Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Draft Express Comes Off Thabeet Pick
Posted by Chris Herrington on Tue, Jun 2, 2009 at 9:11 AM
After first echoing Chad Ford's report about the Grizzlies taking Hasheem Thabeet at #2, Draft Express is now coming off that report:
•Memphis Not a Lock to Take Thabeet?Most NBA teams we speak to these days are assuming that the Memphis Grizzlies have been decisively spooked by Ricky Rubio’s threats to pull a Fran Vasquez, and have instead zeroed in on Hasheem Thabeet as their likely selection with the #2 pick.
Memphis coach Lionel Hollins hasn’t necessarily given up on the idea of drafting a point guard, though, and he’s telling NBA-types that he may be interested in picking one with legit size that he can play alongside either Mike Conley or O.J. Mayo depending on the situation on the floor. Tyreke Evans is one that has come up—he comes with the added benefit of having played in Memphis, which might help the team somewhat in the ticket sales department. Jrue Holiday is another name that is beginning to get some mention here.
The assumption is that Memphis will trade down a few spots, possibly to 4th, where Sacramento can offer either Jason Thompson or Spencer Hawes as added compensation. That would surely please Rubio’s camp, as the difference between the 2nd and 4th picks is somewhere around four million dollars over the course of his rookie deal, which would make things infinitely easier as far as his buyout is concerned, and also satisfy his and his family’s initial expectations of being a top-3 pick.
There's still a lot of time left in the process and I don't think the options will really start narrowing until closer to draft day, but this is closer to my own sense of the situation. If the team can't move up to one and for whatever reason decides that keeping Rubio isn't the way to go, then I do think trading down is very likely, especially if the team could get a Thabeet or (perhaps more likely) Evans and also a quality young piece like Thompson.
Draft Express also had this little Griz-connected tidbit:
•Marc Iavaroni appears to be a lock to secure the lead assistant’s role in Toronto, with the only holdup now being his contract with the Memphis Grizzlies. It seems like Iavaroni and Toronto may be in a similar situation to that of Stan Van Gundy and the Orlando Magic a few years back, when the Miami Heat demanded compensation in the form of a second round pick in exchange for releasing him from the last year of his contract. This time, though, the Grizzlies are reportedly demanding cash, somewhere in the range of a few hundred thousand dollars.
Comments (21)
Showing 1-21 of 21
I thought that if you fired someone, their contract with you was null and void...or that they had to keep paying you over time. Wouldn't the cash benefit for the Gri$$le be not having to pay Ivy, since a new position would nullify his right to keep his paycheck from the Gristle coming?
Help me out here Herrington, I don't have Jimmy Sexton's number at my fingertips and the Grizz just might call me if Lionel doesn't work out. I want to be ready.
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Iavaroni's is still being paid by the Grizzlies through this season, as to whether that money owed to him is impacted by taking a new job depends on the terms of the original contract, of which I'm not privy. I had a similar discussion with some team officials about these issues last year when it was rumored Maurice Cheeks (still getting paid by the Sixers) might be a Griz coaching candidate.
It was suggested that a fired head coach taking another head coaching job might forfeit some or all of the money owed to him (again, pending the terms of the contract), but this might be different for an assistant position.
The bigger issue is that since the Griz are still paying him they might be able to block him from taking another coaching job, thus giving them leverage to demand compensation. This is what the DraftExpress blurb implies.
I like that they are moving off of all the Thabeet talk more and more... Chad Ford makes me want to punch babies in the face when I read his mock drafts.
As for the pick I don't think dealing it to the Kings is too terrible of an idea but would something like Thompson/Evans or Thompson/Harden (even though Vernon trashcanned Harden) or Thompson/Curry be enough for that #2 pick. Will that and free agency be enough to give the Grizzlies the *nmph* they need?
Chris - in your opinion does it seem that the Grizz decision makers are getting closer and closer to really messing this pick up? The closer we get to the draft, the worse things are looking.
Then again, if you look at three great moments in Grizzlies draft history when the #2 pick is involved (1999, 2000 and 2003) - things just don't look good for us o.O
I like Tyreke. But he will definitely be a project. His shot borders on horrific and he has no left hand. His quickness is also in question. He did an awesome job for the Tigers, but he is 2nd round material in any other draft.
Am I the only one that thinks that Thompson is not enough of an asking price to get rubio?
The way I see it the grizz should come out of the draft with on of the following players on their team:
Blake Griffin, Ricky Rubio, Kevin Martin, Amare Staudemire, or some near elite player.
Nice to have: Jason Thompson, Anthony Randolph, David Lee, other young players, future unprotected or lightly protected #1's, or any other player in this draft.
The first priority is to get a player in the top category. I get the sense that if any other team had the #2 pick, and the grizz were trying to leap up to get it, the asking price would be way, way higher than our pick plus Jason Thompson. We finally got lucky, and the nat'l media is pretending that the best the Grizz will do is a nice frontcourt player and a project named Evans or Thabeet. This just doesn't make sense.
Another scenario I was thinking and running by a co-worker (yes I am that bored at work) would be #2 for the #4 and Jason Thompson and then take Curry at #4 and trade him to NY along with Darko and get back David Lee and DeRozan.
End up with David Lee, Jason Thompson and DeRozan out of the draft.
That might be ludicrious and I might sound like one of those delusional espn nuthuggers by it seemed like in my head that might work.
I haven't seen enough of Thompson and am not too impressed by his rebounding numbers so I don't know if I like Thompson/#4 for #2, but it would give the Grizzlies a team that could be decent, but not championship quality, relatively quickly. Wouldn't the team after that trade have a good chance at being as good as Atlanta, Philadelphia, or maybe Utah in two years, especially with some Western Conference teams getting older?
Tyreke Evans would not be a 2nd round pick in any draft; look at the players that are actually drafted at the end of the first round. I think he compares pretty well with most of the freshmen that are taken in the mid to low lottery over the last few years (Brendan Wright, Thaddeus Young, Eric Gordon, Bayless . . .).
The other side of the coin is this:
If Thompson and the #4 develop, are they more attrative in a package for said superstar.
I would prefer a 2010 top 3 protected pick to Thompson myself but he would be an ok substitute because he can play PF and C. He also would match up well with LaMarcus Aldridge.
MemphisX... I think you have hit the nail on the proverbial head. The one thing that no one is talking about are 2010 1st Rd picks.
The Griz have the opportunity to not only walk out of this draft with a top 5 pick but possibly add another lottery pick next year in a very strong draft. The trick is for the Griz front office not to screw up the picks!
I would be comfortable with #2, #27, Jaric for #4, #23, 2010 top 3 protected pick.
Sacramento fan here. A couple of observations. There is ABSOLUTELY no way that the Kings would trade Thompson or Hawes just to swap picks. Never, Nado, No, Nyte, Nine, No Way. Rubio isn't a lock down guaranteed elite player like a Labron or Tim Duncan. He is one of the best prospects but in an unusually weak draft. The Kings are quite bad. They have three player (Hawes, Thompson and Martin) that could be are very good (or potentially very good if they continue to develop). Then they have a couple of servicable journeyman. Any trade involving one of the Kings best three players will have to be more of a blockbuster deal involving more than just Rubio. That said, a trade could happen but at a much lower level of trade value.
Second this is a weak draft. Look at any of the top 10 players on mock draft and ask yourself how many of them would be in the top 10 in a normal NBA draft.
William Tell:
Assuming that Rubio is clearly the second best player in the draft, the primary effect of this being a weak draft is that it devalues the #4 pick. If the player that you are going to be able to get at #4 is equivalent to a #12 pick in a normal draft or not that different than who you can get at #15 in this draft, then you are just trading an average or slightly above average starting power forward and a late lottery pick for the #2 pick. If the Kings/Grizzlies think Rubio will just be a top 5-7 starting point guard- not a LeBron- then I don't think that is too much for the Grizzlies to ask.
I am not so sure that the draft is that weak. The bigs are bad, but I think that the guards are pretty good- there just doesn't seem to be that much separation between the different guards.
The more and more info that comes out about this draft has me thinking this could be renamed the Rotation Guy and Role Player Draft of 2009. I think there are some quality guys that are going to certainly improve their respective teams.
As for the Grizz and taking on more picks. This is a yearly loser of a team and you can't fill the stands or bench with draft picks. Sure you could luck out and get a superstar next year with a gamble pick off a trade from this year but then who is going to be there to watch them play lol. It's up to Memphis to make a play NOW or else start packing it up.
I'm starting to like the idea of trading #2 to NYK for D. Lee and #8 (Curry or Jrue). It will fill 2 needs - a young rebounding vet PF and scorer/backup PG.
Also, it's rumored Detroit is shopping Amir Johnson and #15 to OKC for their #25 and cash. Why don't we do that? That would allow us to get A.Daye or another SF to backup Rudy.
We could then use #35 for a SG backup (Green, Ellington). Thoughts?
Chad Ford has this week's mock draft out, and he still thinks we will draft Thabeet.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2009/co…
Players that have to be sign & traded can't be traded until after the July moratorium. Theoretically the Grizz can't speak to another team's restricted free agent until the moratorium begins. So a deal involving a RFA and draft picks could not be discussed on draft night without circumventing the CBA which is a big no no...
Draft picks are usually not packaged with RFAs for this very reason.
Why wouldn't Memphis just try to sign D.Lee in the offseason? If you offer a deal that is very large, it will cut into their 2010 salary cap number.
Also, I do not like David Lee as a member of the Griz.
Considering the role he had to play, I think Darrell Arthur is as good a talent as Jason Thompson at this point. People think Memphis's problem was PF ... I disagree. Memphis's problem was youth and very inconsistent defensive effort (I'm looking at you RG & OJ).
Sacramento does not seem to be a good trade partner for Memphis. If we're looking to move the #2 or Conley ... I'd look at Portland, Washington, Minnesota, Houston and maybe the Lakers and Atlanta.
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