Griz owner Michael Heisley told a group of season ticket holders that the team intends to match any offer Gay might receive as a restricted free agent this summer. Heisley spoke before the game at the team’s annual “State of the Franchise” Chalk Talk where season ticket holders could ask questions.
First, he couldn’t re-sign him because attendance wasn’t good enough. Then he said he would make every effort. Now he’s going to do it no matter what.
So which is it?
I’m about to sympathize with Michael Heisley, so let’s all hold our noses as we plunge into this cesspool.
It’s an impossible situation. If he doesn’t re-sign Gay, no matter how overpaid the offer sheet may be, he’s a cheap owner. But Gay is simply not worth all that much. He’s worth a lot, don’t get me wrong. But he’s worth the most to the Grizzlies as a symbol that they’re willing to spend to compete. Which is something the fanbase, whatever’s left of it, needs.
The attendance in Memphis is bad news bears, pardon the pun. I support small markets. I stick up for small markets. I defend small markets. But the team has been over .500 for the vast majority of the season and was in the playoff hunt as recently as last night when Aaron Brooks hit his 900th three pointer. And yet attendance has been pathetic. Not bad. Pathetic. The Grizzlies have given Memphis every reason to come out and support this team, and instead, the city had basically decided what they thought about the Grizzlies back in October, and have refused to reconsider.
But if they’re going to buy back in, they have to believe this is a franchise committed to winning. And Heisley’s discussions with the press are not helping matters, even if I can sympathize. The attendance thing? Does not need to be confused with the Rudy issue. If you want to win and think Gay is the way to get there, re-sign him. Don’t try and hold the fans hostage, because that’s not going to work. The people that care if you re-sign Rudy Gay? They’re already coming to the games, decked in blue. Furthermore, as much as it may suck, turning the issue into you being vilified, even if true, is not going to help matters. Who cares who the owner is? Ask Clippers or Warriors fans.
These complicating factors make it really difficult to get a good sense of the real problem here: Rudy Gay isn’t worth a max contract. He’s not worth anything near it. There are players younger than Gay with worse numbers that you can look at and say “That’s going to be a complete player.” With Gay, you’re left with the fact that he’s a pivotal part of this team and yet he’s not clocked in all the time. O.J. Mayo has his struggles. He’s gotten better at the rim, he’s killer from outside, but he has his shooting slumps and gets worn down on defense. But OJAM’s clocked in on every play, every night. Gay is clocked in for about 3/4 of the time. That other quarter is when you can’t figure out where he is or what he’s doing. The things Gay is tremendous at, creating that shifty leaning sideways runner, dunking in the open floor, nailing big shots, these are all valuable components for a contributing piece, not a centerpiece.
Neither Mayo, nor Gasol, and definitely not Randolph (due to age, not effort) may be the future of the Grizzlies, but you can look at their games and see them either becoming those primary components, or laying the foundation of a supporting cast for a true superstar. Gay doesn’t even work in that model, because he demands so much money. But if the Grizzlies let him walk, they’re unlikely to get a true superstar in return, through trade or free agency. They’re handcuffed by the market, and in return, are trying to handcuff the fans.
And the result is simply that both sides are tearing the Grizzlies apart, in what should be a hopeful time for them.
