Wallace Expects the Grizzlies to Be Competitive Next Season

[SD2042]

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/249542/Grizzlies-Expect-To-Become-Competitive-Again-Next-Season


Is Wallace willing to risk the odds with the roster or has he become the victim of his own delusion?

[VCfor3]

I'm praying this desire to be competitive is rooted in clearing our pick owed to Boston and not because they see this team as a real threat moving forward.

[BarbaGrizz]

Wallace needs to go as we come closer and closer to our rebuild.

[King_Supreme]

Your pick is top 5 protected from 2019-2020, the plan should be to keep those picks; trade Gasol/Conley to the highest bidders, and use whatever cap space you have to take on bad contracts for picks/high level ceiling young players on rookie deals.

It’s clear as day you guys are trending down, yet your FO wants to be stupid by not trading Tyreke when you had the chance, and trying to be “competitive” when it’s clear that’s not going to happen.

[VCfor3]

Your pick is top 5 protected from 2019-2020, the plan should be to keep those picks; trade Gasol/Conley to the highest bidders, and use whatever cap space you have to take on bad contracts for picks/high level ceiling young players on rookie deals.

It’s clear as day you guys are trending down, yet your FO wants to be stupid by not trading Tyreke when you had the chance, and trying to be “competitive” when it’s clear that’s not going to happen.

The problem is that that pick then becomes unprotected. It would suck to have a terrible season and either give up a top pick the next year or pick 7 that season. The FO's plan to be competitive will at least clear the pick obligation to Boston while putting a product on the court that may sneak into the playoffs and is probably the smart move for now. See if you can have one more playoff series before a long rebuild. But our FO needs an overhaul and it isn't going to happen.

Outside of drafting Brooks, I can't think of anything our FO has done well in years. There have been a couple articles put out lately on the FO track record with drafts and trades and whatnot and it is abysmal. Conley was drafted one week after Wallace was hired so it wasn't his pick. After that we have had a ton of draft duds. The Z Bo trade was good and the Lakers trade where we got Gasol was good in hindsight (but was viewed as horrible at the time). The Jeff Green trade is killing us though with that pick owed to Boston that becomes unprotected. We traded Kevin Love away. We signed Whiteside twice and cut him both times. We traded away Lowry. Wade Baldwin (Pick #17) isn't on the roster. Jarell Martin (Pick #17) was supposed to have been cut this past offseason at training camp but snuck onto the roster. We passed on Rodney Hood for a guy no longer on the team (due to a botched surgery per rumors that lead to the firing of the entire medical staff). We didn't resign a coach after he led us to the conference finals. We let Dave walk after a pretty solid run with us. We fired Fiz (I have strong opinions as to why) quickly into his tenure after he put up a respectable record. Our problem is Wallace and the FO though no one on the outside knows who actually calls the shots. It could be Pera for all we know making these poor decisions. Either way, something needs to change and I personally had hoped the minority owners would take over just to clean house.

[wco81]

Conley will be 31 in October and coming off a season in which he only played 12 games -- though maybe he could have played more if Memphis wasn't tanking?

Probably will be hard to trade since he is due over $30 million the next two seasons and has a $34.5 million player option for 2020-2021 season.

Gasol is owed $24 million next season and has a $25.6 million player option the following season. He will be 34 in January so he's also a tough trade prospect as well.

Do you play both players as much as possible next season to try to get back into the playoffs or tank again, even though it's a lot of money for two players not to play them?

I imagine overt tanking isn't good for attendance or overall local revenues.

[SD2042]

Conley will be 31 in October and coming off a season in which he only played 12 games -- though maybe he could have played more if Memphis wasn't tanking?

Probably will be hard to trade since he is due over $30 million the next two seasons and has a $34.5 million player option for 2020-2021 season.

Gasol is owed $24 million next season and has a $25.6 million player option the following season. He will be 34 in January so he's also a tough trade prospect as well.

Do you play both players as much as possible next season to try to get back into the playoffs or tank again, even though it's a lot of money for two players not to play them?

I imagine overt tanking isn't good for attendance or overall local revenues.

Unfortunately that's what the locals are afraid of here. Especially if you own a business around the downtown area. If your team is not competing well enough to produce profits, the surrounding businesses will suffer for it. No draws to the games will effect business sales. The problem with a city like Memphis is that is not innovative enough to create more diverse ideas to help the city grow to the point where it's residents doesn't have to rely on few options to keep the city growing as a whole. Like how large market cities profit from their ideas and activities that keep the city more fluid and interesting.


As for the players themselves. My take is this. While it's a good trait to show your loyalties to certain players who help build the team to where it is today. Sometimes, business has to step in and say is the product selling well enough for the business to continue to roll in the profits. If so, the business rake in the benefits. If the business is suffering from loss revenue, then some changes have to be made. Sometimes it take some tweaks in or around the business or perhaps strip it down to the foundation and find the best product that best fits the business model and will create opportunities to help achieve it's goals and bottom line.

The majority of decisions that Wallace has made over the years has caused me not to be confident in his abilities as GM. I get the signings of Gasol and Conley as loyalty and that they both were supposed to be set up to become the faces of the franchises. The problem with that argument is that both players as good as they been as simply complimentary players. Tier 2 type players can only get your so far. Ask Andre Iguodala back in his Philly days when he had to take over when AI was traded to the Nuggets. Ask the dearly departed Ed Stefanski, who was the Sixers GM at the time what it was like to depend on a complimentary player to be the face of the franchise. It simply doesn't work.

I figure that sooner or later one of these guys, if not both guys will be traded away in the long run to finally usher in the rebuild that's inevitability in the making. Until that happens, I say good luck "competing" for the playoffs next season.

[wco81]

They had 3 seasons over 50 wins from 2012 through the 2014-15 season.

Of course Conley and Gasol are much older now and ZBo is gone.

If the guy they pick turns out to be an instant stud, lets say scores 17-22 PPG, average 7.5-11 boards, it wouldn't be impossible for them to win 45 or more games.

Or maybe the team decides taking for better draft position would be better but it sounds like they may not have a high pick next year.

It's interesting that they retained Bickerstaff but didn't announce his deal. So maybe if they signed a short-term deal, the plan is to continue tanking?

Unless he got at least a 5-year deal with guaranteed money in the $20-25 million range, Bickerstaff is going to want to compete, I would think, He's only 39 and probably wants to build up a resume. So if he's not successful in Memphis, he's going to want to position himself for other HC jobs.

If he knew the team was going to tank, he probably wouldn't have signed up unless he got some security, at least 4-5 years.

[VCfor3]

They had 3 seasons over 50 wins from 2012 through the 2014-15 season.

Of course Conley and Gasol are much older now and ZBo is gone.

If the guy they pick turns out to be an instant stud, lets say scores 17-22 PPG, average 7.5-11 boards, it wouldn't be impossible for them to win 45 or more games.

Or maybe the team decides taking for better draft position would be better but it sounds like they may not have a high pick next year.

It's interesting that they retained Bickerstaff but didn't announce his deal. So maybe if they signed a short-term deal, the plan is to continue tanking?

Unless he got at least a 5-year deal with guaranteed money in the $20-25 million range, Bickerstaff is going to want to compete, I would think, He's only 39 and probably wants to build up a resume. So if he's not successful in Memphis, he's going to want to position himself for other HC jobs.

If he knew the team was going to tank, he probably wouldn't have signed up unless he got some security, at least 4-5 years.

Unless something like last season happens where we do a lot of losing to start the season while actually trying, we won't tank. We want to be as competitive as possible to try and make the playoffs for a revenue boost while clearing the pick owed to Boston. Keeping Conley and Gasol and playing them a lot will be a part of that. Neither would fetch enough in a trade to really be worth it right now so trading them off for a full rebuild wouldn't interest the FO much. After next season, we should have all of our picks, Gasol and Parsons will be on expiring deals, and Conley will only have 2 years left on his deal. Our draft pick/picks (assuming we don't trade out of the draft) will have had a year to develop and learn while not having to be the focus of opposing teams. Conley also seems like a good mentor so I'm fine keeping him around for the rebuild.

As far as JB, it will be a 3 year deal on a pretty cheap contract. It is just what the Grizzlies do. They don't invest much money in their coach. I also thought I saw something saying it was a three year deal.

[SD2042]

They had 3 seasons over 50 wins from 2012 through the 2014-15 season.

Of course Conley and Gasol are much older now and ZBo is gone.

If the guy they pick turns out to be an instant stud, lets say scores 17-22 PPG, average 7.5-11 boards, it wouldn't be impossible for them to win 45 or more games.

Or maybe the team decides taking for better draft position would be better but it sounds like they may not have a high pick next year.

It's interesting that they retained Bickerstaff but didn't announce his deal. So maybe if they signed a short-term deal, the plan is to continue tanking?

Unless he got at least a 5-year deal with guaranteed money in the $20-25 million range, Bickerstaff is going to want to compete, I would think, He's only 39 and probably wants to build up a resume. So if he's not successful in Memphis, he's going to want to position himself for other HC jobs.

If he knew the team was going to tank, he probably wouldn't have signed up unless he got some security, at least 4-5 years.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23330851/jb-bickerstaff-named-memphis-grizzlies-head-coach

Unless something like last season happens where we do a lot of losing to start the season while actually trying, we won't tank. We want to be as competitive as possible to try and make the playoffs for a revenue boost while clearing the pick owed to Boston. Keeping Conley and Gasol and playing them a lot will be a part of that. Neither would fetch enough in a trade to really be worth it right now so trading them off for a full rebuild wouldn't interest the FO much. After next season, we should have all of our picks, Gasol and Parsons will be on expiring deals, and Conley will only have 2 years left on his deal. Our draft pick/picks (assuming we don't trade out of the draft) will have had a year to develop and learn while not having to be the focus of opposing teams. Conley also seems like a good mentor so I'm fine keeping him around for the rebuild.

As far as JB, it will be a 3 year deal on a pretty cheap contract. It is just what the Grizzlies do. They don't invest much money in their coach. I also thought I saw something saying it was a three year deal.

You're right VC. The deal is for three years. As for the players contracts. Gasol and Parsons have two years remaining while Conley has three years remaining as well.

[wco81]

Speculation I hear is the Grizzlies want to return to playoffs to increase revenues and make the team as attractive as possible for a sale.

[SD2042]

Speculation I hear is the Grizzlies want to return to playoffs to increase revenues and make the team as attractive as possible for a sale.

Who's the source with the speculation?

[VCfor3]

Speculation I hear is the Grizzlies want to return to playoffs to increase revenues and make the team as attractive as possible for a sale.

Who's the source with the speculation?

I'm not terribly opposed as long as the team stays in Memphis. Pera visited the team for the first time in a year last week. He is rarely around yet he supposedly is the one making all the major decisions (like draft picks) though he does have others who have input. An owner who cares more and is really invested might not be the worst thing to happen.

[SD2042]

Speculation I hear is the Grizzlies want to return to playoffs to increase revenues and make the team as attractive as possible for a sale.

Who's the source with the speculation?

I'm not terribly opposed as long as the team stays in Memphis. Pera visited the team for the first time in a year last week. He is rarely around yet he supposedly is the one making all the major decisions (like draft picks) though he does have others who have input. An owner who cares more and is really invested might not be the worst thing to happen.

It's one of the reasons why I have an issue with an absentee owner who does not stay involve in the team. His actions to this point all indicates he has no business being a NBA owner. I'm glad he at least making some attempts to make the team interesting enough to make a sale happen sometime in the future.

[wco81]

Well they're definitely competitive this year, so far.

Hope attendance is up.
.
JJJ looks great and they got some good solid vets like Temple.

Still could be tough in the West. Grizzlies don't have their first round pick for the next draft so they might as well try to finish as high as they can.

Seems like Gasol and Conley could be effective for few more years. Talk of trading either, esp. Gasol, has died down for now.

But Gasol has an expiring deal after this season (so does Parsons) so he could be an attractive trade target.

With JJJ being so young and the clear future, Grizzlies could use another high lotto pick, so that he has another cornerstone player on the same career timeline.