The Memphis Grizzlies are Top 5 in the West at this point

[RocPHX]

La, Denver, Dallas, OKC, Suns, blazers...etc.

[Frank Dux]

if Gay is your franchise player then you are in trouble.

[sfernald]

I like the Grizzlies chances of making the playoffs. Realistically, I think they can win about 50 games and make the 6-8 seed. If Mayo moves to PG and Xavier turns out to be a stud (good chance), then maybe higher.

Also, even though people love to rip on Thabeet, I personally think he is fun to watch. I don't think there's anything in the league more fun to watch than a dominate shotblocker for some reason. Thabeet, though lacking in offense, and inconsistent, showed some games last year where he absolutely shut down the paint. If he develops next year, they could be much better.

Tony Allen is a nice addition. They need some perimeter defense badly. And he seems very jazzed about being with them, so that's a plus. As much as I hated the celtics (big lakers fan), Tony Allen really showed something in that series. He was just a tough, tough defender on Kobe in the 4th quarters.

Overall, I think they are just a fun group to watch. Young and exciting, they love to fastbreak and dunk hard. Certainly more fun to watch than grind it out OKC. I look forward to watching their growth and success next year, but being realistic, they won't make it out of the first round of the playoffs, but that's OK.

[mikhailjordan]

Have they even come to terms with Henry yet? It's comical how they won't give him the full 120% of the rookie scale

[sfernald]

Have they even come to terms with Henry yet? It's comical how they won't give him the full 120% of the rookie scale

No, but these kind of things happen. It will work itself out. It will get resolved and he will be there for training camp. I think it is more a feud between owner and agent than anything else. That crap happens. I mean, remember how bad it got when the lakers were trying to sign Lamar Oden last summer? It got to the point where Buss told him to take a hike and Lamar had to call up crying to Buss on his Hawaiian vacation to even reopen negotiations. Just part of the business I'm afraid.

[Roscoe Sheed]

they will be a dangerous team. hard to say how it will play out for them. 5th seed seems high, but who knows?

[illiance]

I think the Grizzlies will finish either 6th or 7th. I still think they are a bench player or two away from winning a playoff series though.

[ThreeYearPlan]

Memphis doesn't need to move Mayo to pg, their starting lineup was I believe the highest scoring in the league but their bench was the at best bottom 3 in the NBA. The Grizzlies will easily make the playoff this year because they addressed the weaknesses that hurt them last season.
1. Grizzlies blew the most double digit lead last year
Solution: Get better bench players in Tony Allen, healthy Darrell Arhtur, Xavier Henry, improved Sam Young, Hasheem Thabeet monumental improvement
2. Grizzlies constantly abused by wing players
Solution: Get Tony Allen, Thabeet also helps with his presence
3. Grizzlies one of the worst 3 point shooting teams in the NBA
Solution: Get Grevis Vasquez, Xavier Henry and Sam Young shoot 39% from 3 in summer league

[mid-post]

Maybe top 7. Granted, the Grizzlies could have everything fall into place to be top 5, but it's not that outlandish (in my opinion); it's basically a claim that the Grizzlies can be 10-15 games better than they were last year. The Iverson factor alone probably contributed a good 5 losses to that team, and the Grizzlies lost 15 games where they had a lead of 10 or more (worst in the league).

Memphis is basically the same team from last year, except they've added decent quality depth to their bench and have a lot more experience playing together than they did going into last year. If I had to guess, I believe the Grizzlies starting five were probably amongst the tops in the league in minutes played (which is mostly due to how bad their bench was).
I know it's sometimes disingenuous to claim that a young team will be better compared to the teams they're competing against because that's obviously the case for some of the other young teams in the West (like Sacramento, Portland and the Clippers), but Memphis' youth really hurt them last year, especially when it came to closing games.

So here's why I feel good about the Grizzlies to make the playoffs:
-This collection of young talent has been playing together on a consistent basis for a few years now and (the good citizen version) Zach Randolph appears to mesh well with the young players, providing a stabilizing veteran presence (it sounds weird, I know).
-Hollins has plenty of Memphis critics (he doesn't let OJ be a superstar!!!) but Memphis finally has a stable coaching situation.
-Allen Iverson basically f*cked with the team chemistry for their first 10 games.
-Some of the other teams out West are getting a little old and/or lost some key players in free-agency.

[memgrizzlies]

Y'all are all forgetting about the best player in the league...Hamed Haddadi!

[Buckeye-NBAFan]

Have they even come to terms with Henry yet? It's comical how they won't give him the full 120% of the rookie scale

No, but these kind of things happen.

Actually, those kind of things never happen. Every rookie gets 120% unless there are very unusual circumstances. There's nothing unusual about Henry, just Memphis proving once again they're trying to challenge the Clippers as the worst run organization in the league.

[Flash3]

Lakers
Mavericks
Spurs
Nuggets
Rockets
Blazers

All are better than the Grizzlies on paper and on the court.

[SeniorWalker]

they look good on paper but it's still the grizzlies. Something will go wrong.

[ahonui06]

A team that didn't even make the playoffs last season is now a top 5 team in the West. Wow.

[sfernald]

Have they even come to terms with Henry yet? It's comical how they won't give him the full 120% of the rookie scale

No, but these kind of things happen.

Actually, those kind of things never happen. Every rookie gets 120% unless there are very unusual circumstances. There's nothing unusual about Henry, just Memphis proving once again they're trying to challenge the Clippers as the worst run organization in the league.

Actually this is just one aspect of contract negotiation. If it was so cut and dried, why is it most rookies had not been signed going into summer league? Cousins, Turner, and many others played without a contract signed. It is a mistake to oversimply a complex contract negotiation.

The only big deal is that Xavier refused to play in summer league without a contract in place, which is somewhat rare I guess, but by no means that crazy (considering the risk of injury). There are a number of factors such as number of years, incentives, etc that go into making a contract. Otherwise, why would they bother to negotiate at all? It's always the case that some rookies don't sign till around training camp. When the agent and owner don't have a good relationship, these kinds of things can take longer than usual.

Anyway, the important thing is he is ready to go at training camp and it will be interesting to see what kind of player he is in the NBA.

[RipCityLives]

A team that didn't even make the playoffs last season is now a top 5 team in the West. Wow.

The Miami Heat were defeated in the first round last year. Now they are the favourites. Whats your logic??? Off-season happens. The Grizzlies became better, the rest of the West became worst.

[AQuintus]

Lakers
Mavericks
Spurs
Nuggets
Rockets
Blazers

All are better than the Grizzlies on paper and on the court.

The Thunder and Jazz are as well. I'd be really surprised if the Grizzlies even made the playoffs this year.

[ahonui06]

A team that didn't even make the playoffs last season is now a top 5 team in the West. Wow.

The Miami Heat were defeated in the first round last year. Now they are the favourites. Whats your logic??? Off-season happens. The Grizzlies became better, the rest of the West became worst.

How did the West become worse? The only teams that you can argue may have dropped are Utah and Phoenix since Boozer and Amar'e went East.

Secondly, comparing the Grizzlies to the Heat is ridiculous. The Grizzlies added Tony Allen and Xavier Henry, while the Heat added 2 all-stars in Chris Bosh and LeBron James. The acquisition of talent from Miami's standpoint is much higher than Memphis.

The Grizzlies aren't top 5.

Lakers, Mavs, Spurs, Nuggets, Thunder, Blazers...

[shmoosicle]

They should have let Gay walk. That contract is going to handcuff that franchise in the future. But they will be a fun team to watch next year, I think Tony Allen is very underrated.

[ptown08]

I agree, OJ Mayo is going to put up 29/5/5 with defense and smart IQ, like Gilbert Arenas but a team player. He is the next Kobe. His dribbling style and star-like face and demeanour reminds me of Kobe. Therefore he will be the next Kobe.

Star-like face and demeanor you say? Tip tip cheerio mate.