I, among others, have given Michael Heisley and the Memphis Grizzlies some gruff over the franchise's thrift this summer. While the team did take on Zach Randolph's hefty contract and eventually signed Allen Iverson, the perception remains that the Grizz exist only to suck the lives out of anxious prospects and to serve as financial lubricant for the rest of the NBA.
Part of that is, unfortunately, still valid. But with the acquisition of A.I., the Grizzlies find themselves at the threshold of the salary cap. Memphis will no longer be able to help the teams in contention execute swaps as a third party.
Luckily, three teams remain under the cap -- yes, three teams actually look to be cheaper than the Grizzlies this season. Check them out, after the jump.
With rosters gathering for pre-preseason workouts and all the major free agents rumored to be finding closure, it makes sense that Allen Iverson would inch closer to a final destination of his own. On Sunday, the Memphis Commercial-Appeal reported that Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley and Iverson would attempt to meet in person to close a deal bringing The Answer to Memphis.
Late Sunday, Iverson confirmed via Twitter that he is scheduled to meet with Heisley on Monday. The Grizzlies can offer a contract of $4.5 million for this season; there haven't been any rumors that A.I. was seeking a long-term deal with Memphis. The idea, it is understood, is that Iverson would show in the 2009-10 season that he is worthy of a multi-year deal beginning in 2010-11. Given the A.I. has had this much trouble securing a one-year deal at a small salary, he has a tall mountain to climb.
Of all teams in need of a good scouting staff, the Grizzlies, who have had 10 top-six picks in 14 years of existence, are at the top of the list. The team had five amateur scouts last season (I'm not calling the scouts amateurs, they scouted amateur players). Next season, Geoff Calkins of the Memphis Commercial-Appeal reports, the team will have zero scouts. Zero.
It's an unbelievable concession, even in this economy. (Insert sad trombone sound.) The Bobcats declining to assemble a summer league squad -- that's unnerving. A team like the Grizzlies decided to detonate the entire scouting staff with the playoffs nowhere in sight? That's abominable.
Of course, given that a real estate mogul, team owner Michael Heisley, makes all the basketball decisions, maybe it's just as well.
On balance, most agree the Bobcats would come out as the losers in the talent portion of the trade of Emeka Okafor to New Orleans for Tyson Chandler. Both are keystone defenders, but 'Meka is more well-rounded and (lately) more healthy. On offense, Chandler is completely single-minded, whereas Okafor holds some modicum of control over his talents in the post.
So the angle for Charlotte in making this trade would be financial. But the Bobcats take on a minor amount of extra salary the next two seasons in the deal, and now have only $25 million in salary locked up in 2011-12. Okafor wasn't exactly putting the Bobcats on the brink of the luxury tax, in other words.
But there's one more financial angle: the idea Okafor long contract presented a problem in Robert Johnson's sale of the team.
What had been a tricky deal between Dallas, who is apparently in BUY! BUY! BUY! mode, and Toronto, who is attempting to maximize its Hedo Turkoglu cushion, turned into a four-way ballroom dance. Orlando reportedly jumped in to get a trade exception for the loss of Hedo and Memphis will provide its usual role as facilitator.
It's been such a wild year for the Phoenix Suns that the trade deadline rumors that swirled around Amare Stoudemire almost seem like they didn't even happen. But happen they did, and the fact is that the Suns were openly trying to deal their young All-Star to anyone who would listen -- including the Memphis Grizzlies.
There were plenty of unsubstantiated rumors about where Stoudemire could possibly end up, but Memphis was apparently a legitimate possibility, at least from the Suns' standpoint. The Memphis Commercial Appealhas the details of how it all could have gone down.
The Heat gets the deal's best player, ready to help Dwyane Wade contend today. Phoenix gets what it has wanted -- cap space (Marion's deal ends this summer) and a cheap, young stud. But what exactly is Memphis doing here?
Memphis has been a team that has been a bit tangential to the whole Amare Stoudemire Sweepstakes -- there's been reported interest and/or contact, but the only rumor out there (Rudy Gay and Mike Conley as the main parts) seemed a bit too rich for the Grizzlies.
Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial-Appeal reports that after sacking Marc Iavaroni on Thursday, the Grizzlies have decided to hire Milwaukee assistant Lionel Hollins to take over for the season. Most interesting to many will be the footnote: deposed 76ers coach Maurice Cheeks will join Hollins as an assistant.
The Cheeks move scrambles the other summer vacancies a bit, though it'd be hard to estimate just how many of the 6-10 teams seeking new coaches come April and May would have targeted Cheeks. But the decision to bring Hollins back really sticks out as odd considering the circumstances and the history.
Iavaroni's head has been at risk since last April, when the team reportedly considered ending the coach's run after one bad season. Team owner Michael Heisley pardoned Iavaroni (how gracious) but the guillotine has hung over this season like a promise.
Iavaroni escaped the holiday bloodletting -- six coaches were fired between November 22 and December 15 -- but apparently Heisley's seen enough.
I, among others, have given Michael Heisley and the Memphis Grizzlies some gruff over the franchise's thrift this summer. While the team did take on Zach Randolph's hefty contract and eventually signed Allen Iverson, the perception remains that the Grizz exist only to suck the lives out of anxious prospects and to serve as financial lubricant for the rest of the NBA.
With rosters gathering for pre-preseason workouts and all the major free agents rumored to be finding closure, it makes sense that 
Of all teams in need of a good scouting staff, the Grizzlies, who have had 10 top-six picks in 14 years of existence, are at the top of the list. The team had five amateur scouts last season (I'm not calling the scouts amateurs, they scouted amateur players). Next season, Geoff Calkins of the Memphis Commercial-Appeal reports, 
On balance, most agree the Bobcats would come out as the losers in the talent portion of the trade of 
The rumored sign-and-trade sending 
It's been such a wild year for the Phoenix Suns that the trade deadline rumors that swirled around 
On Thursday, reports indicated that 
Memphis has been a team that has been a bit tangential to the whole 
Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial-Appeal reports that after 
After 1-1/2 seasons at the helm of the Grizzlies, 
