RealGM

Allen Iverson? No. David Lee? Hell No! O.J. Mayo, Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph, these are the core players on this team and complimentary players are what we need. Despite of our vast improvement on the bench, we still need a distributor and a offensive threat since Hak is gone ( He'll be missed). Also we would be the Grizzlies of old (ala Hubie Brown) with the 10 man rotation.

Starters:
Conley
Mayo
Gay
Randolph
Gasol

Reserves:
Williams
Young
McCants
Arthur
Thabeet
Jaric
Carroll

Very deep? I knw. So what do my fellow Grizz think?

My list of filler players consists of:

1) Marcus Williams (if unavailable make an offer to Jason Williams)
2) Jeff Adrien
3) One of the following (in no particular order):
Rodney Carney/Dionte Christmas/Flip Murray/Luther Head/Rashad McCants

Why Marcus Williams? We need a back up PG that is capable of running the show should Conley go down. If someone else snags Williams, go for Jason. He's had a year to rest and get his life in order. He was still productive as of his final season and he would be a mild attraction. There are still a lot of JWill fans in Memphis.

Why Jeff Adrien? I like the tact that Houston took. Scola, Landry and Hayes. Three tough guys a PF. Granted, Adrien wouldn't get a lot of time, but he'd be a solid reserve and a transition piece to help in the development of the Big Alteration.

Why one of the following? There's just not that much left out there FA wise. Each brings something a little different to the table and would be a positive addition to the team.

3. Rodney Carney/Dionte Christmas/Flip Murray/Luther Head/Rashad McCants ( In no particular order)

So if u had to put it order who would it be?

For me:

1. Rashad McCants
2. Rodney Carney
3. Flip Murray
4. Dionte Christmas
5. Luther Head

JayCarlock wrote:3. Rodney Carney/Dionte Christmas/Flip Murray/Luther Head/Rashad McCants ( In no particular order)

So if u had to put it order who would it be?

For me:

1. Rashad McCants
2. Rodney Carney
3. Flip Murray
4. Dionte Christmas
5. Luther Head

Looks about right to me.

Two things are for sure- Memphis needs a backup PG, and it needs an offensive threat coming off the bench. That's why I think Jerryd Bayless would be perfect for this team; a thrid guard behind Conley and Mayo that can come off the bench and do what he does best- score. Our backcourt (Conley/Mayo/Bayless) would pretty much be be set for the future. It'd be tough to snag him away from Portland without giving up Conley though.

I like GGF's assessment though, and I also think it's the most likely scenario. Jeff Adrien would be a very nice, cheap signing, and Marcus Williams would be a good pickup as well. Although, I still favor Anthony Carter over Williams.

They're at what, 11 signed right now? I think they have Williams in their sights but are keeping options open for a little while. They may be open to a sign and trade for Warrick if the right guard is available. And a guy like Adrien makes a good practice player on the end of the bench for the league minimum.

I'm a bit concerned over the list of McCants, Carney, Murray, and Head(don't know a whole lot about Dionte Christmas). I don't see any defence whatsoever from that group. I actually like what a poster proposed in the trade forum, where it's a three way between Memphis, Indianna, and Boston in the Marquis Daniels signing. Memphis ended up with Tony Allen's expiring contract, a second round pick, and $3mil to cover his $2.5mil contract, all for nothing from the Grizzlies end. A toughminded veteran that plays defence, and has a knack of drawing fouls which in turn gets his team to the line quicker.

I won't be surprised if they do just sign Williams and Adrien, decide to try and give Jaric a little more time behind Mayo, perhaps try experimenting with Sam Young at shooting guard, and leave that 14th spot open for more little deals as the season goes along, like last year.

Downtown wrote:I'm a bit concerned over the list of McCants, Carney, Murray, and Head(don't know a whole lot about Dionte Christmas). I don't see any defence whatsoever from that group. I actually like what a poster proposed in the trade forum, where it's a three way between Memphis, Indianna, and Boston in the Marquis Daniels signing. Memphis ended up with Tony Allen's expiring contract, a second round pick, and $3mil to cover his $2.5mil contract, all for nothing from the Grizzlies end. A toughminded veteran that plays defence, and has a knack of drawing fouls which in turn gets his team to the line quicker.

I won't be surprised if they do just sign Williams and Adrien, decide to try and give Jaric a little more time behind Mayo, perhaps try experimenting with Sam Young at shooting guard, and leave that 14th spot open for more little deals as the season goes along, like last year.

Good points Downtown - I was just focusing on the free agent aspect of it. There are a world of possibilities if trades come into play. The Allen + $$ deal wouldn't be bad at all either, for all the reasons you mentioned. As to Adrien, you're spot on - an end of the bench/DLeague/practice guy to stay in Thabeet's grill and fit the theme of toughness that Carroll and Young are bringing to the Grizz.

Do you think Sam Young can be taught to play shooting guard? As a Canadian I watched the Raptors give Joey Graham a chance to be an enforcer type to get physical with other teams athletic shooting guards. It was a hit and miss thing but at times he threw the other teams scorers out of sync with physical play.

I'd like to see if they can find a niche with Young, especially since Carroll seemed to be the better of the two at summer league, therefore solidifying the backup spot behind Gay. I have to admit that I didn't follow Young much in college so I don't know if he has the ability to play in the backcourt.

So just after I made this post I read where the Grizzlies have signed Young, and it was noted that he was the leading scorer, not Carroll, in summer league. I also went to nbadraft.net to research the history of Young and saw that he was compared to Joey Graham. I honestly didn't read that before I made the above comparison.

One other thing. I read this morning on another site(hoops daily I think it was) where Rudy Gay and OJ Mayo excelled at the Team USA camp. Gay was the leading scorer and Mayo was a solid go to guy late in the game. What was interesting was that the guy who wrote the article said Gay played good defence on Kevin Durant and denied him, while Mayo shut down Derrick Rose. Hard to believe that Gay and Mayo could do that to guys like Durant and Rose but I'll take it even if the writer was stretching the truth.

More and more I want to see Mayo play pointguard and find a solid two way glue guy type of shooting guard to play the complementary role between Mayo and Gay. Ronnie Brewer, another solid performer at Team USA camp, springs to mind.

We'll just have to see where the chips fall. While I don't see Young as a true SG, I do believe he can develop into a capable "wing" that you can run with a PG and another 2/3 type player. I think his game will eventually translate to NBA success. He seems to have the grit, BBIQ and will to develop.