Looks like a wrap for the Grizzlies
They are effing killing us here auber... Are they TRYING to tank the team? Leaving 2 good pieces in Gay and Mayo to make them look more attractive by surrounding them with failsauce so that when perspective buyers see the team they can think "Oh they just need better coaches I'll get a hell of a deal on this team"
Honestly I don't know how they could let OKC take the #3 and get Rubio to keep or deal. I am willing to bet dollars to donuts they have already worked up with Dan the &$#%#&@! Fegan that they can move Westbrook to the 2 and have Rubio run the team. Honestly I am going to sleep ill right now, I am sick at my stomach with this ignorance and piss poor mismanagement.
OKC is not taking Rubio and it looks like the Kings wont either. So some other team will benefit. Don't worry, Rubio is just as likely to be Darko 2.0 as Thabeet is. Be happy you get a very good guy who loves people and loves playing (Thabeet). Just cross your fingers and hope they take Harden I guess.
memphis and okc don't need a pg. neither is going to draft rubio. i really don't even understand what the hype is about. he is a project. name a european, non-post player that made the transition successfully. memphis is taking thabeet because you can't find 7'-3" guys. especially ones with his work ethic. the kid has improved every year and was the co-big east player of the year. the big east is one of the best conferences in the league. okc is taking harden. harden doesn't need the ball in his hands like westbrook and durant and can be spread the offense with his shooting. okc doesn't need another pg that can't shoot the 3.
you should've stopped being a memphis fan when they traded gasol for kwame brown. or maybe after they didn't use kwame's expiring contract to sign someone with any relevance.
Calderon is a very accomplished shooter unlike Rubio. Parker is very quick unlike Rubio. Manu is much bigger, more reckless and explosive than Rubio and Peja is over 6'9" so he can get his shot up whenever he wants. Nothing against Rubio who I like, just some thoughts.
i've been hoping for a miracle. and when i say on here that memphis should draft rubio and trade him for pieces to make us complete again, i'm downed for it, usualy by people who want the grizz to draft thabeet so they can hope that rubio falls into their teams lap.
or when i say memphis shouldn't take thabeet because he fits no team need, he doesn't, and it's the truth.
leglockfan, i feel your pain. i've been routing for the grizz since vancouver. and Auber, if thabeet is drafted and kept, then i agree we just hit the lottery again. plus, if we hit the lottery again, the fans decrease, which means less money in heisleys bank account and more coming out of his pocket, he's going to get sick of it eventually and the team will be on the move.
Once again, i'd love to see memphis go through with a minnesota trade, and not lose any of their core in the trade either. I'd be pleased as a loyal grizzly fan if we didn't lose a core, and we added a great powerfoward.
peace with you grizzly fans.
There have already been very good offers for the #2 pick, rumors and truths, compared to drafting Thabeet. 1 man is not going to fix the defense for Memphis and I know he is 7'3" ... big deal, where was that height and defensive prowess when Dejuan Blair kept crapping on him last season
I hear some of the offers that Memphis might be receiving, and I just have a hard time believing a lot of them. There is no star sitting at that spot, just some projects. Minnesota getting the 5th pick & trading both it & the 6th sounds beyond ridiculous for example. If they want to move Love, I don't see why they should also give up their 6th pick, especially when they've got so many picks throughout the draft to include if Love isn't enough (he should be) - it's just crazy.
I've also heard Sac giving up 4 & Thompson, Hawes, Martin, Garcia and/or Nocioni. Not happening, ditto, ditto, ditto, ditto. The extreme high side in my mind for the Kings would be 4 & 23 for 2 IMO.
My guess is it will be a team like Indiana, Detroit or Chicago, teams that could really use Thabeet & where he would be a good fit, that moves up & they involve a 3rd team like NJ, Toronto or Golden State to do so (teams with only 1 pick that might be motivated to move down if they add extra picks to do so). Also, just a guess, but the final compensation will be much less than some of the nonsense we've been hearing.
Even with all that being the case, Memphis should absolutely trade down. What is the point of bringing in a guy that is a bad fit for your team (or reaching for a guy that is a good fit) and paying him like the #2 pick in the draft. They need to get the best deal they can & pull the trigger.
You are right about the pay being a huge issue as well. I know when the Bulls ended up with Tyrus Thomas at #4 instead of #2 a few years ago, it ends up being a difference of
Aldridge: 2009-2010= $5,844,826
Thomas: 2009-2010= $4,743,598
That's $1.1 million. That's a lot. I know that it isn't the difference between signing a top tier all-star type of guy versus a mid-level free agent or anything, but it's still over a million dollars just for allowing a team to GIVE you a draft pick or player (and still get who you want anyway).
***on a side note, if the Grizzlies only end up with Viktor Kryapha (however you spell it, he's not important enough to look up) they had a heaping spoonful of failsauce***
I have seen a few places that Tyreke Evans is the guy for the Grizz. Now, that could very well mean that they trade down in the draft to get him, but I wouldn't be that shocked if it happens. For 2 very similar reasons:
1) I think when you have a team that isn't really near the playoffs, or better yet a championship, you have to take a guy that you have the best chance to keep long term and has the potential to be VERY good, regardless of your current roster. You never know if Mayo is going to want out in a year or two, or won't resign. Or Conley breaks his leg. Etc., etc. etc. Just because the Grizzlies have Conley and Mayo in the starting lineup doesn't mean that Evans couldn't be a huge piece to the puzzle. The Bulls drafted Ben Gordon at #3 in 2005 and he won 6th man of the year award. He definitely helped them win, even if he came off the bench. Plus, with Evans size and talent level he can play both positions and give the Grizzlies a tall, young, talented back court to build around.
2) Evans would be HAPPY to go to Memphis with the second pick. I remember a quite a few years ago, in the baseball draft, the Minnesota Twins took local High School catcher Joe Mauer with the #1 pick. Most draft experts thought that Mark Prior (who "luckily" (heavy sarcasm) fell to my Cubbies at #2) was the #1 prospect in the draft. The Twins didn't think that they would be able to sign Prior because they were a smaller market, he wanted an at the time record signing bonus, and another reason or two. They went with the local high school kid, who was still a great prospect, but he wasn't at the top of the board. Now look. He will probably stay in the somewhat smaller market Twin Cities for his career and he is a total stud. Of course, I don't think MLB teams can trade draft picks, but the point is they took the guy they wanted whether he deserved to be #1 or not.
I think Evans could be a stud. I don't think Thabeet makes the Grizzlies a title contender. What happens is, a team's "Starting 5" that they drafted as lottery picks end up getting traded or sign somewhere else eventually anyway. Look at the Bulls. They might just let Gordon walk, Hinrich got replaced by a #1 pick, Tyrus has a year left before he's a restricted free agent. Portland has young, drafted talent at every spot. They took a PG in the first round last year and they are looking to get one this year anyway even though Bayless still has a lot to offer. If the Grizzlies end up being title contenders with a starting 5 of Thabeet, Gasol, Gay, Mayo, and Conley it will be an exception to the rule. Not that those guys aren't talented enough, it just doesn't ever seem to work that way. Stockpiling young, inexpensive talent (like Portland with Batum, Webster, Outlaw right now) is a good way to be able to stay active in the trade market while taking chances on players developing.
I think that when Friday morning comes around, Evans is taking home a Memphis Grizzlies hat. He won't even have to move out of his college apartment. He could just get straight into practice. Plus, I think he could end up as a top 3 guy out of this draft.
i dont get it.pick thabeet to make your team better next year?spend some money man!!!!
neither thabeet or rubio or any player this draft(maybe griffin) are going to make you a playoff team this year.then pick rubio,keep it.sing a veteran who helps you in sg/sf(anthony parker???) and try to get a good pf.you can point to milsap,varejao(noyt my choice),lee,even rasheed(are going to help more than thabeet on defense) or work on a trade with a team that desperatly whants cap space,you dont have to match the money,you can give him darko and one of this years lasts picks and you can recive a bigger contract.
even if the pf its old,by the time you´ve got his contract as a expiring one you can have a bunch of great players at his prime(mayo,rudy,gasol,arthur????,ricky and conely)
Idk but lets compare this two rosters
conely/27
mayo/36
rudy
arthur
thabeet/gasol/darko/haddadi
or
ricky/conely
mayo/conely/parker?
rudy/parker?
puts your pf here/arthur
gasol/haddadi
i dont even think that the thompson-4º trade with sac its whats this team need(both guy needs time to develop and memphis needs some experience now).next year its going to be some teams whith cap space and probably any big FA it´s going to sing with memphis so lets hope detroit don´t sing all the players you want and spend some money!!!!
"If the Grizzlies end up being title contenders with a starting 5 of Thabeet, Gasol, Gay, Mayo, and Conley it will be an exception to the rule."
You can't run Thabeet and Gasol together.. Neither is fast enough or good enough for the 4
I'll repeat this until I am red in the face
I don't think it's a great combo either, but I think that the general consensus is that Thabeet would play C with Gasol sliding over to PF. I don't know why Jordan Hill isn't getting a serious look for the Grizzlies at #2, but it doesn't seem that Memphis is very interested in him. I don't see ANY mock drafts (done by "professionals" I mean) that have him going #2. It seems that people think the Grizzlies are going to just take Thabeet by default, which makes no sense, or that Memphis is going to select a guard. If they are, and they "can't" take Rubio (since he is apparently saying he won't come over to play in Memphis) I think that Tyreke Evans is the guy for Memphis. I think that a backcourt rotation of Mayo, Conley, and Evans for AT LEAST 2 seasons could be fast, tall, athletic, versatile, and can score. Plus, I think that Evans would enjoy being in Memphis for a few more years.
Memphis need to trade down to get either Harden/Evans for Rubio and hopefully another first rounder. If they could do a deal with Minnesota or Sacramento other descent first round picks would be ideal. They could get Harden/Evans (I'd probably go with Evans so Mayo/Evans can both handle and run the 1 or 2) and then get someone like Blair/Hansbrough/Clark whoever's available to compliment their bigs. Could then add depth with 2 others with their other picks such as one of: Patty Mills/Douglas/Collison at point guard and another Forward one of: Young/Gibson/Summers.
Would give them a good lineup with: Evans, Mayo, Gay, Warrick and Gasol Starting with backups say Mills,Young, Clark, Arthur, Milicic, Haddadi.
They could then add to this by trading out Conley and Ross but I would go for more experience in these trades as they will have a lot of young players on their roster. A solid backup guard such as Anthony Johnson may be a chance for Ross and maybe a good shooter/defender for Conley in the mould of Posey/Battier (Wont get those two though).
^^That is in reply to an earlier post. I think Hill is a very good fit for Memphis too. They could take Rubio at 2 and trade him and Arthur for another high pick and use that to get T Evans as he already has fans in memphis. Of course other picks would have to be involved.
Conley/Evans
Mayo/Evans
Gay
Hill
Gasol
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/jun/22/griz-may-turn-to-thabee...
Sadly Geoff is one of the people in Memphis that is rarely incorrect. I dislike this news he is bringing me a LOT though. I believe Memphis may have indeed been bullied out of selecting Rubio and trading him or keeping him. Pretty depressing day for the Grizzlies and while Thabeet will be DarkoShawnBradley 2.0 OKC will be profiting off of Memphis' dumb move.
I can only pray that at the witching hour they make a freakin' trade OUT of the #2 pick to Minnesota. Or draft Thabeet and trade him to Minnesota after the fact (since they want Thabeet or Rubio from reports)
Otherwise I am completely done as a Grizzlies fan and I will help them pack