Official Memphis Offseason: Free Agency and Trades

[Zordor]

So these are just what I could see happening and what I would do as GM, I know some parts will be criticized especially the trade, but hear me out.

10 Step plan

1 Jeff Green and udrih pick up player options
2 Gasol resigns with Grizzlies for 5 years at hometown discount under luxury tax
3 Vince Carter starts to coach more than plays next season (except sees some daylight in the playoffs)
4 Koufos resigns with grizzlies for 3 years/27M (already understood contract between the parties)
5 Memphis trades koufos and Jordan Adams to celtics for Jared Sullinger and 28th pick (Clippers owned by celtics) (Memphis and Boston have a great trade relationship) , this gives the Celtics a solid rim protector and a young guard who is a great outside shooter and defender, I believe he will become a great player, but just not in memphis, he plays Courtney lee style of basketball just not as well and is subpar athletically, this also opens up a small bit of Cap space for memphis under the luxury
6 Memphis decides to opt out of the team option on Jon leur's contract
7 draft Justin Anderson SF at #25 (Memphis) Athletic, 3 point shooting SF who is a 1rst team all ACC defender. Need I say more. He is the Grindson Incarnate
8 draft Robert Upshaw C at #28 Above the Rim Defender, great fit to take the limited role left by Koufos
9 Calathes goes back to play in Greece leaves Grizzlies
10 leaving Memphis at a 14 man roster they target Danny Green, Marco Bellineli , Kyle singler , John Jenkins, and Marcus Thornton with their remaining MLE (under the luxury tax) to bring in a sure fire 3 point shooter to round out what would look to me to be barring injury one of the most complete rosters in the game for the 2015-2016 season

Conley/udrih /Smith
Lee/FA 3 point shooter/ carter
Allen/Jeff Green / Anderson
Z-Bo/Sullinger/Jamychal Green
Gasol/Upshaw/Stokes(PF or C)

Carter and Lee are good ball handlers where its not necessary to have a 4th point guard despite injury history

Give me your honest thoughts

[bobobolas10]

I disagree with you in a couple of moves.

For starters Id give Gasol whatever it takes to keep him, the discount (as you mentioned) is a must. Something like Mr Duncan did with the spurs.

Id let Jeff green go and jon Leuer as well. Vince Carter as a 9th player rotation is ok for me but 5-10 minutes maximun and in playoffs maybe even less.

And as much as I love Zbo, it is time to let him go.what you said about Allen and Zbo having some 2-4 years left in the tank. I dont think so. Zbo will put up good numbers no matter what but the performance overall, in defense and ball movement, the many touches he demands, Id vote for changes.

Regarding Allen it happens the same, I love the guy, all heart, defense and loved by the FedEx as well but I dont like playing with 4 players in offense. He is completly useless and what he gives you in defense might no be worthy after all. HE is and incredible playoff weapon but look what happened this series, Warriors adjusted and exposed him.

Id resing Koufos as well to keep him. Id leave calathes go to Europe.

It is too soon to talk about trades and I am not getting into the draft but we obviously need to move a lot.

[jman3134]

We can't let Zbo or TA go - our entire advantage rests on the defensive end. Disrupt that chemistry and we are a mediocre team at best. Let's be real about this.

We should keep Marc and Zbo, try to sign Danny Green, and sign a rim protector. We can still use Udrih off the bench. I have no qualms with keeping or getting rid of Vince Carter, as long as he never plays as many minutes as he did in this series again.

[jman3134]

For me, we need to keep our core of Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph, Tony Allen, Mike Conley, Courtney Lee, and Beno Udrih. Everyone else is expendable or trade worthy. I would also hold onto Russ Smith and JaMychal Green because I believe they have what it takes to become rotation players down the stretch. Jordan Adams is good, but his handle is really keeping him off the court.

Leuer, Calathes and Koufas should likely move on. Koufas - the reason being that he will command too much money in the free agent market. We can't afford to keep him. Leuer just isn't filling a need even though he is a decent bench option and Calathes was horrendous in the playoffs.

[dark-child]

Anything that does not start and end with KILLING "Grit & Grind" basketball will be a waste of time and more of the same results we have experienced when we make the playoffs. Times have changed, and to continue to deny or address that successful playoff basketball involves the very fundamental aspect of being able to shoot the basketball from 3 point range. Therefore playing inside out with no consistent threat from outside will get us nowhere.
We have to trade Courtney Lee, because he can't continue to start and give us these drastic hot or cold play
Tony Allen is no longer a starter, and his annual pilgrimage to the DL is less back breaking only if his role is situational in nature
(in case of fire, break the glass) if someone gets hot, insert Tony to cut the water off
If Jeff Green picks up his option, Memphis Grizzlies trade Jeff Green
Thanks for the memories - Jon Luer, Nick Calathes, & Kosta Koufas.
Start praying today until further notice that Vince Carter decides to retire, because no one will trade for him
Did anyone catch Marc Gasol's quotes from Sunday's paper? Apparently I am not the only one who thinks style of play has to change
If Grizz Management does not have answers on how to accomplish this, then yes there is the very real possibility that he moves on, and I can't say I will be sad to see him go. We can't continue to expect him to be something that he is not, so paying him 20 mil a year to do what he does is crazy.

[SD2042]

Several issues the Grizzlies need to address is the lack of three point shooting. Our system has been detrimental to the perimeter shooting rather than share the wealth and keep the defense honest. Like it was mentioned above, the Warriors picked up on that and exploited the hell out of that weakness. It needs to improve to where this team has more reliable shooters who can help catapult the Grizzlies 3% percentage to the top fifteen in the NBA. At least be considered as a legit threat. Joerger's rotations are questionable to the timing. When the Grizz have solid leads or so they think, he subs out the starters. The bench in turn looses leads which forces the starters back in as quicker as they have time to rest. A better bench is required. Also the Grizzlies are nefarious for not developing their rookies well at all. That area must get better. The rookies need to know how to contribute in the NBA and be able to prove themselves reliable to the team so that the vets don't get worn out all the time. Games like Philly, Charlotte, and Minnesota would've been games to test the rookies to not only give the vets some rest, but to see what the rookies were capable of doing as well. Keep the Grit and Grind theme, but upgrade it to where everybody benefits.


1. Joerger needs to improve his rotations.
2. 3% shooting must improve for the better of the team.
3. Say goodbye to Calathes, Leuer, and Koufos(can't afford salary). Also Russ Smith is a question mark for me as well regarding the team's current system. Smith seems to fit more into a transition up-tempo system than half court.
4. If Jeff Green opts out, good news. If he opts in: trade him and take Courtney Lee with him.
5. Jordan Adams needs to work in the offseason. He needs to be in the starting lineup at the SG spot by October. TA with all due respect needs to be in a backup role.
6. Acquire a better SF who is reliable on both ends of the floor.
7. Since we're drafting 25th next month I would like the Grizz to look into three of these players: SF Justin Anderson, PF/C Christian Wood, and SF Rondae-Hollis Jefferson This team needs to draft a player with some aggression, a drive to get to the basket, the ability to rebound to play defense and stretch the offense.
8. Bench improvements: SF: Jared Dudley, C: Brendan Wright, SG: John Jenkins. Not necessarily these guys, but at least look in the direction of improving the bench for better contributions all around.
9. Vince Carter's minutes should be limited. Father Time beats all of us in the long run.
10. Would like to see what will happen with JyMichael Green and Jarnell Stokes and their chances of making into the rotation.

[Zordor]

SD we really coincide in what we are thinking, but let's do a for instance mini "blow up the roster"
I love courtney lee and if he wanted to resign then we keep him, but i also love Jeff Green, but this is my proposition. Memphis needs an infusion of youth, thats what Golden state did to build their bench and its paid off. I agree, TA is a role player to "turn off the spicket" so to say, and i think you start him if you are against a durant/westbrook, or a lebron/kyrie, or a steph/klay, otherwise like was mentioned, use him to cool guys down.
This is my new 10 step:
1. Joeger improves rotations or hires an assistant that helps him do it
2. Leur and calathes are out, Jeff Green and Udrih accept player options and koufos gets a contract
3. Look to trade Koufos, Jeff Green and Lee to move up in draft or target a legit proven starting player on the wing via trade
4. Target Devin Booker , Justin Anderson, Bobby Portis, or Cameron Payne (being rational here, but also like to get maybe two of them)
5. Give Jamychal Green, Stokes, Adams a chance over the summer
6. Give Jordan Adams or draft pick a starting role (barring it being Portis or payne)
7. with the additional relief in cap, target Danny Green, Iman Shumpert, Brandon Wright, Mareese Speights, Gerald Green, marcus thorton, kyle Singler or Kris Middleton to get a solid starter or 6th man option (personally I would trade for Terrance Ross since he hates playing in Toronto and playing the 3 and Urjui is trying to move him this offseason and might take a bargain and i would start him at the 2 as a 3 and D guy with athleticism but thats just me)
8. Make the team into an outside-in type of team that allows conley and the wings to put up shots (making sure all starting 5 are legit scoring threats if only streaky at times) then move the ball into the post and let z-bo and gasol get going and just kind of alternate to keep them honest, but I think you need to start from the outside and move in to force them to guard around the perimeter
9. Vince Carter rides the bench more
10. Use Russ as a change of pace guy, NO russ does not fit Grizzlies half court basketball, but wait... thats a good thing! Memphis can put him on and flip like a switch from playing grind it out old school half-court basktball to playing athletic high flying isolation ball here is how:

Lineup I would love to see and is actually the most plausible, I used full names for all new players
Conley/Udrih/Smith
Terrance Ross/Adams/Marcus Thornton
Justin Anderson/ Allen/ Carter
Z-Bo/Stokes/ (Jamychal)Green
Gasol/ Kevin Seraphin/ Robert Upshaw

Right now I am killing on NBA 2k15 with a rotation of
Conley/udrih/Smith
Adams/Ross
Anderson/Allen
Z-bo/Stokes
Gasol/Koufos

If adams, stokes and anderson could even play up to their potential of nba 2k15 (doable in my opinion) then this is a legit rotation with 3 point shooting, solid defense and in cap we are a lot better than with Green and Lee. Add in a 3 point specialist to the bench, a backup PF or Center who is fringe rotational player (Jamychal Green) , and a couple bench fillers and i think you have your team of 2015/2016 , still grit and grind a lot, but have Gasol take about same amount of shot, lower the amount of shots by Z-bo , increase the shots of conley, use adams as a lingering perimeter threat and use Anderson to spread out the defense and then have him slash. (he is basically the 3 point shooting and defense(good perimeter defender) of courtney lee, the athleticism and length of Jeff Green and the slashing ability of tony allen)

[BarbaGrizz]

We can't let Zbo or TA go - our entire advantage rests on the defensive end. Disrupt that chemistry and we are a mediocre team at best.

A mediocre team with no picks for a few seasons.

I say we hold on to this team and try to win for a couple more years and then implode to be really bad.

[jman3134]

That's my thinking exactly. Let this ride for as long as it can, then start stacking young talent.

[SD2042]

SD we really coincide in what we are thinking, but let's do a for instance mini "blow up the roster"
I love courtney lee and if he wanted to resign then we keep him, but i also love Jeff Green, but this is my proposition. Memphis needs an infusion of youth, thats what Golden state did to build their bench and its paid off. I agree, TA is a role player to "turn off the spicket" so to say, and i think you start him if you are against a durant/westbrook, or a lebron/kyrie, or a steph/klay, otherwise like was mentioned, use him to cool guys down.
This is my new 10 step:
1. Joeger improves rotations or hires an assistant that helps him do it
2. Leur and calathes are out, Jeff Green and Udrih accept player options and koufos gets a contract
3. Look to trade Koufos, Jeff Green and Lee to move up in draft or target a legit proven starting player on the wing via trade
4. Target Devin Booker , Justin Anderson, Bobby Portis, or Cameron Payne (being rational here, but also like to get maybe two of them)
5. Give Jamychal Green, Stokes, Adams a chance over the summer
6. Give Jordan Adams or draft pick a starting role (barring it being Portis or payne)
7. with the additional relief in cap, target Danny Green, Iman Shumpert, Brandon Wright, Mareese Speights, Gerald Green, marcus thorton, kyle Singler or Kris Middleton to get a solid starter or 6th man option (personally I would trade for Terrance Ross since he hates playing in Toronto and playing the 3 and Urjui is trying to move him this offseason and might take a bargain and i would start him at the 2 as a 3 and D guy with athleticism but thats just me)
8. Make the team into an outside-in type of team that allows conley and the wings to put up shots (making sure all starting 5 are legit scoring threats if only streaky at times) then move the ball into the post and let z-bo and gasol get going and just kind of alternate to keep them honest, but I think you need to start from the outside and move in to force them to guard around the perimeter
9. Vince Carter rides the bench more
10. Use Russ as a change of pace guy, NO russ does not fit Grizzlies half court basketball, but wait... thats a good thing! Memphis can put him on and flip like a switch from playing grind it out old school half-court basktball to playing athletic high flying isolation ball here is how:

Lineup I would love to see and is actually the most plausible, I used full names for all new players
Conley/Udrih/Smith
Terrance Ross/Adams/Marcus Thornton
Justin Anderson/ Allen/ Carter
Z-Bo/Stokes/ (Jamychal)Green
Gasol/ Kevin Seraphin/ Robert Upshaw

Right now I am killing on NBA 2k15 with a rotation of
Conley/udrih/Smith
Adams/Ross
Anderson/Allen
Z-bo/Stokes
Gasol/Koufos

If adams, stokes and anderson could even play up to their potential of nba 2k15 (doable in my opinion) then this is a legit rotation with 3 point shooting, solid defense and in cap we are a lot better than with Green and Lee. Add in a 3 point specialist to the bench, a backup PF or Center who is fringe rotational player (Jamychal Green) , and a couple bench fillers and i think you have your team of 2015/2016 , still grit and grind a lot, but have Gasol take about same amount of shot, lower the amount of shots by Z-bo , increase the shots of conley, use adams as a lingering perimeter threat and use Anderson to spread out the defense and then have him slash. (he is basically the 3 point shooting and defense(good perimeter defender) of courtney lee, the athleticism and length of Jeff Green and the slashing ability of tony allen)

With both Lee and Green, they practically do the same thing. Both are good contributors and inconsistent at the same time. Both are passive aggressive personalities meaning they have the potential to go into beast mode, but for some reason they both choose to hold back for whatever the reason. The Grizzlies need to see what can a package of these two can bring back in a return. Also see a sign and trade Koufos if possible like your number three suggest. Kyle Singler is an interesting player for the Grizz to consider, just wish he was a better defender. Maybe he could be brought off the bench? As for list number 10 concerning Russ Smith and how he could be utilized is an interesting theory. Having a system that focus on both half court and up-tempo systems can be unique, but could it raise complications as it haven't been tried under this team?

[Zordor]

Yeah, what I was thinking is your run Russ with some athleticism like maybe Anderson and Jamychal Green, let Adams take spot up 3s in transition and keep Gasol on the floor to anchor the defense and keep a potential post threat.

Here are some potential trades, bit far fetched on a couple but Grizzlies could atleast try
1. try to find a way to get Gordon Hayward and maybe Trevor Booker with a package deal of Green/Lee/Koufos
2. Triple sign and trade where Memphis receives Gerald Green, Brandon Wright, and TJ Warren for Lee/Green/Koufos
3. MKG and Lance for Green and Lee (if TA doesnt kill Lance first, he might become a star again)
4. Illyasova, Dudley, Plumlee and 2015 1rst round pick (17) for Green/Lee/Koufos (honestly my favorite because its simple and the players fill the same holes left, but we also get the 17th pick which could net good results)
5. Batum, Leonard for Leur/Green/Lee , with Free agency looming for Blazers where they could lose Mathews, Afflalo and Aldrige , and Batum coming off a less than stelar year, this could force their hand into making this trade, but for memphis, batum can bounce back and provide much needed 3 point shooting, Leonard is an upcoming stud as we saw in the mem/blazers series and could be exactly what we need at a stretch 4/5

as for #4:
with a top heavy, but seemingly also deep draft class this year, having the #17 AND the #25 pick is invaluable, we could either trade up into the lottery, or we could get 2 solid rotational players. at 17 it is very possible atleast a few of names like Myles Turner, Bobby Portis, Cameron Payne, Sam Dekker, Devin Booker, Robert Upshaw, Justin Anderson, Rondae-Hollis Jefferson, RJ Hunter, Montrezl Harrell, Kevon Looney, Trey Lyles, and Christian Wood will still be on the board at both spots, but having a pick 8 ahead of our own allows us to secure in my opinion ATLEAST 1 of those players:

Conley/Payne (17)/Udrih /Smith
Adams/TA
Anderson (25)/ Dudley/ Jamychal Green(PF/SF)/ Carter
Z-bo/ Illyasova/ Stokes
Gasol/Plumlee

or #5
Conley/Payne (trade Koufos and Russ smith to celtics for #16 pick)/Udrih
Adams/TA
Batum/ Anderson/ (FA 3 point shooter like SIngler)/ Carter
Z-bo/ Stokes/Jamychal Green
Gasol/ Leonard

[SD2042]

Yeah, what I was thinking is your run Russ with some athleticism like maybe Anderson and Jamychal Green, let Adams take spot up 3s in transition and keep Gasol on the floor to anchor the defense and keep a potential post threat.

Here are some potential trades, bit far fetched on a couple but Grizzlies could atleast try
1. try to find a way to get Gordon Hayward and maybe Trevor Booker with a package deal of Green/Lee/Koufos
2. Triple sign and trade where Memphis receives Gerald Green, Brandon Wright, and TJ Warren for Lee/Green/Koufos
3. MKG and Lance for Green and Lee (if TA doesnt kill Lance first, he might become a star again)
4. Illyasova, Dudley, Plumlee and 2015 1rst round pick (17) for Green/Lee/Koufos (honestly my favorite because its simple and the players fill the same holes left, but we also get the 17th pick which could net good results)
5. Batum, Leonard for Leur/Green/Lee , with Free agency looming for Blazers where they could lose Mathews, Afflalo and Aldrige , and Batum coming off a less than stelar year, this could force their hand into making this trade, but for memphis, batum can bounce back and provide much needed 3 point shooting, Leonard is an upcoming stud as we saw in the mem/blazers series and could be exactly what we need at a stretch 4/5

as for #4:
with a top heavy, but seemingly also deep draft class this year, having the #17 AND the #25 pick is invaluable, we could either trade up into the lottery, or we could get 2 solid rotational players. at 17 it is very possible atleast a few of names like Myles Turner, Bobby Portis, Cameron Payne, Sam Dekker, Devin Booker, Robert Upshaw, Justin Anderson, Rondae-Hollis Jefferson, RJ Hunter, Montrezl Harrell, Kevon Looney, Trey Lyles, and Christian Wood will still be on the board at both spots, but having a pick 8 ahead of our own allows us to secure in my opinion ATLEAST 1 of those players:

Conley/Payne (17)/Udrih /Smith
Adams/TA
Anderson (25)/ Dudley/ Jamychal Green(PF/SF)/ Carter
Z-bo/ Illyasova/ Stokes
Gasol/Plumlee

or #5
Conley/Payne (trade Koufos and Russ smith to celtics for #16 pick)/Udrih
Adams/TA
Batum/ Anderson/ (FA 3 point shooter like SIngler)/ Carter
Z-bo/ Stokes/Jamychal Green
Gasol/ Leonard

The trade with the Bucks sounds interesting. You get a cheap backup center in Plumlee to replace Koufos. Dudley is a 3 and D player and a veteran at that. Ilyasova is a bit of a night and day guy. He has some money tied to him for a guy who was dubbed the next Nowitzki and has some problems with consistency.On the 17th pick, I'm not sure if the Bucks might give that up too fast. Worth a try though.

[Zordor]

Ya and if we tied Russ and a second rounder to the trade wouldnt hurt my feelings if the pick netted cameron payne, Bucks know Illyasova is a night and day guy, and thats why they have been trying to move him, he should hurt us too much as i doubt he gets more than a max of 18-20 minutes a game if that and he can help space the floor even if he happens to be off that night for the simple fact he has atleast the reputation of a streaky 3 point shooter and a good mid range shooter ( in my opinion a tall version of udrih) and if you put Dudley, Illasova, Udrih/conley/payne, Gasol, and Randolph/Adams , you force the defense to come out to the 3 point line and get the floor spacing to get Gasol or randolph some clean looks or to make them pay for piling the paint, and its not bad defensively. I think we can afford to downgrade at center, having a 3-D guy takes the place of lee but has more length and comes off the bench making our second unit better and having illaysova if he is off it doesnt hurt us much we can just switch him out, but if he is on he is a definite x factor, with jeff green we always needed him and lee on but they werent, but the biggest gain from this is if we were to get cameron payne, memphis native so doubt he leaves the team for any dumb reason, he is committed to the city and with the injuries conley sustained this past season, a solid backup guard who can actually lead the team is a must and udrih is a good short term fix but he is aging and we need more of a floor general to come in if conley is out, this also i believe strengthens our second unit having a second floor general because right now our second unit has been playing too much iso ball, having payne allows for more set plays on offense and bring TA off the bench as a role player (even if he initially starts games and if he ends them, to keep him happy ya know) means more consistency on the defensive end so we dont blow games, also i think dudley and illyasova will flourish more if they dont have a shoot first point guard like udrih , as seen when the bucks got MCW. Udrih will still have his purposes to deliver instant offense off the bench like we tried to use Calathes for at times, but having 2 shoot first points off the bench is not ideal, especially come playoffs. I think this will get guys like Stokes more engaged as well since he grew up with payne and because i am still under the impression that adams and stokes have not flourished because they cannot create their own shot most of the time, and this helps fix that problem having adams play with the starting unit most the game and stokes gets set up by payne, because whether stokes likes it or not, he played a lot better in the D-League with Kailin Lucas (in my opinion) also better in the regular season with Conley on the floor (but who doesnt play better with conely?) so even if this doesnt happen we need to look to move Lee, Green and Koufos this offseason, let Calathes and Leur go, retain Udrih, bring in a floor general 6th man, bring in a 3 point shooter off the bench like Danny Green, Bellineli, Singler, Thornton or trade for JJ Reddick <--- he is a 6-7th man, should not start imo, and look for some athleticism or 3 point shooting in the draft

[Zordor]

Do you think Toronto would consider a sign and trade of Green/Koufos for Lou Williams? can add a lee for Ross swap too

[jumivi]

Do you think Toronto would consider a sign and trade of Green/Koufos for Lou Williams? can add a lee for Ross swap too

i dont, Green is the best of the 3.... and remembar Marc said he loves to play with him.

If we resign Marc and assuming JG opts in, ill just try to get in the FA: Hinrich, Jason Smith, G. Green to replace calathes, udrih and Koufos (Carter?!?) (Leuer?!?!)
Then make a trade: Lee + Stokes/draft for gibson. If not try to make something for Patterson, if not , Bennett. I want zbo to be our 6th men.

[Zordor]

Do you think Toronto would consider a sign and trade of Green/Koufos for Lou Williams? can add a lee for Ross swap too

i dont, Green is the best of the 3.... and remembar Marc said he loves to play with him.

If we resign Marc and assuming JG opts in, ill just try to get in the FA: Hinrich, Jason Smith, G. Green to replace calathes, udrih and Koufos (Carter?!?) (Leuer?!?!)
Then make a trade: Lee + Stokes/draft for gibson. If not try to make something for Patterson, if not , Bennett. I want zbo to be our 6th men.

Well we have the option to opt out of leur God be thanked and I expect that to be exercised. We definitely need to look for some pieces in the upcoming draft or in free agency, I think the biggest problem is the front office unwilling to make the moves necessary, or making patchwork more than moves, love green , koufos and Lee, but one or more of them is going to have to be moved, Green is the one that fits the least in the system, lee is the most likable on the team but the worst of the 3 because he is clogging our wings, but koufos is the odd man out, stokes loves Memphis , but sentiments aside, if we do not get Cameron Payne , stokes is on the chopping block, Jordan Adams needs to see some daylight this year , I would not be surprised if Memphis moves Lee koufos and or stokes this offseason , especially in light of my sources telling me monta Ellis wants to go to Memphis, the fit is another discussion as he wants and plays an up tempo offense, but there are some definite free agents we can target, but I think despite all other concerns, a second floor general and consistent point guard has to be the top of the list, going 3 deep with udrih Conley and another floor general who is Conley-esque is essential , your second biggest need is floor spacing , but I blame Dave Joeger and Courtney Lee on that one, we have the shooters with Lee , Conley, udrih , and Adams , and we can bring in a bench 3 specialist to space the floor via the draft or FA, Vince Carter was good in thought until I realized they wanted him as a 3 point specialist, and then our third need is consistency and Lee and Green just don't provide it , we are and have always been a gang of rag tag land of misfit toys, but we need glue so when one or two guys aren't on , then we can turn to a consistent player *cough* Jordan Adams ... To come in and score a few points and basically just be bodies on the floor

[Zordor]

Did anyone else realize we have a cap hold of almost 9m for Steven hunter+ other past free agents? also the 13 MM cap hold for Jeff Green and a 6.5MM for Koufos? if we trade either Green or Lee we should have the cap to sign someone like Wes Mathews if he wants to sign a 1 + 1 Player Option for the MLE, just because of the cap holds we have on Green and past Steven Hunter , if we can convince Green to opt out and sign a 1 + 1 deal for roughly 9-10m for 7.5% increase, we could potentially offer Wes Matthews a 10-12M contract if we wanted to go into the luxury and it would also give Green another bird year which may or may not allow us go over the cap to resign him in 2016 if need be (or 2017 if not and we convince him to opt in 2016-2017 and resign or let him leave in 2017) note we would have to sign them both before gasol and we would use up the remaining cap holds we have which may not be great going into 2016 FA. that being said, its plausible, but we might have to move lee or green, or just sign a very cheap center/draft one (upshaw, Dakari, Jaieth, or even Christian Wood at PF) I would like to get Anderson or Hollis Jefferson with our pick, but this might force Joeger to play the rookie, but then Adams will be hidden behind even more clutter, love Lee but i think right now with the FA on the market he might end up being the odd man out.

Conley/Smith (cuz he russdiculus)/Udrih - Floor General and Dagger Scorer
Matthews/Adams/ Carter -Volume shooters and 3 point bombers
Allen/Jeff Green (his biggest use is his ability to guard almost all 5 positions, PG/C lacking)- Primary perimeter Defenders and slashers
Z-Bo/ Jamychal Green / Stokes -Bash Bro 1
Gasol/Cheap FA -Bash Bro 2

and some draft pick guy in there somewhere, personally my thoughts are, if we get a wing in the draft and wes matthews or jared dudley in FA, then Lee has to go, if we get a stretch 5 then Green has to go, but here is how i think the roster will really look because hollinger

Conley/Smith/Udrih
Matthews/Lee/Adams
Allen/Jeff Green/ Carter
Z-bo/ (Stokes + 1rst round pick traded for stretch 5 who shoots 3s from draft)/ Jamychal Green
Gasol/ Leur

and oddly enough, i wouldnt be wholly against it. I see him targeting trading for Christian Wood or Bobby Portis right after some team picks them just like he did with stokes. If we could get Matthews to buy into the MLE or cap hold stuff on a 1+1 and tell him we will resign him for bigger in 2016 allowing him a chance at bigger money than signing for long term this offseason, this is the team we could actually win a championship with. Smith/Udrih/Lee/Adams/Jeff Green/ Stretch 5 all coming off the bench, thats good floor spacing and defense for a second unit and easily the best second unit in the league id say even than what the spurs look to be projecting and same for GSW.

[pad300]

Ok, it's interesting to me that everyone in this thread has agreed Calathes is gone. He's an RFA. Does that mean that the Griz won't tender his Qualifying Offer?

I'm a Spurs fan, and I see Calathes as a pretty interesting possibility for a cheap FA. His shot needs fixing, but SAS does have what I consider to be the best shooting coach in the league : Chip Engelland.

http://grantland.com/features/the-shot-doctor/

[Zordor]

well we have russ smith, the only way we pick up his qualifying is if he were to be traded i would suppose, same for if we resign koufos, which some seem to think might be a real possibility, memphis gives him a good chunk of money (starter money) at bird (7.5%) and then trade him, he would be about average for the 2016 cap but he would still get paid a hefty amount for his services, but if an offer sheet comes i doubt memphis will match it for calathes, same for leur (though i think memphis does give leur a qualifying offer, just wont match anything over 1m)

[teamgrizz]

As long as the Grizz can surround Conley and Marc with quality basketball players, they will remain AT LEAST a playoff team. Depending on who they add would determine if they could be contenders. Taking away TA (or at least limited his role to the bench) and moving Zbo will not cause the team to drop off into the lottery. Saying that, I don't think the front office has the balls to trade TA and Zbo.

Just listening to Marc during his interviews, he really seems keen on "playing basketball the right way." I would think that he is upset with our offense and he probably would not be against moving TA if it brought back a better two way player. Honestly, I don't think Marc stays if the plan is to bring back a very similar roster as last season. It just would not make sense on his part considering the things he said. We have proven with our personnel that playing at a faster pace, shooting the 3 ball more, etc. will not work with this current group of players and would need some serious restructuring to make it work.

So, it really depends on what Marc means when he says "playing basketball the right way." If that means removing some guys that the fans love, then so be it. I'm more concerned with keeping Marc happy and putting better players around him and Conley than worrying about the fans getting upset.