RealGM

Do you even want him? Would he fit?

For the last three years, MEM has been the hardest team in the league for me to predict, and they held true to form with that 5-year, $40 mil extension to Mike Conley recently. After giving Rudy Gay the max, Marc Gasol coming off his rookie scale next year, and Zach Randolph looking for an extension on his $17.6 mil deal, there has been some questions about whether MEM can afford to give OJ Mayo the money he will want in 2012.

He's under-performed this year, and at this point, I think there's little chance the 6' 4" player could make the transition to PG. He may be a "buy-low" possibility right now. He's not the star that MEM hoped for, but he's a pretty good basketball player. Any upside left?

I'd protect our own 1st, Wes, Beasley, Love, anything outside of that is game for sake of value. Personally I don't like hindering Wes' development, but if you can get Mayo for our lesser assets, why not

Don't think the Twolves are the team to put OJ on. They got Wes, Beasley, Webster, and Brewer all manning the wing positions.

I dont. We arent going to be winning anything any time soon, and Mayo isnt going to change that. Plus, I'd rather see how Wes develops because I like what I am seeing so far. Getting Mayo would severely limit his minutes. If Wes is the main piece we need to trade to get Mayo then I wouldnt be in favor of it either.

I don't think Mayo limits Johnson's playing time. You make Johnson the first wing off the bench and he gets 30 minutes easy. The only question is that I don't know how I feel about Webster yet, but I'm guessing Mayo is better.

Worm Guts wrote:I don't think Mayo limits Johnson's playing time. You make Johnson the first wing off the bench and he gets 30 minutes easy. The only question is that I don't know how I feel about Webster yet, but I'm guessing Mayo is better.

I think Webster is better on defense, especially with his size advantage. Distance shooting is pretty close to a wash, but I'd give Mayo an edge in handle/slashing and passing.

I agree with Devilz on what I wouldn't give up. Getting him would push Wes to 3rd wing and Webster to 4th, which is ok, but then we would definitely let Brewer go or trade him, and Wayne/Lazar end up as end of the 15 man roster guys (or D-league in Lazar's case), if we keep them.

The other issue is having to extend Love, Beas, and Mayo all at the same time, with all getting good sized paydays. Kahn would need to be sure about that core with Rubio, and if he could get an upgrade at starting center with the remainder of the assets.

So next summer Kahn will have to work out 3 big money contract extentions ( Beas, Love & OJ)? I don't think he wants to deal with that. Plus they are committed to Wes. At let see first what Webster can do here.

Mayo doesn't take advantage of his slashing though so I'm not sure I'd count that as a benefit. He rarely gets fouled as he's a jump shooter first. I'm still sure that overall he's better than Webster but I'm not sure how we'd get him on this team since I wouldn't trade any of Flynn, Johnson, Beasley, Love, Rubio's rights, or our own 1st round pick for him.

Glen Taylor's money

Mayo clearly looks like the odd man out. His current role is the easiest to replace and it appears they've already taken steps to do just that (Henry). It's bizarre how they weren't happy with Conley as PG and had Mayo playing there in SL only to turn around and give Conley his big payday (which was a mistake). The biggest problem in trying to trade for Mayo is that they already have their starting line-up set and the position that would have the most impact for them due to their line-up(PG) now has Conley sitting there making his 9 mil a year. They'll probably hold off as long as possible until trading him to give some of the younger wings a chance to establish themselves. But then again this is Memphis so...

Would want if he was just starting his rookie deal but don't want given that he's going to need a big money deal to extend.

If we're going to acquire a big money wing it has to be somebody who's capable of getting to the rim and creating his own shot. Mayo's a decent enough ball handler but he's not athletic enough to get to the basket. He's a very good jump shooter but never gets to the line.

Edit: Just went to a Griz board and they are trashing OJ. I knew he was small but though he was alright defensively. They think he's horrible defensively and only a jump shooter on offense. Wesley Matthews went for 33 last night against him.

http://boards.grizzliesonline.com/index.php?s=727599ae6ac69f951b634a25eb12d5a1&showtopic=10827

I'm not sure if Mayo will be much of an upgrade over Johnson or Webster by next year. Mayo doesn't create off the dribble or get to the line very well, so I'd pass at a fair price and focus on adding more depth to the front court with our assets. To put that in perspective, I'd rather have Javale McGee than Mayo.

I don't know if I would offer much for him. Wesley seems like a good guy to complement Beasley (if both can improve their handles a bit) and I'm kinda unsure if Rubio/OJ would work on D. None of those two guys can effectively guard upper tier 2 guards. With Wesley, I at least got some hope that he might be able to in the future.

I think this team is a good fit for Mayo. Our offense does not have a classic pg. He can defend the point and play his spot-up Derek Fisher style.

I am not sure how his ego would handle the super-6th man role. Sub for Rubio and playing alongside him. But I feel this type of offense is best set for him.

Personally, I do not do it. I think Memphis is in a bad position with the contract they signed Gay to. They have Gasol and Mayo both needing contracts soon. Do they give both of them the max? My target would be Gasol. He knows Rubio and would be a nice fit.

Foye wrote:I don't know if I would offer much for him. Wesley seems like a good guy to complement Beasley (if both can improve their handles a bit) and I'm kinda unsure if Rubio/OJ would work on D. None of those two guys can effectively guard upper tier 2 guards. With Wesley, I at least got some hope that he might be able to in the future.

OJ doesn't take Wesley out of the picture. If you need to start Wes, you start Wes. I think we need another guy who can create his own shot though, I don't know if OJ is the guy we want but he's better than what we have.

Jonny Flynn
Ellington
Koufos
Future Top 10 protected pick


X


O.J Mayo
Thabeet

Worm Guts wrote:

Foye wrote:I don't know if I would offer much for him. Wesley seems like a good guy to complement Beasley (if both can improve their handles a bit) and I'm kinda unsure if Rubio/OJ would work on D. None of those two guys can effectively guard upper tier 2 guards. With Wesley, I at least got some hope that he might be able to in the future.

OJ doesn't take Wesley out of the picture. If you need to start Wes, you start Wes. I think we need another guy who can create his own shot though, I don't know if OJ is the guy we want but he's better than what we have.

I would wait and see how Webster turns out before I have to move significant assets for OJ Mayo.

sergiio_88 wrote: Future Top 10 protected pick

We own MEM's pick, and I think getting a pick returned has more value for a number of reasons:

1. When the pick comes back, the protections are removed.

2. The Stepien rule gives them more flexibility about trading this pick or a future pick.

3. Getting an unprotected pick back provides a lot of insurance in case your team is horrible, but to a lesser extent, getting back a protected pick provides a little insurance in case your team is mediocre. I believe the pick is Top 14 protected this year, and if MEM makes the play-offs and is immediately bounced, it'd be nice to have some young talent coming in to appease fans and hopefully get you out of the middle.

4. The protections on this pick decrease, so it can become more valuable in the future -- safer to get it back now when its not worth as much.

Krapinsky wrote:I'm not sure if Mayo will be much of an upgrade over Johnson or Webster by next year. Mayo doesn't create off the dribble or get to the line very well, so I'd pass at a fair price and focus on adding more depth to the front court with our assets. To put that in perspective, I'd rather have Javale McGee than Mayo.

Speaking of McGee, I think he could be a great fit next to Love, he's super long and athletic, good finisher around the rim, probably the best shot blocker in the game. He could push Darko into back up PF/C combo role and that would be good for our team. Wizards obviously not gonna give him away, but their board liked my Wes/McGee swap plus pick swap in our favour. Trading Wes would be tough but with Webster on board and Beas setting in nicely at SF, I think we can live without WJ.
I must admit that Wesley's horrendous dribbling skills scare me, I'm not sure how much he can improve them, I like Webster much better than Wes as a SG next Beasley.

revprodeji wrote:I think this team is a good fit for Mayo. Our offense does not have a classic pg. He can defend the point and play his spot-up Derek Fisher style.

I am not sure how his ego would handle the super-6th man role. Sub for Rubio and playing alongside him. But I feel this type of offense is best set for him.

Personally, I do not do it. I think Memphis is in a bad position with the contract they signed Gay to. They have Gasol and Mayo both needing contracts soon. Do they give both of them the max? My target would be Gasol. He knows Rubio and would be a nice fit.

Gasol would be my target as well. I think we have an opening here, with the corner that Memphis has painted themselves into salary-wise. And as you say, the spanish connection between Rubio and Gasol might help.