INT. MATT’S LIVING ROOM. NIGHT
Matt is on the couch blogging. Paroxi-Wife is watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Twilight mashups. In the background, we see ESPN ticker at the bottom: “Clippers trade Zach Randolph to Memphis Grizzlies for Quinton Richardson and Greg Buckner.”Matt’s phone rings.
/ring
//ring ring
Matt: Hello?
Corn: I”ve decided that in a previous life, you were some sort of Egyptian Pharoah, like Ramses. And Chris Wallace and Michael Heisley were slaves that you routinely punished for no apparent reason. And now, karma has come back to haunt you in the form of the stupidest decisions possible to the team you actually kind of have an attachment to. That’s all.
/beep
//dialtone
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So it happened. After being first suggested many moons ago, they actually went through with it. Drafting Thabeet wasn’t enough. No, they had to go and discover and even dumber way to make their team somehow worse.
You know, Corn tried to convince me that this was somehow a smart move, that they needed a lowpost scorer, and that essentially they just upgraded Darko for Z-Bo.
Except, if you consider the wide range of off-the-court, locker room, contractual, and conditioning issues, is that really an upgrade? Yes, Darko’s not good for much, but at least when he’s on the floor, you know he’s going to hustle his demented little head off. With Randolph, it could be a 20 and 10 night, or a 4 and 2 night. Whatever he feels like, really. And is a small market rebuilding team really the place that he’s going to suddenly feel motivated consistently?
Two years, $33 million. That’s what they’re paying. Think about this. They could have gotten four years of Charlie V. for that. Even if you think V-Nuv wasn’t going to come to Memphis, regardless, there are still several power forward free agents out there. Good ones! Do you realize how rare that is? And Memphis cashed it in for… Randolph? This is part of the rebuilding plan? Putting a locker room malcontent with off-court issues on Beale Street so he can infect the locker room of young guys, plus you’ve effectively alienated Marc Gasol with your last two moves?
I’ve stuck up for Memphis for a long time, and said that they got Mayo which was a stroke of genius, and that they haven’t given away Gay for peanuts (yet). They invested in Conley which I think was a smart move before they landed the #2 in a great point guard draft (and subsequently drafted a ladder). I’ve tried to stick up for them. But it’s timee to call it.
Chris Wallace is the worst GM in the league. Michael Heisley is the worst owner in the league, and the Memphis Grizzlies are the worst franchise in the league. It’s not fair that such a beleaguered franchise with such a good sports town gets stuck with this filth, but it’s how it is. If this is their three year plan, they should probably rename it the “Three Year Escape Plan” and start getting used to calling themselves the Las Vegas Grizzlies.
So much potential, so pathetically wasted.
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They have done it! They have suck-ceeded! Yep, they’ve put together worse management than the Clippers!
1) Give away a top 5 big man in the league for peanuts … Yep! I used to attribute this to Jerry West being part of the management and selling out his current employer for old allegiances. Now I’m coming to believe that this franchise is in fact that stupid!
2) Trade for Zach Randolph while giving back expiring 2010 contracts (and no picks)… Yep! They can even get burned by the Clippers FO!
I know superlatives get people’s attention, Mr. Moore, but I think it is pretty safe to say that while the Memphis Grizzlies are currently not doing a very good job at managing their team, the Los Angeles Clippers have earned their role for eternity as the worst NBA franchise. I’m assuming you have read Bill Simmons’ recent article on the matter. And if you haven’t, you should. To paraphrase the article: the Clippers are the worst, and always will be the worst, because for every time they make a somewhat good decision, they make 230498723052 bad ones.
Z-Bo would LOVE it if the Grizz moved to Vegas, Ramses.
Remember when he got in a fight with two hookers because their girl-on-girl 69 show wasn’t authentic enough for him?
people said Elvis was dumb and look where that got us!
It’s funny. I’ve actually made a couple half-hearted attempts to defend the Gasol trade (in all honesty I’ve still never seen anyone show me an offer that was made that looked much better than Marc Gasol and cap space). And I even like Z-Bo, on a last place team. A skillful frontcourt scorer is something lottery teams generally are missing. His defense and effort will forever keep him from being on a playoff team, but under normal circumstances I would say that Randolph win a lottery team a couple of more games than Darko would. Problem is here, the Grizz already now have three guys who shoot the ball entirely too much in Z-Bo, Gay and Mayo, and have guaranteed Conley’s continued irrelevance.
I still say the OJ Mayo/Love trade was the worst of all though. The Gay/Mayo combo, as the name suggests, will never make the playoffs together!
So Wallace essentially turned Gasol (the good one) into Randolph? I mean, at this point with what Randolph gets paid you can’t really call the Gasol move a salary dump.
And the three-year plan, the one that has seen the team build up with three open court athletes (Gay, Mayo, Conley) is capped off by a slow, lazy, ball-stopping power forward?
Plus, knowing the Blazers probably would have parted with any of the following–Outlaw, Frye, Rodriguez–for draft picks for Conley, and with an opportunity to draft Ricky Rubio, the Grizz instead opt for the black Shawn Bradley?
Z-Bo is good! I am a huge knicks fan and knew they had to trade him to free up cap space but was sad to see him go. He is a very hard worker on the court night in and night out. His motivation is likely trying to get his stats, but he rebounds like a beast (which you will need with thabeet down there getting pushed around) and he scores at will down low or with the jumper. I really don’t understand why he gets hated on. So he is a big man version of Iverson. Giving all he has to score lots of points, and only passing as a last resort. He is still a huge upgrade and a very solid powerforward who will give you 20 and 10 consistently.
“Give away a top 5 big man in the league for peanuts”
What does this mean? Who are you talking about? Hopefully not someone on the Grizzlies, because you’d be an idiot to refer to Darko as a top 5 big man in the league.
@purdman
Just because you get 20 and 10 doesn’t necessarily make you a solid player. Zach gets 20 after taking 17 shots (with some stepback threes ) and gets 10 due to the lack of rebounding around him. Portland didn’t have any low-post threat (in Zach’s formative years, Sheed could’ve been an interior presence, but instead fell in love with the three-pointer) and the good jeebus only knows what he would’ve done to corrupt Roy, Aldridge and Oden if Pritchard didn’t intervene.
Also, do you see what David Lee did with numbers once Z-Bo was bounced over to ex-sh*ttiest team in the NBA. Put up even beastlier rebounding numbers and scored at a much more efficient level. So, yeah, Z-Bo is one of those good numbers on a bad team type of guy. Offensively selfish, defensively indifferent and a complete “meh” in my opinion.
Ahh Zo-Bo. A career .287 three point shooter who averaged about 2 3PA per game last year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh2fn01cngg
As a Blazer fan who suffered through Zach for years, Memphis fans have my deepest condolences. Let’s hope the Grizzlies organization pays someone to serve as his chauffeur.
Gay/Mayo might never win a championship, but where would Gay/Love take you?
Which is more ridiculous to type and think: Chad Ochocinco, or Gay-Love?
From Memphis:
Dear Mr. Writer,
Go F*** yourself
Jesse is absolutely right. I always thought the idea behind trading Pau Gasol was because Memphis either badly needed to save money or because they figured if they stunk already, they might as well stink for cheaper; but adding Z-Bo pretty much nullifies that. Gasol and Randolph have almost identical contracts, both in terms of dollar amount per year and the fact that both expire in the summer of 2011. Pau Gasol for the same price and years wouldn’t be a better fit on the Grizzlies than Zach Randolph is? Really?
If you had watched Zach vs Pau …you’d know that “16 aint half of fitty”.
At least this trade should make Grizzlies bereable to follow I suppose. You never know what’s coming with Zach Randolph: he might get on the headlines for dropping a 38-18 or he might get in the headlines for being involved in a shooting, beating up a prostitute, smashing someone while driving 100 mph in a 40 mph road.
What I don’t understand is why did the management decide to acquire someone who will be unhappy with the life in Memphis from day one and whose effort has always been questioned when for that price they could have gotten free agents like David Lee and Trevor Ariza.
You guys don’t have a damn clue about b-ball or don’t follow this team. Chris Wallace has been excellent for the team. LEt me explain:
1. Pau Gasol trade – he’s not a max contract player. We tried to build a team around him and the best it got us was 0-12 in playoffs. YEs, Pau is a solid player but do you want to go into every season knowing you’re good enough to get to the playoffs but not win. Plus, you’ve got the 4th highest payroll in the smallest market. Here is what the trade has brought to date (cap space – expiring Kwame Brown, Aaron McKie contracts that lead to Darko signing which lead to Zach Randolph), Jarvaris Crittendon (2nd round pick – Sam Young)solid center in Marc Gasol (10 pts/8reb) and Lakers 2008 (Darrell Arthur/2010. Let me see Pau for Zach Randolph, Darrell Arthur, Sam Young and a 1st round pick next year that hasn’t been used plus 7-9M left over from freeing up his contract – PLEASE GET SOME KNOWLEDGE before you write. How is it bad for the Grizzlies to do it but okay for other teams like New JErsey, Milwaukee and Phoenix and they dont get crap back but it’s okay.
2. He drafted Conley, traded for OJ Mayo and this year pick up Thabeet, Carroll, Young and traded for Randolph. CAn you please name me 5 other GM that have selected and or traded better than him and PLEASE only trades for players in the draft and not veterans. Also, if you know anything about our team last year: we had no low post presence and no bench.
3. I can go on and on but I think you get the point. Don’t just write was national media outlets write b/c they don’t understand either. You guys just look like idiots to basketball hoopsters.
Peace Out.
Etrur….
you do realize that over the past couple of years Zach Randolph has spent a lot of his free time in Memphis. People see him hanging out around Memphis all the time. He was at the Southern Heritage Classic last year I believe.
I dont know how that makes you think he would hate life here.
L-train makes some astute points about the Grizz as much as I hate to admit it…
Thank you L-train. Pau was a big flopper who we couldnt win with, so we got rid of his contract and saved money. And Randolph will most likely only be a grizzly for a year then be traded cuz thats 17 million commin off the payroll for someone. The grizz are weak in the lowpost and he should give us some muscle.
uuuh… L-train, maybe you had better get some knowledge. Darko was acquired long before the Pau Gasol trade, so obtaining Randolph had nothing to do with Pau. Crittenton was traded to Washington to reacquire fully our first round pick which we had traded to them conditionally for the rights to Juan Carlos Navarro. Sam Young was selected with our regular second round pick and therefore had nothing to do with the Pau Gasol trade as well.
I do agree, though I do not like the acquisition of Zach Randolph, that the criticism of Chris Wallace is far too harsh.
Okay, so stick with me here and let me digest your alleged basketball IQ.
You say that Pau Gasol is not a max player, which we’ll get into, but through your logic you are claiming that Zach Randolph somehow is?! According to ESPN.com we have roughly $14.5 million vs. $15 million. The cap space freed through the Gasol trade, give or take a minimum contract, is now gone. The payoff was Randolph. A less efficient, worse player than the one you got. But for your sake, we’ll throw in the other Gasol (who is destined to join Robin Lopez and Taylor Griffin in Phoenix). So now you traded Pau for a worse, lazier and equally paid version of of Pau and a solid, rotation big who may not even be able to play next to Randolph, and when combined with Randolph will not measure up to what Pau produced but will take up more than he was paid.
And as far as being good enough to make the playoffs and not win? Well as of this offseason if you’re not the Lakers, Spurs, Magic, or Cavs you’re not going to anyways. But fine, so 10-15 years of being in the lottery (where your GM’s competency is questionable anyways–he drafted and quickly trade Joe Johnson, and then Joe Forte and Kedrick Brown over Tony Parker and Giblert Arenas) is completely worth not fielding a middling playoff team.
So, going back to whether or not Pau is a max player. Well in case you didn’t notice, second fiddles on good teams get paid max dollars unless you’re the Spurs. Hell, the finals were a perfect example with Lewis and Gasol overpaid. And Gasol won.
Finally, look at your roster: You have Mike Conley, OJ Mayo and Rudy Gay. All open court players, great in transition, and freakishly athletic. Who fits better in that roster: A fluid, athletic and mobile big man with length and a great feel for the game or a fat, lazy ball-stopper who slows the game to a halt and wouldn’t pass it out of a double team even if he had someone to pass it to. Plus, with Gasol, you probably still have Navarro.
The only thing Wallace has done in his tenure at Memphis is hand the Lakers a championship and build their dynasty while screwing over what could have been their (potentially) biggest threat (Portland) over the next few years. And then, you know, making a Clippers front office look good in a headline for once. Because believe me, outside of Memphis the story headline is Clips dump Randolph, not Griz acquire star forward.