RealGM

With the Grizzlies' playoff hopes dwindling by the day and Selection Sunday only being a week away, I thought this thread would be appropriate.

What do you guys think the Grizzlies should do in the draft? They have their own pick, the Nuggets' and the Lakers' picks in the first round. Who should they target and who should they avoid?

My three favorite realistic prospects with their own pick in the late lottery;


Greg Monroe

Monroe is a 6'11 245 lb. big man with an array of skills. He can post up, shoot the mid range jump shot, pass, rebound and block shots. Monroe is not a great athlete, but makes up for it with his incredible basketball IQ. Monroe also needs work on his off hand. Don't believe all the reports about him needing to be more consistent and hungry, it's been there all season. I'm not sure how Monroe would fit in with Gasol, Randolph, Thabeet, Haddadi, Arthur and even Carroll already up front, but he would be a welcomed addition next season.


Xavier Henry

Henry is a chiseled 6'6 220 swingman. Henry is a lefty that is best known for his long range jump shot. He could definitely help spread the floor for the Grizzlies next season. Not just a shooter,Henry is a good athlete that can finish around the basket. Despite having an NBA ready body, I'm not sure if Henry is ready to contribute right away next season. He too also needs to work on his off hand. Henry could be a good insurance policy in case the club decides against retaining Rudy Gay and/or Ronnie Brewer.


James Anderson

Anderson is a scoring machine out of Oklahoma State. All season long, we have been complaining about how desperate the bench is in need of a scorer. Well, Anderson could be that guy that elevates the bench next season. Anderson can score from anywhere on the floor. He can catch and shoot from long range, shoot off the dribble and get to the basket and free throw line. To reach his potential, Anderson will have to improve his ball handling skills and defense.

Damn, id like to be able to talk about the draft, but from Europe, it is so hard to know anything of the universities or wherever the players comes from. i should be able to talk about european young players. i cant do it either, european basketball sucks.

bobobolas1 wrote:Damn, id like to be able to talk about the draft, but from Europe, it is so hard to know anything of the universities or wherever the players comes from. i should be able to talk about european young players. i cant do it either, european basketball sucks.

ESPN360.com is your friend if you want to catch college basketball games.

http://mmod.ncaa.com/ will also cover the tournament games when they start.

You nailed it, I would love Henry or Anderson with the Grizz first pick. With the picks later in the 1st round I'd take Quincy Pondexter, super athletic freak, good rebounder, good defender and has improved his range. Sherron Collins is the other guy, seems like a Ty Lawson clone

Henry and Anderson looks like the missing piece for our team, but we´ll get the #1 pick and John Wall! \o/

I might be the only one on the boat that wants the Grizzlies to trade both late first rounders. No one really interests me from what I can gather and the team is so young already.

agree, we dont need more youth. maybe itis time to go after proven player, vets, some deep for the bench. we almost make it to the playoffs, we already got a good and young core. so... yep, lets trade the first rounds.

I'm for the Grizz selling/trading their late picks. The one guy that it wouldn't hurt my feelings if the Grizz took a flyer on late, though, would be Greivis Vasquez. I'm not saying he will be a star at the NBA level, however, he would be exactly what the Grizz need in the way of a change of pace BIG pg. He can shoot the three and, at times, can destroy smaller guards. Just a though.

I"m with you Barba - I just want the Grizz (if they are in the lottery) to finally luck out and get what they need in Wall!

I really can't say until the lottery actually shakes out, but it would be something if the Grizz lucked up and got the best of the bunch of the Calipari one and down point guards?

As for the picks from Denver and L.A. the Grizz can be smart and draft foreign players who are not ready to come over this year since we are losing a future first in the Brewer deal or we can be cheap and sell them to help cover the cost for over paying Rudy this summer.

Don't believe that hack Chad Ford when he says Eric Bledsoe is a lottery pick. John Wall is the only PG worth taking within the first 15 picks this season. Bledsoe is immature and isn't ready to run a team. Stashing a player overseas is okay in my book.

Wouldn't it be nice to land Wall, Turner, or Cousins?

When we don't, I think we should look into drafting a PF with the first pick to put behind Gasol and Z-Bo and also provide insurance in case we can't retain Randolph after his contract is up.

Greg Monroe would probably be the best fit, but Hassan Whiteside has the most potential behind Cousins and Favors, who will both be gone by the time we pick. Monroe, Whiteside, Ed Davis, or Patrick Patterson would all be solid picks.

I really don't like the idea of selling one of the late picks. You can exercise both of them and continue building the bench through the draft, you can consolidate them into one higher pick and take someone like Xavier Henry or Willie Warren, you can take a European prospect like Alexey Shved with one or both of them so you don't have to pay them while they develop, or you can even trade them for future picks. But for the love of God, DON'T sell them and waste an asset just to make a few million bucks.

I would like for the grizz to take a look @ Wesley Johnson, of course this would most likely mean that Gay would prolly be S/T.....but as for Johnson it would add a player who is unselfish and plays hard, and it gives the grizzlies a great defender @ the wings

If the grizz decided to go big
-Mayo, Brewer, Johnson, Z-Bo, Gasol

as for the other picks, one of them should be used for a guy who can provide instant offense off the bench...Warren, Collins, Henry, Ellioit Williams?

and with the 3rd first rounder, imo use on a dude to develop overseas...or package it in some kind of trade for depth

If we´ll draft a guy to stash in Europe, then we MUST trade our last pick to NJ for the #31 pick and get out from the rookie scale

First thing first.

We need to figure out if we are resigning Gay, S&T, or just letting him run.

Then we can figure out our true needs.

I am completely for Rudy getting a sign and trade if he demands more than $10M/season (which he will).

It would be dumb to hand cuff the franchise with a bad contract.

Shemy, Wesley Johnson should be long gone by the time Memphis selects. If something completely strange happens then picking him would be a no brainer. He would be my top choice as well.

Boogiesdad has it right though. The Grizzlies have to have their minds made up by draft day on whether or not they are prepared to do what it takes to retain Rudy Gay. That is an absolute for them to have any draft day strategy. But as we saw in the 2009 draft management can do something completely out of left field even if it's the wrong decision. I hope they learned their lesson from last year.

As for all their picks, I have my opinion. The Grizzlies could be in no man's land this draft.I watched for a string of four years my Sonics either just miss the playoffs or just make it in. They drafted Vlad Radmanovic around #12 because they weren't sure about Rashard Lewis re-signing. Lewis did and Radmanovic, taken as insurance if Lewis was gone, turned out to be a poor selection. Next year they picked Luke Ridnour at #8 I think and Nick Collison two spots behind as positions of need. Neither became impact players. Then they took Robert Swift one year at #10, and Saer Sene at the same draft position two years later.

The moral of the story is that it's difficult to find a key player when you are a mediocre team that's somewhere in the middle of the pack. So I've always been in favor of trading the pick if you can get proven help. If Memphis has an opportunity to significantly upgrade through trading the pick and a player then I say do it. Nevermind what prospect you might be losing out on unless it's a top five pick we're talking about.

You only have to look at Damarre Carroll and Sam Young to see how significant the Denver and Lakers picks should be.

RE: Resigning Rudy, If New Jersey & Minnesota make a play for him, which they will our goose is cooked because we virtually have no choice but to match as they have absolutely nothing that would make sense for the Grizz from a sign and trade stand point. New York, Miami, and the LA Clippers are a little better than the two previously mentioned and the dollars should not be too ridiculous if we chose to match.

dark-child wrote:RE: Resigning Rudy, If New Jersey & Minnesota make a play for him, which they will our goose is cooked because we virtually have no choice but to match as they have absolutely nothing that would make sense for the Grizz from a sign and trade stand point.

Yeah, draft picks and TPE would be about it - unless Minny wanted to move Al. NJ would have to be picks, TPE and - gah...

I never gave the draft much thought until this thread was created. But now I'm thinking about it and looking at players that may be decent for Memphis.

Honestly, I still hold to my belief that their own pick, if at the low end of the lotto, isn't going to yield them someone who is going to get significant minutes next year. Why not look to trade it, either up or down, or outright if they can upgrade at a position? Of course I'm thinking pointguard. There are plenty of really good rookie pointguards this season that aren't starters on their teams, other than for injury sake, and most likely won't be for a while. Darren Collison, Ty Lawson, and even the Beubois(sorry for the spelling) guy from Dallas all come to mind as cheaper, capable replacements for Conley, especially since management is going to have to make a decision shortly on re-signing Conley given the Rudy Gay and Ronnie Brewer situation. Even Jeff Teague and Jrue Holiday are sleepers in my opinion.

As for their lower picks there's actually quite a few prospects that could surprise as low picks. Paul George from Fresno State can play multiple positions and is a shooter with good basketball IQ.

Dominique Jones from South Florida can play both guard positions.

There's a group of pure pointguards that could be there at the lower end such as Sherron Collins, Kalin Luca, and Armon Johnson. Memphis might be able to at least find a backup guard.

Then there's a few names that seem to be falling in various mock drafts. One of Damien James, Gani Lawal, and Willie Warren could fall out of favor and it might be worth taking a flyer on.

Then there's the possibility of using their own pick on a player like Jan Vessley, who is a tall smooth player that might be able to be talked into staying in Europe for a year or two.

If Memphis can re-sign Gay, then with keeping the starting five together, along with re-signing Ronnie Brewer, and keeping Thabeet, there really isn't room for players other than backup pointguard by way of the draft.

I think "trade to upgrade" is going to be my mantra for a while. But if a few players stand out during March Madness then I might change my mind.