http://www.memphisflyer.com/BeyondtheArc/archives/2009/07/01/la-times-reporting-randolph-deal-done Comments On: L.A. Times Reporting Randolph Deal Done by Chris Herrington en-us Copyright 2009 Memphis Flyer. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, Memphis Flyer readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact Memphis Flyer. wil@desert.net (Memphis Flyer Webmaster) Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:01 -0600 Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:15:00 -0600 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss
I think there's much more risk with Randolph than there was with Bonzi.
Posted by Chris Herrington]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:43:32 -0500 Memphis Flyer
You point out that Randolph gets his numbers with poor shot selection. Given this and his troubled past and coming to Memphis for redemption story, is he basically the big man version of Bonzi Wells?

Wells did give us a couple of good years though, but it took the right coach... can we bring back Hubie Brown?
Posted by Memfan]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:38:47 -0500 Memphis Flyer Posted by jcd4987]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:20:57 -0500 Memphis Flyer Posted by LittleRock]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:14:26 -0500 Memphis Flyer
this is the one positive from the trade. Its a low risk contract in terms of cap space. We are still probably going to be in the lottery next year. We will draft our pf. (even if we have to trade up)

Randolph will either be a good fit and get an extension in two years, will be traded as an expiring next year, or will simply be cut.

Either way we are still in a much more flexible place than we would have been signing either Lee or Milsap.
Posted by Shawn]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:39:02 -0500 Memphis Flyer
This is not a situation where the team is locked into a long-term deal with an untrade-able asset. They didn't give up any major pieces to get him, only cap-space. If Randolph is a bust, Heisley wasted some money... and ONLY Heisley wasted money.

You can certainly argue the "Randolph is a cancer" side of things, but his contract isn't some albatross dragging the team down for years to come. It is Heisley gambling with his money on the player he wanted. We will see the results in a few months time.
Posted by Grizzly_Adam]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:27:21 -0500 Memphis Flyer
I think Memphis is exactly what he needs. being in the small market will take the spotlight off of him, i think he'll get a more personal treatment, get someone to kinda be an off-the-court mentor...have some closer people/ family to stay on him. And i think his on-the-court play will be a great upgrade from Darko (seeing how this trade went Darko=>QRich=>ZBo).

plus, some folks are talking like he's already driven into town drunk and punched out the coach or something. I mean lets give the guy a chance, we still have at least a week before he gets here, no use running him out of town already.
Posted by MisterT80]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:15:04 -0500 Memphis Flyer
We are now locked into our team. The "flexibility" that Wallace has been peddling since the Pau trade has netted us Zach Randolph. Enjoy.
Posted by Matt H]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:12:19 -0500 Memphis Flyer
This is the first time that the Grizzlies will field a team that has a legitimate starter at all 5 positions on the floor!

This is not kudos to Wallace or Heisley (I would like to see Wallace run the personnel side of things without Heisley involved), I just am excited not to have a glaring hole at a position on the floor.

Posted by GrizzleGM]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:11:30 -0500 Memphis Flyer
Also am I missing something? Something seems odd about the trade. I know Memphis is under the cap and out of the 125 percent rule and the Clippers would do anything to offload Randolph but 9 million vs 16 million still seems off.
Posted by grizzfan117]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:48:32 -0500 Memphis Flyer Posted by Grizzly_Adam]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:16:41 -0500 Memphis Flyer
Oh, and while I think Lee and Millsap are really good players, I also think their numbers are over-inflated a bit. Especially Lee's. He is playing on a D'Antoni team. Look back at Marion, Stoudemire, and even Nash two years ago vs last year. They are all great players, but they put up league-topping hall of fame numbers under D'Antoni. His system increases stats across the board. Lee will be a good player on his next team, but don't expect him to continue leading the league in double-doubles without D'Antoni's system around him.

So, to finish my point, I think Randolph is a gamble. But... I think this team needed to take a bit of a gamble. The worst case scenario is he turns out to be every bad thing we have heard about. Even if that takes place, it is really only one year of that headache. After next season, he will become a massive trade-able expiring contract. Consider this next year an experiment. If it fails, it fails... and the Grizz trade him next summer. But... if it succeeds, the Grizz have the PF they have been needing from day one.
Posted by Grizzly_Adam]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:09:44 -0500 Memphis Flyer
Compare him to Al Jefferson, who might have the most similar skill set. Jefferson is a career 50% shooter. The difference is shot selection. Randolph forces his offense too much and that leads to too many bad shots, especially on the perimeter.
Posted by Chris Herrington]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:17:26 -0500 Memphis Flyer Posted by GingerGrizz]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:12:18 -0500 Memphis Flyer Posted by blessran50]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:04:33 -0500 Memphis Flyer Posted by GCmemphis]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:57:04 -0500 Memphis Flyer Posted by blessran50]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:52:57 -0500 Memphis Flyer
The stlye of the team will be interesting now. With Gasol, Thabeet and Randolph, you definitely have more of a half-court team. With Conley, Mayo and Gay, you have an up-tempo team. There is definite versatility ...it's up to Hollins to mix and match properly.

Also, as far as the three year plan, signing Zach is not such a bad idea...Chris has it right. Next year we draft a big man, and he's Zach's understudy for a year. Besides, Zach in a contract year is a good thing. He will be hungry for a new deal, and an expiring contract is always good to have in your pocket.
Posted by GoGrey]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:52:44 -0500 Memphis Flyer
Well, I guess I could also refer to game footage of the Trailblazers, Knicks, and Clippers from the past 6 years.
Posted by Craig]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:36:29 -0500 Memphis Flyer
Can't Heisley just sell the team and ship them out, they have to be getting closer to their FedEx Forum buyout. If he is going to continue to make financially foolish business decisions in regards to this team I wish he could just get rid of them.

I hate when he talks about "losing" money too by spending it on the Grizzlies. I WISH I was a billionaire in position to lose a few MILLION every year playing around with a hobby like a professional sports team.
Posted by leglockfan]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:33:55 -0500 Memphis Flyer
How can you say a 20-10 guy will not get us wins? We essentially traded Darko ( avg what 10-8 plus 30 missed dunks per night) for Randolph and filled a very large deficit at the 4. Besides, I think we have some smart guys on the team who will not let Z be a distraction.
Posted by Tjatsd]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:29:09 -0500 Memphis Flyer Posted by Shawn]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:08:42 -0500 Memphis Flyer Posted by Shawn]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:07:56 -0500 Memphis Flyer Posted by Chris Herrington]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:07:08 -0500 Memphis Flyer Posted by Matt H]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:58:56 -0500 Memphis Flyer