Chris Wallace appreciation thread . . .

[ponder276]

I'm an outside fan here (Raps fan), and I think Wallace took too much heat for the Gasol deal, which has now turned into:

Pau Gasol + 2010 2nd
for
Kwame (largest expiring he could get) + Critt (shows a lot of promise) + Darrell Arthur (a huge steal in my opinion, should be a solid starting PF, should have been a lotto pick) + Marc Gasol (ACB MVP in 2008, would have been a lotto pick in 2008) + 2010 1st + Aaron McKie (filler)

Everyone calls this deal Kwame for Gasol, which is ridiculous since the Grizz have already gotten 3 very promissing young players out of it, and still have another 1st rounder on the way.

Then Wallace pulls off a very nice deal at the draft, netting you OJ Mayo + filler for Kevin Love + Mike Miller + filler. This is a great, great deal in my opinion, and you guys are now looking pretty set with talented youth at every position. I actually like your 08/09 lineup - not a playoff team just yet, but it has tons of promise (talented youth in bold):

PG - Conley, Critt, Lowry (one of Critt or Lowry will obviously be dealt)
SG - Mayo, Jaric, Buckner
SF - Gay, Toine
PF - Warrick, Arthur
C - Darko, Gasol

A future starting 5 of Conley, Mayo, Gay, Arthur, Gasol could actually be a pretty nasty team, especially with guys like Warrick and Critt or Lowry coming off the bench.


So let's hear a little love for the much-hated Chris Wallace, who is think is actually doing a pretty decent job of rebuilding this team.

[bobobolas1]

I dont how felt most of grizzs fan, but from my point of view, i just felt dissapoint because i expected much more. no matter we got now "the steal of the draft", J.Critt and more. We were talking about getting B.Gordon and Deng. Antwan jamison and much more start already proved. So when you see at first the name of kwame involved in the trade and lakers getting in the finals you just can feel a bit...dissapointed. GW made a revolution and a lot of trades came later that, Shaq, Kidd,...

But i twas at first, now im happy with the trade. I think Marc will be better than Pau as time goes by.

[eitanr]

I was a little shocked Minny did the deal. Love and Al Jeff are redundant.

[Ant]

Funny what 12 hours can do for ya...

Chris Wallace made a good deal, but truthfully... he's still a bum. The sun shines on every dog's arse eventually.

[Double Dribble]

It was a good draft, but as far as Wallace goes, I'm still in "show me" mode.

[PhD Griz]

loved the big balls CW showed

appreciate it

[SD2042]

I'll give to CW that he was aggressive in the draft in making those two deals to net Mayo and Arthur. He has more work to do in terms of improving in team. Last night was the stepping stone towards the recovery of this franchise.

[jman3134]

I'm not impressed.......aside from the Arthur trade.

[bgassassin]

You and your hatred for Mayo. The kid was on the Chris Vernon show addressing callers with "sir". How many young players do you hear doing that?

[jman3134]

How do you say PR PR PR?! It's not a hatred for Mayo as much as it is a hatred for Chris Wallace. He trades Mike Miller to move two spots up in the draft. Not only that, he takes on the contract of Antoine Walker and gets rid of an expiring. If that's not completely dumbfounding, I do not know what is.....emphasis on Wallace and dumb.....

[bgassassin]

Then why isn't the PR machine for other players doing this?

Walker's contract has a team option so it's just like having another $9M expiring contract to follow up Kwame's. If we stood pat, Miller and Cardinal would earn a combined $16.5M after the 08/09 season. Jaric and Buckner earn a combined $11.1 giving us an additional $5.4M in savings. I'm going to make it tough for you to find legit reasons to be mad.

[jman3134]

LOL. Look at the players you are comparing though. A washed up Walker, who even in his prime, took away from the offense when he was in the game. And, a huge bust of a contract in Jaric. Just because it does not inherently outweigh Miller and Cardinal, it is to be expected with a player of Mike's caliber. It's shocking that 5.4 million is the differential.

Why the PR machine is not working for other players? Well, because not every player is that intelligent. Mayo's good guy image makes him more marketable, which = high endorsement deal

[bgassassin]

Miller's caliber? Miller's caliber did exactly what it needed to do ... get us someone who can help make this team a true winner. Who cares about Walker's playing ability? He's strictly a contract move. Those dollars will only be on the roster for one season. And as I mentioned on other boards, Jaric's "production per dollar" is much better than Cardinal's. And with the makeup of our roster, he should still be much better in that regard than Cardinal.

And guess what that means about Mayo. He has to stay out of trouble to be marketable which should in turn make past character issues irrelevant. Not saying they go completely away, but they aren't an issue like you are trying to make it sound.

[jman3134]

I am not trying to make an issue. I just believed that he would speak out against the Grizz, simply from the predraft reports of where Mayo wanted to go.

Why wasn't Mayo a winner at USC? He had a nice supporting cast, but could not make it out of the first round. His team was very good, but they were entirely too dependent on Mayo. This is the trap that I hope the Grizz do not fall into.

[bgassassin]

LOL. We got two separate debates going on and the other one answers that question about him being a winner at USC.

[boogiesdad]

Mayo will fill seats and get us on TV. However this is Rudy's team.

Rudy should take that All-Star step next season. He should be in the 25ppg range.

Conley, once Lowry is moved should be good for 15ppg and 8apg.

Mayo doesn't need to put up 30ppg, i would be shocked if he averaged over 17ppg.

We could have have won with Miller this year and last, but we didn't play defense. Nor did we have a big man that worked the boards. Arthur and Gasol are physical enough to be those players.

[PhD Griz]

i'm curious, why does conley need lowry moved to average 15/8?

is it b/c during games, conley plays bad enough in the 1st and 3rd quarter, the coach has to go with lowry more than he would like?

the coaching staff (via herrington) did not like lowry last year and wanted nothing more than to start conley and play him 35 minutes a game (once damon was let go), but Ivy stuck to his word and played the player doing the best that night....which resulted in almost split minutes, with Lowry finishing the games most of the time....

[Double Dribble]

Mayo will fill seats and get us on TV. However this is Rudy's team.

Not unless he becomes a leader, it isn't. I think this will quickly become either Conley or Mayo's team. Pau may have been our best player, but he was never a leader. I don't think Rudy is a leader.

[jman3134]

^ I generally agree. See UConn and Rudy Gay.

The guy could be a good number two option and may well develop into a leader, but at this point, he cannot be considered that superstar we are looking for.

Still, I would not give OJ the reigns just yet either.

[GrizzMan]

Shane Battier FOR Rudy Gay...

Kevin Love and Mike Miller FOR OJ Mayo...

Pau Gasol FOR Marc Gasol, Javaris Crittendon, Darell Arthur, LA's 2010 First Rounder, and a BUNCH of cap room...

I've got to say that I for one think the Grizzlies' front office is on the ball! Hands down, the Grizzlies won the first two. Rudy is an absolute monster at the 3, and OJ will be a star in this league...ala D. Wade! As for the Pau trade, he was abused in the Finals, and the guy is owed $48 MILLION over the next three years! Marc Gasol could be a very nice center in this league. Critt is a nice asset, and is still young and full of potential. Darell Arthur should have been a lottery pick, and absolutely fell into our lap! Plus, we are one of the only teams in the league with anything more than the mid level exception to spend in free agency...if we so choose!!! If not, we will have even more money in 2009!

Things are looking up. Thanks Chris Wallace....Go Grizzlies!!!