NBA News 2013: How the Grizzlies Cleared Over $16 Million

Memphis Grizzlies logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Memphis Grizzlies have cleared in the neighborhood of $16 million in a pair of deals that unloaded the contracts of Rudy Gay and Marreese Speights.

On Wednesday, Gay and Hamed Haddadi were sent to the Toronto Raptors.  The Raptors in turn sent Ed Davis, a 2013 second-round pick and cash to Memphis. The Detroit Pistons also sent Tayshaun Prince and Austin Daye to the Grizzlies, in return for Jose Calderon from Toronto.

Just over a week earlier, the Grizzlies sent Josh Selby, Wayne Ellington, Speights and a first-round pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Jon Leuer.

The Speights’ deal set up the Gay trade, which was structured as three transactions.

- When Speights was traded to Memphis, the Grizzlies attained a $4.3 million trade exception.  The Grizzlies used that exception to acquire Daye, who makes $2,958,077 this season.  Memphis is left with $1,241,923 remaining in the Speights exception.

- The Grizzlies traded Gay, who makes $16,460,538 this season, for Prince ($6,764,045) and Davis ($2,207,040).  With the two making a combined $8,971,085, Memphis also received a trade exception for the difference ($7,489,453).

- Haddadi was traded to the Raptors without any salary coming back in return, generating another Memphis trade exception ($1.3 million).

http://www.hoopsworld.com/how-the-grizzlies-cleared-16-million/

Related articles

• Sources: Grizzlies agree in principle to deal Gay (espn.go.com)
• Cheap Memphis Grizzlies Tickets: The Memphis Grizzlies Once Again are Playing Playoff Basketball this Season, and Whiztix.com Helps Users get the Best Deals on Tickets (prweb.com)
• The Memphis Grizzlies Agree in Principle to Send Rudy Gay to the Toronto Raptors (complex.com)
• Grizzlies, Raptors Reportedly Agree in Principle to Deal That Sends Rudy Gay to Toronto (slamonline.com)
• Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski Rips Former ESPN Writer John Hollinger For Memphis Trade, Skews Facts To Make His Case (sportsgrid.com)
• Did the Memphis Grizzlies Make Right Choice by Going All in on Their Core? (bleacherreport.com)
• NBA 2013: Hollins Frustrated With Grizzlies' Lack Of Center Depth (nbabasketballphilippines.blogspot.com)
• Memphis Grizzlies: What Is the Future of Ed Davis? (bleacherreport.com)
• NBA: John Hollinger Already Making His Mark in Grizzlies' Front Office (bleacherreport.com)
• Zach Randolph Says the Memphis Grizzlies are Better Without Rudy Gay (slamonline.com)

NBA News 2012: Blazers’ Lillard draws raves

Trail Blazers logo since the 2002–03 season (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Portland Trail Blazers have made a plethora of moves since Neil Olshey took over as general manager on June 5, none more important than taking Damian Lillard with the sixth pick in the draft.

Lillard, a 6-3, 195-pound point guard out of Weber State, stole the show at the Las Vegas Summer League with his sterling play, averaging 26.5 points and sharing league most valuable player honors with Memphis guard Josh Selby. Lillard is expected to step right in and start for the Blazers next season.

Portland has had summer league MVPs before. Qyntell Woods and Jerryd Bayless come to mind, and neither panned out with the Blazers. But Lillard is close to a can’t-miss prospect, according to those around the league.

“Lillard is going to be terrific,” Cleveland coach Byron Scott said.

“He has a very bright future ahead of him,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He has a chance to be special.”

“He plays the pro game — great speed, no hurry, knows how to play,” Boston coach Doc Rivers said. “He can shoot the ball, he can score when he wants to, but he also knows how to run a team. That’s nice.”

http://www.hoopsworld.com/blazers-lillard-draws-raves-for-summer-league-play

Related articles

• Selby, Lillard Named Co-MVPs (hangtime.blogs.nba.com)
• Damian Lillard - 2013 Fantasy Basketball Projections (everyjoe.com)
• Stock Up, Stock Down for Rookies at Vegas Summer League (bleacherreport.com)
• NBA Summer League 2012: Rookies Who Put Up Monster Totals on Day 5 in Las Vegas (bleacherreport.com)
• Josh Selby, Damian Lillard Named Co-MVPs of the Summer League (slamonline.com)
• Daily Dime (espn.go.com)
• NBA Summer League 2012: Rockets Take On Blazers In Las Vegas (houston.sbnation.com)
• NBA Rumors: Weekly Twitter Summary of the Hottest Chatter (bleacherreport.com)
• Lillard leads Blazers to Summer-League win in NBA debut (standard.net)

NBA News 2011: Top 15 NBA draft sleepers

Image via Wikipedia
No one recognized Klay Thompson as he chomped on a blackened catfish salad for lunch this past week at the Oakland Grill, located just blocks from the Golden State Warriors’ practice facility. The former Washington State shooting guard said such anonymity has been par for the course while traveling nationally working out for teams in hopes of improving his draft stock.

But come Thursday night at the NBA draft, Thompson’s anonymity could end if he goes from draft sleeper to top-10 pick. The son of ex-NBA player Mychal Thompson leads Yahoo! Sports’ draft sleepers list.

Here’s a look at 14 other potential draft sleepers:

1. Markieff Morris, 6-10, 245 pounds, PF, Kansas
2. Marshon Brooks, 6-5, 200, SF, Providence
3. Tobias Harris, 6-8, 225, SF, Tennessee
4. Darius Morris, 6-4, 190, PG, Michigan
5. Nikola Vucevic, 6-10, 260, C, Southern California
6. Josh Selby, 6-2, 183, PG, Kansas
7. Iman Shumpert, 6-5, 212, PG/SG, Georgia Tech
8. Norris Cole, 6-2, 170, PG, Cleveland State
9. Jimmy Butler, 6-7, 220, SF, Marquette
10. Justin Harper, 6-10, 225, SF-PF, Richmond
11. Charles Jenkins, 6-3, 220, PG-SG, Hofstra
12. Nikola Mirotic, 6-10, 220, C, Real Madrid (Spain)
13. Jeremy Tyler, 6-10, 255, PF-C, Tokyo Apache (Japan)
14. Davis Bertrans, 6-10, 211 pounds, SF, KK Union Olimpija (Slovenia)

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AuMbS4C0cctaYsBtqKYCakW8vLYF?slug=mc-spears_nba_draft_top_15_sleepers061911

Related articles

• Donnie Basketball looks to go out with home run (nypost.com)

NBA News 2011: NBA Prospect Josh Selby

Image by Getty Images via @daylife
Josh Selby, 6-2, Shooting Guard, Freshman, Kansas
8.7 points, 2.4 assists, 2.3 rebounds, 1.0 steals, 2.3 turnovers, 38% FG, 37% 3P, 76% FT

Billed as an incredibly creative and explosive scorer with outstanding athletic tools coming into college, Selby has shown flashes of that potential, putting it all together for a handful of games this season, but has struggled heavily with inconsistency and turnovers.

In the half-court setting, Selby is a very dangerous scorer when he catches the ball on the move, having an outstanding first step to go along with strong change of direction ability and body control in the lane, making him very dynamic within the flow of the offense. The problem for Selby is this had made up just a small part of his game this season, as he's attacked the basket very infrequently, getting to the line and getting shots in the lane at a poor rate. He averages just 1.7 free throws compared to 7.9 field goal attempts per game, and according to Synergy Sports Technology, in the half-court setting he's attempted 95 jumpers compared to 30 shots around the basket.

Overall, he's converting just 39% of his 2-point attempts, which would be the lowest percentage of any player drafted in the last ten years, if he indeed decided to enter. Combine that with his paltry 37 free throw attempts in 22 games, and it's no surprise why Selby ranks as the least efficient scorer amongst players in our top-100 prospects ranking.

Selby's ability to create in isolation settings isn't something that has fully translated to the college level in the halfcourt, as he seems to have had some trouble adapting to the tougher defense, struggling with turnovers and not getting past his man as frequently as he was used to in high school. He's prone to committing offensive fouls by pushing off on spin moves and commonly loses control of the ball in not-so-difficult situations, something that's been exacerbated late in the season with his foot problems. His prolonged absence to start the year combined with the very short leash Bill Self has him on surely isn't helping matters, but it's clear that he hasn't been able to translate his scoring prowess at the high school level the way many expected him to.

As a shooter, Selby's done a solid job contributing for the Jayhawks, shooting a solid 36.9% on 3.8 three-point attempts per game, showing decent but occasionally sloppy mechanics and a great ability to put the ball in the basket. He's doing most of his work here spotting up, however, taking very few jumpers off the dribble and having less freedom to go out and create his own shot like he was known for the past.

http://www.draftexpress.com/article/Trending-Prospects-3182011--3651/

Related articles

• Kansas Basketball: 5 Things We Learned After Monday's Win Over Missouri (bleacherreport.com)