The Draft MKG Bandwagon

[jman3134]

This is the official thread of the draft MKG bandwagon. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is likely the best wing defender in this coming draft. At age 18, he has a national championship under his belt, playing alongside the likes of Anthony Davis etc. While I wouldn't say that he has blazing footspeed, he is long and can keep up with players much smaller than him. At the collegiate level, he was forced to guard everything from a point guard to a power forward. In the NBA, I expect much of the same. He is extraordinarily versatile. Who better to mentor him than Tony Allen.

There is no player that better fits the Grizzlies needs at this point in time. We just witnessed an epic collapse in a playoff series. While it was largely a result of a lack of offensive firepower, the more important fact to take away was that there is no clear cut leader on the Grizzlies. Conley works very hard, and Randolph is very vocal, but this team is missing someone to score in desperate times. MKG is the most clutch player in this draft, as evinced by his performances at the high school level and at Kentucky. He scores when his team needs him and he plays tough defense all the time. (not just for stretches)

I realize that some of you may be concerned by the fact that his jumper is awkward. It is. And the Grizzlies do need a jump shooter. However, you are not going to find that with the Grizzlies current selection or with a #2 or #3 pick unless you go with Beal. (who is a few years away but also has tremendous potential) The players with definite jump shooting potential in this draft are towards the end of the first and are also available in the early second. Still, we probably do not want to rely on our #25 pick to bring a guaranteed three point shooting presence. This is what free agency is for imo.

How we can get MKG: I'll give the floor to anyone here.

I'd be willing to trade Rudy Gay after his playoff performance this past year. I like the physical tools that he brings to the table as well as his athleticism. But, it seems like he just doesn't understand his role in the Grizzlies construct. Last year's run knocking off San Antonio etc. really was a team of players that understood who they were and fulfilled their roles; ie Shane Battier, Tony Allen, Zach. If he had played with the team during our run, he would have had wide open jumpers given how Zach was playing. But, I somehow don't see him executing properly in those sets because he doesn't complement Zach. He looks to take his man off the dribble a lot, and this causes spacing problems with Randolph. It is a good thing most of the time, but he is best utilized without Randolph in the game imo with Marc on the high block. He also has a poor understanding of shot selection. This can be changed, but I'm not sure that our current coaching staff has the moxy to call him out. He should have been taken out of the game many times over, but instead we decided to leave him in and let him shoot us out of the game in the fourth quarter. And then we put OJ Mayo in for 4 mins after not playing him at his natural position and expect him to win us the game. Basketball does not work that way. Mayo could not find a rhythm ever since Hollins placed him at point guard, and then kept substituting him in and out and did not allow him to find an offensive groove. I personally have never been a fan of Mayo, but he was criminally misused all series long and I really do feel sorry for him. Mayo's lack of success in the playoffs is attributable to Lionel Hollins' poor rotations imho.

How does MKG play into all of this? Well, he solves a lot of our problems. Because he can defend point guards, we can allow for a scoring point guard to fill some of the minutes when Conley is on the bench. Everytime Conley went to the bench in the Clippers series, the Grizzlies lost the game. This was largely due to a lack of point guard defense on Eric Bledsoe. MKG gives the Grizzlies that flexibility. Tony Allen could also take on a similar role if he came off the bench, and MKG would boast the starter's defensive firepower.

Let me know what you all think. I personally feel that not trying to pick up MKG will be something that this (and every other franchise that did not try to pick him up) will regret in the future.

PS- I'm hoping that this thread can stay open separate from the draft thread so that we can get a petition started.

/rant

[I Am Awesome-O]

I'm on.

[GrizzledGrizzFan]

The Grizz would need to land Charlotte's pick to guarantee getting him, or deal with Washington/Cleveland if he makes it to them. Just don't think any of those 3 teams will deal. Washington might, but it would cost mightily is my guess.

[jman3134]

The Grizz would need to land Charlotte's pick to guarantee getting him, or deal with Washington/Cleveland if he makes it to them. Just don't think any of those 3 teams will deal. Washington might, but it would cost mightily is my guess.

Rumblings are that Washington is willing to deal like you said. Would you be willing to part with Gay?

[GrizzledGrizzFan]

Due to salary constraints you couldn't just ship Rudy to Washington. You'd need a third team to take Rudy and send something back to Memphis and Washington. Washington would then ship the 3rd and Blatche (most likely) to Memphis.

Too delicate/limited/complicated to ever happen. And that's assuming MKG makes it by Cleveland.

[jman3134]

It would be a three team deal. I don't see that being so ridiculously complicated. I think that word is that Charlotte is likely going to pick Robinson.

I just think that MKG fits our style much moreso than Gay does.

[darkangle901]

We should take any deal where it's basically Gay for a top 4 pick.

If mkg is gone then we take brad beal, who fills a more immediate need with his range. If somehow both of them are gone then we take Drummond and deal him for multiple picks. Portland for instance, might take him and #25 for both of their lottery picks, assuming they rate Drummond as high as most teams.

Alternatively, we take Robinson (or whichever of the gazillion PF's we rate highest after Davis) as an eventual replacement for Randolph.

We have to be prepared to take a small step back next year in order to stay under the tax line and add some more young talent. I mean, let's face it - our roster is good, but it's probably not quite good enough to win a championship, especially if we have to start shedding bench guys and role players in order to afford our "big four".

[dark-child]

Obtaining MKG would be great but we have to consider that we can ill afford to stay pat in our division. Every other team in the division will improve drastically this offseason.
Houston may acquire Pau via trade and we already have problems with them.
New Orleans has the first overall pick and the #10 and will get a full season of Gordon
Dallas may end up with Deron Williams to pair with Dirk

I know not every move is set in stone but we have to look toward the future and waiting to see what the current unit can do going into the season may be too late.

Our core is not going to cut it so we need new dogs to lead us to pair with them. MKG would be a good start.

[jman3134]

What we need is a team where everyone understands their roles. We had that and were able to upset the Spurs. In this year's playoffs, Mayo was manning the backup point guard slot. Gilbert Arenas was doing nothing offensively, yet we still played him instead of Pargo or even Hudson. Rudy Gay was chucking up shots and was most effective without any of our stars in the game because this allowed him the spacing to create off the dribble. But, most of his shots were momentum killers and Coach Hollins refused to sub him out of the game when he was making mistakes. Zach was playing hurt, but he also disappointed. Still, his lack of contributions did not kill us in the way that Rudy Gay's poor shot selection did.

MKG brings heart, intensity, and work ethic to our team. Just having his presence in the lockerroom should boast us into more of a winning franchise. That's what we need- someone to bring these spare parts together and provide a renewed focus on defense. I personally feel that there has been no other player like MKG in the past 10 years in terms of his approach to the game. He's just one of those guys imo that is a can't miss prospect. We might be able to get him at 3 or 4.

MKG has openly expressed his hesitancy about being selected by the Wizards or Bobcats because he does not want to become a part of a losing organization. That is exactly the type of player we need.

[jefe]

If Charlotte is dumb enough to trade #2 for Rudy, why not?

[jman3134]

Not sure if it is all that dumb. Their talent development staff is lacking, and I would think that they would rather have a proven player than a complete unknown. Plus, Rudy is wrongly utilized in Memphis' offense. That's not to detract from his horrible playoff performance though.

[dark-child]

There is no clear #2 player in the draft like in past years so there is a lot of the unknown in the selection. The reason I would not like it to happen is Charlotte has absolutely nothing on their roster currently to pair with the selection that would make the deal great for the Grizz.

Having to take Magette just to make the dollars work is just not appealling to me. Charlotte was the worst ever statiscally for a reason and no third team is going to give up a great asset for no reason.

[jman3134]

Any chance they would unload the #2 for less than Rudy Gay if we can accept some of their bad contracts? I was thinking about this possibility, but I highly doubt anyone would accept OJ Mayo and a resigned Speights. The best we could maybe do is Conley, but they already have two point guards, so it wouldn't make any sense.

[jefe]

Not sure if it is all that dumb. Their talent development staff is lacking, and I would think that they would rather have a proven player than a complete unknown. Plus, Rudy is wrongly utilized in Memphis' offense. That's not to detract from his horrible playoff performance though.

I guess it depends on your assessment of Rudy Gay. Yes, he is a known quantity - but is he a franchise guy that's going to take Charlotte to the next level? Personally, I doubt it. I think he maybe gives them a few more wins (but not enough to be a playoff qualifier, much less a contender) and deprives them of better lottery picks in the next few years.

With a young team that currently stinks, Charlotte is much better off collecting high lottery picks and maintaining cap flexibility going forward IMO.

On a sidenote, how is Rudy wrongly utilized in Memphis's offense? He's given the green light to iso and chuck as much as his heart desires without any real consequence from the coaching staff. I think he might be more effective posting more often - and Zbo/Gasol's presence often prevents that - but Rudy is the ballstopper of all ballstoppers on the team.

[jman3134]

I guess it depends on your assessment of Rudy Gay. Yes, he is a known quantity - but is he a franchise guy that's going to take Charlotte to the next level? Personally, I doubt it. I think he maybe gives them a few more wins (but not enough to be a playoff qualifier, much less a contender) and deprives them of better lottery picks in the next few years.

With a young team that currently stinks, Charlotte is much better off collecting high lottery picks and maintaining cap flexibility going forward IMO.

On a sidenote, how is Rudy wrongly utilized in Memphis's offense? He's given the green light to iso and chuck as much as his heart desires without any real consequence from the coaching staff. I think he might be more effective posting more often - and Zbo/Gasol's presence often prevents that - but Rudy is the ballstopper of all ballstoppers on the team.

With regard to your first paragraph, I don't think anyone would regard Rudy Gay as an elite franchise guy. But, you have to consider the fact that they probably don't think they are getting a definite franchise guy with the pick either. So, in that sense, it may be more even.

I'd say Rudy is young enough to help lead a group of young guys to something better than what they are used to. (meaning better than the last few seasons, not just this past year's collapse) I disagree that they are better off taking picks because I feel that they don't have great talent evaluators on staff.

It also appears that they are interested in Rudy. http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/22 ... r_Rudy_Gay

We are stupid not to give him up for a top pick if the other team is willing.


As for how Gay is mis-utilized, I do not think that we run any sets for him besides iso situations. I think he might be effective coming off screens or perhaps playing some form of a pick and roll set. We occasionally run the pick and roll with him, but he rarely comes off of screens and moves without the ball to set up an easy jumper. I totally agree that he chucks the majority of the time, but I think this has a lot to do with the fact that the offensive sets are not elaborate enough to get him free in their own right. He has to create for himself, and he is fairly inefficient when he's not shooting jumpers. And, I think utilizing him in the post more is one of my biggest suggestions. In the 90's, there were teams with three post players and Zach and Marc can stretch the defenses. We need to look into giving him those types of situations imo.

[Bobcatsbball]

There is no clear #2 player in the draft like in past years so there is a lot of the unknown in the selection. The reason I would not like it to happen is Charlotte has absolutely nothing on their roster currently to pair with the selection that would make the deal great for the Grizz.

Having to take Magette just to make the dollars work is just not appealling to me. Charlotte was the worst ever statiscally for a reason and no third team is going to give up a great asset for no reason.

Actually you should beg for Maggette...his contract expires at the end of new season so you guys would rid yourself of a $17 mill contract and pick up a top 5 pick. How in the world do you pass that up with this new CBA?

[jman3134]

My 40 min rushed scouting report on MKG in case anyone wants to read a bit more....... http://jtmbasketball.blogspot.com/2012/ ... e-for.html