"If you were Rich Cho"

[Downtown]

Since I follow Memphis I was going to make a post just after the draft about Charlotte going after Xavier Henry, but didn't. I definitely feel that he is attainable and would a very logical fit for what the Bobcats are trying to do.

He never was able to prove himself to anyone last season. First he missed the summer league over his rookie contract dispute when the Grizzlies decided to set a precedent and not give him the extra signing bonus that all lottery picks traditionally get.

When he finally did get that coach Lionel Hollins admitted that Henry was miles behind the rest of the team since I believe he missed part of training camp, and therefore he didn't get a chance to get playing time behind Tony Allen, who came in and was a big surprise, enough to bump OJ Mayo from the starting spot, Mayo, and Sam Young(who by the way would also be a great fit on the Bobcats).

After slowly working his way into some minutes Henry didn't look comfortable at all and his strength, shooting, was off. He looked extremely hesitant and passed up shots to others even when he had open looks. He had a small, nagging injury of some sort and didn't look right.

Then came his ankle injury and he was more or less done. His rookie season was a bust.

Fast forward to the present. Memphis now knows what Tonyy Allen can do, and he is signed for two more seasons at a very cheap price considering what he brings to Memphis. OJ Mayo is a valueable asset, and Sam Young, who is the cheapest of the three showed up last season and the playoffs and got in a number of games as the starter when Rudy Gay went out(Young can play both shooting guard and small forward). Josh Selby is considered a combo guard so there's another option at shooting guard for Memphis. Perhaps they even have their sights on bringing back Shane Battier since his defense and three point shooting was solid for them in their playoff run.

What this all means is that for a team like the Grizzlies, that have stated that Marc Gasol isn't going anywhere, they need to jettison a contract to free up money anywhere they can. Depending on what happens with the CBA, if Charlotte has enough cap room, Henry is a player that has shown in college he is a bona fide solid outside shooter, is versatile on both ends of the floor, and comes with a pedigree from a winning college program and was a big part of Kansas being as good as they were two years ago.

Sorry for the long winded post but since his name came up I thought I would add my two cents.

[Kembastockton]

No apologies necessary DT. Your post was very informative. Young forwards who may be available are of interest to us. However I might be wrong, but I am pretty sure the contract that Memphis would love to jettison is that horrendous one they gave Rudy Gay.

[Elden Payton]

^^^^
The worst thing about the Rudy contract is that they made the playoffs without him.

[Downtown]

Actually the worst thing about Rudy Gays contract is that it was fully endorsed and executed by owner Michael Heisley, who absolutely loves Rudy. They could have waited on the process and seen whether other teams made an offer then matched, but instead became proactive and opened the vault for him.

My own guess, without any actual knowledge, is that they were worried about Minnesota offering some sort of front loaded deal that would have made it difficult to match.

Money aside, Rudy Gay is an extremely talented player who was good enough to be on the US team last time, and he is still a young player with more room to grow. I think he would be welcome on any team in the league if you overlook his contract. The fact remains though that the Grizzlies owner is very attached to him and was willing to overpay him to sign with Memphis. You can't blame Gay for that.

As for the Grizzlies making the playoffs without him, believe me, a number of Memphis fans have made comments about whether the team should look at options without him and use any savings on re-signing Marc Gasol and even Shane Battier. But most feel that keeping him only strengthens the team even more and they can still have room for Gasols contract.

Despite how I feel about the Grizzlies owner I do have to hand it to him that for years he played the part of the cheap owner, but once it looked like the Grizzlies were at the point of stepping up the ladder he was more than willing to do what it took to not only keep their core players, but bring in other veterans as well for a playoff run. That has to be a difficult decision for an owner of a small market team.