Grizz Cap Status

[boogiesdad]

With the salary cap being $58 million, we are already over the Cap with Gay's Signings.

That does not the guaranteed contracts for the 2 1st rounders this year.

I really can't believe that Heisley will enter the season with a payroll of over $63 million.

Therefore one would thing some trades to reduce salary are in order.

Player 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14
Rudy Gay $13,000,000
Zach Randolph $17,333,333 $0 $0 $0
Marko Jaric $7,625,000 $0 $0 $0
Mike Conley $4,913,007 $6,480,256 $0 $0
Hasheem Thabeet $4,793,280 $5,127,720 $6,471,182 $8,444,892
OJ Mayo $4,456,200 $5,632,636 $7,390,018 $0
Marc Gasol $3,480,000 $0 $0 $0
Hamed Haddadi $1,600,000 $2,000,000 $0 $0
Darrell Arthur $1,123,680 $2,027,118 $3,006,216 $0
DeMarre Carroll $1,085,400 $1,161,120 $2,094,660 $3,106,381
Sam Young $886,000 $947,800 $0 $0
TOTALS: $60,295,900 $0 $0 $0

[boogiesdad]

Personally,

I am all in favor of moving Conley, Thabeet and Carroll to one of the following teams for picks and a Trade Exception:

Clippers, Bulls, Nets or Knicks

This would put us back at a more reasonable cap number of $55 million or so, and a Trade Exception of over $10 million. This would allow us to resign Brewer and Start him at the SG slot.

Of Course this would mean Mayo and Vasquez at the PG Spot.

Mayo/Vasquez
Brewer/Henry
Gay/Young
Randolph/Arthur
Gasol/Haddadi

This would be our strongest starting lineup ever.

We would only need some Vet Minimums to fill out the lineup.

[GrizzledGrizzFan]

Thanks BD!

[crosswalkryan]

Jose Calderon for Thabeet + Conley
or
TPE + 2011 Miami 1st for Thabeet

?

[GrizzledGrizzFan]

Jose Calderon for Thabeet + Conley
or
TPE + 2011 Miami 1st for Thabeet

?

The second is more interesting - no interest in Calderon. That said, I think the Grizz will likely let Thabeet play out this season before trading him for baubles and trinkets.

[crosswalkryan]

That is true. If he develops some sort of semblance of an offensive game, but Gasol is a better option, I think he would fit nicely on the raptors and obviously if he did develop they would have to give up more than a TPE and late first rounder. But we would be interested

[Downtown]

I watched the Grizzlies, Bucks game yesterday. First off, I have to say that Milwaukee may have gotten the steal of the draft in Larry Sanders. I know I'm stretching it but he reminds me of another long, lanky player I watched as a rookie, Chris Bosh. I thought Sanders was all about defense but man he looked so good on offence with not only an inside game but he can hit three pointers. He also can pass the ball really well for a 6'11" guy.He is well rounded on both ends of the floor, and like Chris Webber said on TV, he has that knack for being around the ball all the time and always has an impact. I'm definitely going to keep my eye on this guy.

As for Memphis, the player I was most impressed with was Vasquez, even though he didn't play alot because they gave Mayo so much time at the point. He looked confident, moved his feet incredibly well, and knew how to use his height and length on both ends. He plays a little like Marc Jackson did and how Andre Miller does(both known as better in the halfcourt than the fastbreak) in that he works with his back to the play in the halfcourt, backing his man down while looking over his shoulder, and has a very nice swing pass to all areas from that position. I hope I worded that right. He was very active on defense as well.

While Mayo struggled on the stat sheet I was impressed with how he ran things. His handle and speed was as good as any pointguard, his passing was really good and it was mentioned by Webber that if his teamates could have converted alot of his passes(Thabeet, McRae, Adrian, Carroll missed alot of baskets inside) he would have had alot more assists. He picked up quite a few fouls and turnovers but some of the fouls were from him outmuscling his check on offense who took charges but I thought they were bad calls. He did struggle with his shot but you could see that he was concentrating on trying to get teamates involved as the pointguard rather than play like a shooting guard.


I don't know what to say about Thabeet. Sure he gets blocks, but the guy just doesn't move or use his body well. Again, Chris Webber made a good point by saying he plays with his arms instead of his body. He has to learn to use his body inside if he wants to succeed instead of taking the easy way by standing still and sticking his arms up without getting physical.

Not much else to say other than Arthur moved very well and smoothly for a power forward. Young is a good offensive guy off the bench when you need a spark(kind of reminds me of Damien Wilkens), and Carroll, while always working his tail off, just doenst have the skill, especially with his hands, at the NBA level.

Lost in my long post is that I was going to say that I think teams don't pay the luxury tax until the end of the season and have time to rework the roster over the course of the year. With how Mayo and Vasquez look I could see a close evaluation happening with Conley this coming season, especially since he will be looking to add a new contract onto his $5mil+ next year. I think if the Mayo/Vasquez thing works out, and Henry and Tony Allen prove their worth, Conley could be dealt at the trade deadline, thus keeping the Grizzlies salary not too bad, which then gives them better posiitoning next summer with Jarics $7mil, Randolph's $17mil, and possibly Conley's $5.5mil off the books. Both Gasol and Randolph could be re-signed without too much pressure then.

[GrizzledGrizzFan]

Nice recap Downtown and I agree with your assessments. I'd also add that if there's nobody else available to pick up, I'd say go on and give Jeff Adrien a minimum deal to backup at the 4. He's the same size as Blair and put up similar numbers in the same college conference. He also played well over seas last season. We need depth in case Zach goes down and for practice, if nothing else. Finally, he'd be for Hasheem - being a former teammate and someone that embodies his biggest weakness, a big with a low center of gravity.

[crosswalkryan]

Hey guys, what is your expectation on the grizz payroll ability IE what is your owner willing to pay in the future?
Reason I ask is that I think many teams will be after Gasol next season, Conley is an RFA and Mayo is an RFA the year after.

[Downtown]

Please read two posts above. My last paragraph summed up what I think on your question.

[dookieguy]

Damn. You guys should've S&T'd Rudy Gay or even let him walk. I would really like to see a Grizz team built around OJ