[OrangeJuiceJonesParticipant]

The Grizzlies still haven’t signed first-round pick Xavier Henry to a rookie deal.

Henry sat out all of this month’s Las Vegas Summer League.

Memphis has refused to offer Henry the maximum amount allowed, which equates to a 2010-11 salary of $2 million, without Henry agreeing to tie $300,000 of that to performance bonuses.

Henry and agent Arn Tellem think the incentive clauses are out of line and won’t sign.

Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace said Sunday that the issue remains unresolved, but that Henry hasn’t requested that the team trade him.

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/68351/20100725/contract_standoff_between_grizzlies_henry_continues

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[NashyMingParticipant]

I have never heard of anything like this before and the Griz management just managed to mess up their players’ minds. What’s with the extra 300k to hold up a potentially very good young player out of a freaking ROOKIE contract. Rookie contracts are mostly bargain if the right pick was made and it locks up less than MLE for 2 years.

It’s hard to believe they are willing to pay Rudy Gay 81mil while holding up on Xavier Henry for 300k. It’s crazy.

Either the Griz management thinks this is the best way to attract attention from all NBA (by being crazy) or Chris Wallace is trying to out-suck Kahn for the worst GM of the year award.

[ghettosermonParticipant]

Unfortunately for Henry he really has no leverage in this at all. Rookie contract disputes in the NBA is just a show of poor management. Still though the Grizzlies are exercising their rights and Henry doesn’t really project to be much of a contributor early on. It is petty though for the amount difference.

[Michael.S.Participant]

I think henry and agent are the onethe ones to blame. first off, he’s a rookie..You shouldn’t be demanding any type of contract. secondly, memphis is offering 100% of the roookie salary( they could have offered anywhere from 80-120% of it). Thirdly if i was Henry i would just be blessed to sign a million dollar contract and get money already, thats a blessing…dont be greedy

[Mr.Knick 32Participant]

I agree with the side of the team on this one.

I understand 300k is chump change to Memphis but, just take your slot. What’s the big deal with your slot? This makes me think that he’s not all there to play. If your worried about 300k instead of earning it? Not to mention, ask for a trade, we will find someone to replace you. I wouldn’t be shocked at all if Memphis and Golden State did a deal involving Ellis to Memphis and Henry ( add Thabeet, huge contract, etc) to Golden State.

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

this is kind of unheard of for the nba…

rookie payscales are set..unlike the nfl when gus set out until the regular season has started.

in the nba its set..so what you’ll make depends on where u get drafted..in a way memphis is being unfair..
if the payscale is already set..memphis should put in bonus increases bases on his performance…not take away what he is scheduled to earn..

henry made a mistake not going to summer league..he could’ve showed them, he has improved his ball handling ,defense and conditioning..those were the 3 negatives memphis saw when they drafted him…..

[JoeWolf1]

Henry has a stage dad, he threatened to pull the Henry brothers out of KU before the season started when the KC Star ( which has no affiliation with KU, nor is even in the same city ) wrote a critical article about him and other one and done guys. I think ol’ Carl Henry probably has a hand in this.

[ChrischiParticipant]

I thought his defense was one of his strenghts????

[NashyMingParticipant]

I agreed that Henry should have gone to the Summer League to prove his worth. A lot of rookies went there without an NBA contract and the insurance was there to protect them from injury risks.

Obviously, Henry has no leverage and his agent probably played the wrong cards in holding him out of the summer league.

I think the reason of the holdout is probably more related to the agent dislike the idea of Henry playing for Memphis (create the holdout in the hope of frustrating the Griz enough to send Henry off to a more “desired” destination) than the 300k. Even for the rookie, the 300k is like pocket change if he can land in a good situation to play for a great 2nd contract. In Memphis, Henry would be playing behind Mayo, Gay, Sam Young, etc. He may not be able to crack the starting lineup sooner than he hope.

I think Henry also skipped Memphis in his workout tour, so maybe his agent is forcing a trade behind the scene. Arn Tellem is a well known powerful agent with a lot of says in where his clients go.

According to Hoopshype, Tellem is the most powerful agent with 35 clients (9 allstars, 3 max) and representing a total salary of $140,954,212.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

Memphis just signed Tony Allen, who is expected to play a big role.

[JNixonParticipant]

His D is one of his strengths….The 2nd best skill he has besides shooting.

[OhCanada-Participant]

From reading many draft-bio’s you’ll find out that defense is alot of player strength’s, until they get into the NBA. Once they get that fat contract and teams are willing to pay a young 20 point scorer a max contract players seem to not care that much about improving their defence anymore. If you can be a guy like Matt Barnes or Bruce Bowen or a guy like Stephon Marbury or Jamal Crawford who are you gonna choose to be like? Henry seems like a player who is going to play well, he will emerge as a star before his rookie contract is up. Once he gets that fat contract I dont see him being a big time contributor.

[ghettosermonParticipant]

Xavier Henry was drafted for one thing, 3 point shooting. I see him having a Mo-Pete type career.

[JNixonParticipant]

Watch how he defends….He’s fundamentally sound. Most college players who defend well get by on natural athleticism or length or whatever. Henry was one of the better defenders in the draft, and he’ll prove to be a solid defender in the NBA . He’ll need time, because most don’t come into the League shutting guys down, and most guys don’t shut guys down all 82 games anyway, but D isn’t a concern for Xavier Henry. It’s really just his handles

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

henry would’ve played..memphis drafted him becuz of his shooting skills..teams played zone on them in so many games last season..becuz outside shooting is 1 of their biggest weaknesses

[JoeWolf1]

I don’t think the area has anything to do with it, he originally singed to play in college at Memphis, but withdrew is letter of intent when Coach Cal went to Kentucky.

[NashyMingParticipant]

I think the location is not the issue. It’s the team and the management.

I think Arn Tellem definitely wouldn’t want Henry to go to the Griz because they have quite a few young SG/SF with a few years of experiences over Henry. Also, the market is probably not where Tellem wants his client to be anyway.

Henry probably wouldn’t mind the location himself, but Tellem is a super agent that usually forces his ways on teams.

[CelticJayhawkParticipant]

Coulda seen this coming a million miles away. Kansas might have been better off without him this year..once he got hot we relied on him too much, then totally stunk during conference play..then played too passive, which ultimately is one of the things that led to our 2nd round exit to ALLLIIII

[CelticJayhawkParticipant]

Anyway, the point i wanted to make but didn’t make was that he’s high strung. He’s just a high strung dude who thinks he’s better then he really is..Or maybe his dad is holding out for him..jerk

[nateoak10Participant]

They loved him before the draft and the grizz wont pay him the extra 2 mil , the W’s just got 2 mil in trade exceptions from the CJ Watson deal.And they got 2 mil from the Morrow deal, so if they did a sign and trade where Henry would get his extra 2 mil the W’s would be giving him that extra money and sending the other 2 mil trade exception to the grizz so they save there money. GSW would than give up a future 1st….The W’s new owners may want to be aggressive so I can see this being offered at least

PG – Curry, Lin
SG – Ellis, Henry, Bell
SF – Wright, Williams, George?
PF – Lee, Wright, Tolliver?
C – Biedrins, Udoh, Gazduric

Thats pretty good

[marcusfizer21Participant]

Come to Chicago, bro…LOL

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