The problem with rebuilding is Gay and Z-Bo don't have much trade value because of their contracts. On top of that, Grizzlies are close to being in salary cap jail all the way through the 2014/15 season. Even if they could trade Gay, whoever they get back might be worse. IMO, Grizzlies should stay the course and try to pick up different complimentary pieces. They will continue to win a lot of games. The key will be if Conley and Gasol improve enough to overcome Z-Bo's inevitable decline to get them over the hump. Trading Gay would make them worse in the short-term with no guarantee about the long-term.
Shved is a good player, but he surely won't put the Grizzlies over the top. Nonetheless a nice replacement for Mayo, if they can pull it off. I still think they need to trade Gay and run their offense through their two bigs. Add some shooting and hope Conley improves. That's probably all you can do. Maybe try to package Conley and Gay for an A piece. What's out there though? Also, with the Rockets apparently not being in the mix for Shved, you can probably cross him off the list of the guys Morey was checking out in Russia.
They got gasol for gasol after they traded sar. They got rudy for shane and randolph for a bag of popcorn. Conley was a high pick and so was oj. Most of their players aren't high picks. Even the guy they shipped out,henry was a late lotto and arthur was a late 1st. I hear people talking on this board,but they will be better than the rockets for at least the next 3 yrs minimum and that's sad really. Even if they wanted to change pieces, anyone of their top players could get more than anyone of the rockets top players. They could've had asik and a 1st for oj, but rockets couldn't get asik for courtney lee. Rudy at 12m per,will yield a better player than the effecient k-mart,scoop shot scola,or almost triple double lowry. I'm not saying they will win a title which is the ultimate goal,but they wll be in the mix in the west. Personally, I don't think ok city will ever beat lbj and crew until they get older and ame can be said for chicago. That doesn't mean they're not a really good team though. Sometimes its your era and who is in your era that determines you're rings. Kings, sonics, don nelson bucks, jazz, ewing knicks, 86 rockets, and so forth had some really good teams that didn't win rings.
This is just completely hypocritical and it angers me. The Rockets team Morey built going into, what was it 08/09, was better at 8/10 positions than the Grizzlies are now. That Rocket team would smash any team in the league right now, except perhaps Miami/OKC which would be a toss up, and you refuse to give the man credit for that. I'm sorry, but the Grizzlies are a joke. They are capped out and topped out. They will never contend with this core, ever. It is the perfect example of how NOT to build a team. If this is what you want, and this is what you desire, more power to you, but this is exactly what I don't want. The goal here is to be a contender, not be the Hawks nor the Grizzlies. You want to talk about mediocrity, well I present to you the Gay/Gasol/Randolph Memphis Grizzlies.
Not sure why people think Rudy and Zach lack trade value. What NBA have you been watching the last decade. I've seen lesser players on bigger contracts get moved. This incarnation of the Grizz has peaked but they can retool. I would trade Rudy Gay and/or Conley for a player that can run pick and roll offense with Gasol. Best route would be to trade Gay plus a 1st for some vets to give more depth. However, WYSIWYG, this team can make the 2nd round or WCF with favorable matchups.
I agree with Memphis X... Gay is tradeable, very much so. He's 25 and teams will be willing to eat that contract. Look at a team like Orlando that would be looking to make a splash to keep Dwight around. How about Glen Davis + Reddick for Gay? It always depends on how much a GM loves a certain player but in that deal Orlando gets a player that can maybe help out in keeping Dwight around and Grizzlies become a deeper team.
Because at 3yrs/$54MM, Rudy is no prize at all on the trade market. The Sixers were in a similar bind with Iggy for a couple of years. That's what happens when production falls below salary. Sure the Grizzlies can move him, but they won't get back an equal player (or combination of players). Because of his age and past, Z-Bo's remaining 3yrs/$51MM is a big problem also. Good luck with that.
Sure, but what does a Glen Davis + Reddick for Gay trade do for Memphis? The question is whether Rudy Gay can be traded to obtain a better player to take the team to the next level.
Davis plus Mr. One Dimensional himself for Gay? I'm afraid you are gonna have to love Gay a lot more than that to make a trade work. No pun intended.
Uh... The Clippers were NOT the weakest team in the WC. In fact, I'd say they are the 3rd best team in the WC behind only OKC and SA.
This kind of trade is exactly what I'm talking about. If Memphis deals Rudy Gay, the other team will likely "win" the trade and get better while the Grizzlies get worse. Not sure why they need Big Baby with Z-Bo on the roster and Redick doesn't help Conley out with handling the ball.
Nah he can't be traded to get a better player. But he can be traded to make the team better IMO Davis is going to allow the team to focus on it's strengths. They'll have possibly the best rotation of bigs in the NBA and now without rudy they can focus on that. Reddick is a great player for depth and bench, no all-star but for the type of team the Grizz are building, a really good fit. I think it makes the team better because Gay at times can force the Grizzlies out of what they should be doing, pounding it into those big guys and letting them work. Davis off the bench would be just that, and they could theoretically pound teams into submission. It also gets them out of that Rudy contract.
At this point for a retooling team it's not about making the sexy trade, it's about getting more flexible. I think Memphis could still get better, Davis comes off the bench and becomes again one of the better 6th men in the NBA. JJ would be a sharp shooter.
If I were going to trade Rudy, it'd probably be a deal like Rudy + Tony Allen for Milsap and Heyward for Tony Allen and Rudy. I think Milsap/Randolph and Gasol would make a great front line.
I believe New Jersey was the team that was going to give Gay that huge deal, so if they still like him for that contract, they could do a sign and trade Wallace (3 yrs/$30M) and Morrow for Rudy Gay. Morrow doesn’t help with ball handling, but he’s an excellent shooter which they need. Wallace is still a good player who’d probably fit the Grizzlies better than Gay does. He’d play lockdown D, do all the little dirty work, and score efficiently without taking too many touches away from the bigs.
You guys (or girls) think the grizzlies are going to trade Gay for Morrow? smdh. Gay is untouchable right now, but if he were available, there'd be the entire league beating a path to our doorstep. Only a rockets fan would think that Gay's worth has plummeted to Anthony Morrow.
I guess you skipped over the part where I mentioned Gerald Wallace. There is no way you can get Millsap and Hayward for Rudy Gay. Millsap is one of the best value contracts in the league and Hayward is a very good young player on a rookie contract for the next two years. The Jazz already know what it feels like when Kirilenko's ginormous deal hampered them and put them into luxury tax territory. They're not going to trade for Gay's contract.
Cleveland already offered their number 4 pick in last years draft for him. What you don't get is that the grizzlies are quite happy with Gay's contract. We aren't trying to unload Gay. But if we did, it wouldn't be for a retread like Gerald Wallace and a journeyman like Anthony Morrow.
