMO.

But the point of the trade is to get under the tax and try to re-establish continuity by reducing trade speculation. Gay and Randolph can now focus on just basketball rather than constant trade speculation.

There still is a chance we move one of those guys though, but now we have some flexibility, and can afford to take back full salary (although I'm sure we'd prefer at least some of it to be expiring). This means we can get fairer value if we are able to absorb one bad contract in the process.

For instance, we could conceivably get the Warriors to give up H. Barnes and a 1st for Gay if we are willing to take back Biedrins or Jefferson in the process. We could then use the amnesty clause over the summer to dump that player.

The deal is a setback for this season, there is no way around it. Ellington is our best shooter and Leuer is a big downgrade from Speights (wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of Haddadi from here on).

But this move frees us up to take on one more shooter (if we are willing to pay a small tax perhaps) or to get a better deal for Gay or Randolph. Management has its eye on the long term health of the franchise, and I can't argue with it until we see it play out.

One last thing though (that some others have already mentioned)... NO DELONTE WEST. He's just Jerryd Bayless with even more baggage. The team should play Wroten and sign a veteran third PG as insurance. Let Bayless play SG where he is more comfortable and can ease the loss of Ellington's shooting. But Delonte West will just end up being Gilbert Arenas the sequel.

Don't quote me on it, but I'm pretty sure in order to amnesty a player, he had to have been signed during that particular CBA negotiated off-season. Again, I'm not positive about this.

I couldn't sleep last night for many reasons including this. I kept thinking what about over the summer when we tried to give Jason Terry and Ray Allen $7M or so?

I mean did they not realize the luxury cap then or what? Woudl we have kept the team together ONLY if we're in the top 3 of the league? I mean we're still pretty high up in the top10 for them to blow it up.

It really makes me think another move is still in the works........... and the D league pickup is just so we have min roster for tonight/this week.

SD2042 wrote:I can understand avoiding the luxury tax. It's just the whole trading away our depth just to get under the tax is what's puzzling. It's like the mgmt could be saying this team may not have what it takes to get far in the playoffs. It's still inevitable that the trade for Rudy could still happen at the trade deadline or in the offseason(depends on playoffs). Now with these FA signings the Grizzlies are involve in, these signings are at best subpar. Vujacic? Too inconsistant. Walker-Tony Allen P2. West- decent skills, bipolar issues. Feels like a trapdoor has been pulled.

Chris Vernon said last night

Delonte West Grizzlies will not sign with him b/c his mental problems.
Bill Walker I heard Bill Walker is bad shape to play basketball. therefore Grizzlies will not sign with him.
Sasha Vujacic can not move from Turkey until this summer.

10day contract with Chris Johnson
Grizzlies are interesting in Josh Childress

hmm Grizzlies needs a player like Matt Burnes Reggie Evans MiKael Pietras Michael Redd

grizzlies50 wrote:

SD2042 wrote:I can understand avoiding the luxury tax. It's just the whole trading away our depth just to get under the tax is what's puzzling. It's like the mgmt could be saying this team may not have what it takes to get far in the playoffs. It's still inevitable that the trade for Rudy could still happen at the trade deadline or in the offseason(depends on playoffs). Now with these FA signings the Grizzlies are involve in, these signings are at best subpar. Vujacic? Too inconsistant. Walker-Tony Allen P2. West- decent skills, bipolar issues. Feels like a trapdoor has been pulled.

Chris Vernon said last night

Delonte West Grizzlies will not sign with him b/c his mental problems.
Bill Walker I heard Bill Walker is bad shape to play basketball. therefore Grizzlies will not sign with him.
Sasha Vujacic can not move from Turkey until this summer.

10day contract with Chris Johnson
Grizzlies are interesting in Josh Childress

hmm Grizzlies needs a player like Matt Burnes Reggie Evans MiKael Pietras Michael Redd

I heard we are looking at Michael Redd. But honestly i'd just rather play Johnson. He has an NBA body and shoots the ball well from what I've heard. The only way we are going to keep our core together and remain under the luxury tax is if we learn to develop these young cheap players to be solid role players the way the spurs have been doing for years (think: George Hill, Roger Mason, Matt Bonner, Gary Neal, Danny Green, Dejuan Blair, etc).

The way the Spurs do these things have worked for them in the long term. Even better considering that they have eyes for talent. And looking for diamonds in the rough.

SD2042 wrote:The way the Spurs do these things have worked for them in the long term. Even better considering that they have eyes for talent. And looking for diamonds in the rough.

I think they simplify the process. It seems like they just ask three questions about any prospect:

1.) Can he shoot?
2.) Can he dribble?
3.) Can he pass?

If the answer is yes to all of those, then they believe they can teach them the rest. Occasionally they go out of their way to find defensive players (Kawhi Leonard, Splitter for example), but it seems like they're just looking for the three skills i mentioned.

They do have the advantage of not having to find post-scorers with Tim Duncan on board, but I'd say we have that same advantage.