Grizzlies Offseason 2023

[SD2042]

OK guys we got one roster spot right now and the full MLE is the likeliest path to filling it. Who is you favorite target? Has the acquisition of Smart changed who you want to target?

My Targets:
1. Bruce Brown- undersized but good length and shooting coming around. D is above average but not Brooks level. Can even cover some PG while Ja is out. Not the big 3 we really need but outside of a big trade that guy is not going to be available.
2. Harrison Barnes- more of a 4 than a 3 now but would be a steady performer that would play within his role. Likely our closing 4 with Smart playing the 3 to end games. If Sac doesn't resign him then the the full MLE could nap him.
3. LeVert - With the Smart addition could we look at more offense signing now? Would be our 6th man that we are missing. Don't love him but given the right role I think he can be a plus contributor.
4. Donte' DiVincenzo- not a great year but still think he can be a plus defender and bring enough O to be a good rotation player. Not big enough a lot of SF minutes but could really give minutes at 1-3.
5. Grant Williams. Again likely more of a 4 than a 3 and got benched down the stretch is worrisome. But a guy that can shoot 40% from 3 and play passable D are hard to come by. Not my favorite target but does fill a hole.
6. Oubre - Again a low IQ player but would really help our offense. We could finally compete the Brooks for Oubre swap.
7. Thybulle - I was higher on him before we got Smart and his D is disruptive and his shooting showed signs of coming around to end the season. I doubt we go this direction since we likely need a little more on O than he offers, but having him with Smart covering all the SF mins would be something to behold on D and with enough offensive growth from our big 3 I still think it could work. 3/24 would be my offer.
8. Jalen McDaniels - Maybe he can have the same type of breakout that his brother had this playoff. Shot well this year when healthy and could still have some untapped potential.
9. Jrich - Another jack of all trades guys, not great at anything but no real holes in his game. I would only offer something like a 2/15 for him.
10. Prince- really don't want him but he can shoot and chew gum which is what we are looking at once we get this far down the list. Only offer a one year deal in hopes of one of our young guys runs with the role.

I would still like to see if we can swing a SNT of Brooks for DFS in addition to a MLE signing. We would have to include a young player to open the roster spot. Just not sure who that would be. It would be great if Brooklyn wanted one of Zaire or LaRavia as the main value coming back but they likely will want Santi instead and then I am just not sure how much I love the deal depending on what else we have to include. Would you guys do Santi or Roddy/2nd for DFS?

Edit: Eric Gordon is stout enough to play some SF mins and could be the 6th man we have been missing. Would still need a 3/4 too but not a bad option.

Your list has shrunk down to Oubre.

My list has shrunken down to

Dorian Finney-Smith
Royce O'Neale
Robert Covington
Alec Burks
Amir Coffey

At this point, this is what's left now as potential options.

My thoughts are still on DFS or O'Neale. Unless some move outta left field were to happen.

What says you?

[esvl]

Our youth looked really legit against OKC in the Summer League. We need to give them some room in the rotation.

[psman2]

Your list has shrunk down to Oubre.

My list has shrunken down to

Dorian Finney-Smith
Royce O'Neale
Robert Covington
Alec Burks
Amir Coffey

At this point, this is what's left now as potential options.

My thoughts are still on DFS or O'Neale. Unless some move outta left field were to happen.

What says you?

I do think this offseason so far has been kind of a disappointment. Getting Bane locked up is fine but everyone already assumed that was getting done. Smart was a good move but him alone doesn't even cover the impact that Jones/Brooks had on our team the past few years. I understand there are fans of Rose but getting a 35 yo pg coming off a bad year is not something I find very compelling. Our GM implied that we were going to to use the MLE for sure this offseason to improve our team but here we are with not many if any players really worth spending money on now.

Regarding Oubre- It really a tough call, he can score at below average efficiency, 3pt shoot is meh, and his D is hit or miss. Very athletic and can do good things in transition. Overall more of a minutes eater that is good for depth but not someone that is likely going to push us forward much overall. If Clarke was healthy right now I don't think we would even look at him. I think right now we are trying to decide if a player of his caliber is worth taking minutes away from Kennard/Konchar and the kids....I think I would pass on him right now.

Brooks SNT is now the most likely way we are bringing in a guy to help. DFS and Royce are the only players on your list I would even entertain, we are going to have to include assets and a player like Tillman just to clear the roster spot and at this point RoCo and Burks just are not worth the hassle any more.

Now one guy that still on the FA market that kind of intrigues me is Christian Wood. His track record so far is not attractive but his skillset of shooting and rebounding is something this team could really use. His D/IQ is lacking but with a team with the two past DOPs it seems like we would be able to cover for him. Now covering for him and Ja might be asking for too much though. Likely only offer him a GTD on the 1st year of a 3 year deal at MLE.

Adams could be flipped to OKC for a guy like Kenrich or Dort to strengthen the wing rotation and give us more overall shooting. Wood would start but be more of a 6th man and wouldn't close games, gets something like 24 minutes a game. Knocks Konchar out of the rotation and likely only one of Roddy/LaRavia/Zaire will be a consistent rotation player if we bring in a guy like Dort who if his shot can be refined (great corner 3%) could be a better version of Brooks. If Clarke comes back healthy then we will have a little bit of a log jam at 4/5 but after last season playoffs more depth than less is desirable.

Ja/Smart
Bane/Kennard
Dort/Roddy/LaRavia/Zaire
JJJ/Roddy/LaRavia (Clarke)
Wood/Aldama

Closing lineup of Ja/Bane/Smart/Roddy(Clarke)/JJJ.

[esvl]

Wood’s failure in Dallas where he was an exclusive 5 next to Doncic says a lot. I had been a fan of him, not anymore. I better give Aldama 33 minutes.

I prefer Adams to stay - at his salary his big body is invaluable for us in PO if we meet Jokic or Ayton.

[psman2]

Wood’s failure in Dallas where he was an exclusive 5 next to Doncic says a lot. I had been a fan of him, not anymore. I better give Aldama 33 minutes.

I prefer Adams to stay - at his salary his big body is invaluable for us in PO if we meet Jokic or Ayton.

The Wood/Doncic pairing was still a positive on the court +1.2pt over nearly 1000 minutes. So not really a disaster. Dallas' problems last year was all their supporting role players had a somewhat bad year overall and didn't have the defensive players to surround Wood and Doncic like Memphis will have. Still risky but I think we would have a highly ceiling with the most spacing Ja has every had around him.

Aldama could get 25+ minutes still with Wood here and if he outplays him then so be it since I only want Woods 1st year GTD.

[esvl]

Wood’s failure in Dallas where he was an exclusive 5 next to Doncic says a lot. I had been a fan of him, not anymore. I better give Aldama 33 minutes.

I prefer Adams to stay - at his salary his big body is invaluable for us in PO if we meet Jokic or Ayton.

The Wood/Doncic pairing was still a positive on the court +1.2pt over nearly 1000 minutes. So not really a disaster. Dallas' problems last year was all their supporting role players had a somewhat bad year overall and didn't have the defensive players to surround Wood and Doncic like Memphis will have. Still risky but I think we would have a highly ceiling with the most spacing Ja has every had around him.

Aldama could get 25+ minutes still with Wood here and if he outplays him then so be it since I only want Woods 1st year GTD.

I would be less concerned if you give me a good reason for Dallas not resigning Wood

[SD2042]

Your list has shrunk down to Oubre.

My list has shrunken down to

Dorian Finney-Smith
Royce O'Neale
Robert Covington
Alec Burks
Amir Coffey

At this point, this is what's left now as potential options.

My thoughts are still on DFS or O'Neale. Unless some move outta left field were to happen.

What says you?

I do think this offseason so far has been kind of a disappointment. Getting Bane locked up is fine but everyone already assumed that was getting done. Smart was a good move but him alone doesn't even cover the impact that Jones/Brooks had on our team the past few years. I understand there are fans of Rose but getting a 35 yo pg coming off a bad year is not something I find very compelling. Our GM implied that we were going to to use the MLE for sure this offseason to improve our team but here we are with not many if any players really worth spending money on now.

Regarding Oubre- It really a tough call, he can score at below average efficiency, 3pt shoot is meh, and his D is hit or miss. Very athletic and can do good things in transition. Overall more of a minutes eater that is good for depth but not someone that is likely going to push us forward much overall. If Clarke was healthy right now I don't think we would even look at him. I think right now we are trying to decide if a player of his caliber is worth taking minutes away from Kennard/Konchar and the kids....I think I would pass on him right now.

Brooks SNT is now the most likely way we are bringing in a guy to help. DFS and Royce are the only players on your list I would even entertain, we are going to have to include assets and a player like Tillman just to clear the roster spot and at this point RoCo and Burks just are not worth the hassle any more.

Now one guy that still on the FA market that kind of intrigues me is Christian Wood. His track record so far is not attractive but his skillset of shooting and rebounding is something this team could really use. His D/IQ is lacking but with a team with the two past DOPs it seems like we would be able to cover for him. Now covering for him and Ja might be asking for too much though. Likely only offer him a GTD on the 1st year of a 3 year deal at MLE.

Adams could be flipped to OKC for a guy like Kenrich or Dort to strengthen the wing rotation and give us more overall shooting. Wood would start but be more of a 6th man and wouldn't close games, gets something like 24 minutes a game. Knocks Konchar out of the rotation and likely only one of Roddy/LaRavia/Zaire will be a consistent rotation player if we bring in a guy like Dort who if his shot can be refined (great corner 3%) could be a better version of Brooks. If Clarke comes back healthy then we will have a little bit of a log jam at 4/5 but after last season playoffs more depth than less is desirable.

Ja/Smart
Bane/Kennard
Dort/Roddy/LaRavia/Zaire
JJJ/Roddy/LaRavia (Clarke)
Wood/Aldama

Closing lineup of Ja/Bane/Smart/Roddy(Clarke)/JJJ.

Granted the Marcus Smart move, the offseason for the Grizzlies has been underwhelming. I get the DR move as far as vet/locker room purposes. As far as skills set is concern, I'm sure he's running on fumes at this point. If he can average 6-7PPG and 3dimes maybe..... that could be something.

To Oubre, I haven't been a fan of his game. His issues with offensive consistency and lack of defense was enough for me to not take him fully seriously as a more reliable player. Certainly not worth the MLE.

Wood is the most interesting FA left in the open market. He has come a long way from where he started a few seasons ago. The thing though is where he fits on a contender team if he's picked up by one. His offensive skills and rebounding aside, Wood will need to be on a team where four other players can mask his defensive weaknesses. I'm wondering on a contender team would be best qualify as a perennial 6th Man on the roster. That way he would be reliable as a solid bench player.

DFS or O'Neale could be the solution to the 3&D spot. I don't think it may take much to get them. However, it will depend on what the Nets will want back in return.

[esvl]

Our kids in the Summer League have been playing the most mature BB I have ever seen in previous years. By a margin.

[psman2]

So it sounds like the Brooks SNT deal is closed. It looks like we absorbed Christopher to get Houston to cooperate and also absorbed Dodd as well to get the swap deal with Phx which is a nice small piece of business. Both Christopher and Todd are very likely waived as of right now and we are netting a 7m or so TPE out of the whole Brooks SNT.

But going into the offseason with the hopes of making a full MLE signing and possible getting another rotation player via the Brooks SNT this offseason doesn't seem to match up with our front offices stated direction of not relying on youth as much this season. I am a little underwhelmed.

Now maybe no player worth the full MLE was willing to sign here? That might be true to an extent, but to not even use a slice of it seems like an odd decision. Now we have a full roster so we would waive(trade) someone to sign a player but I still find it hard to believe we couldn't improve a single roster spot. And maybe teams were not meeting our asking price in trade with the opportunity to get a player with the Brooks SNT which could have got us a player making in up to 15-18 million back. Now that the trade is done and the resulting TPE is only 7m that avenue to improve us is greatly diminished.

So our roster net gain on the floor as of right now is Smart and Rose in and Brooks and Tyus out. I am not sure that is really a net gain and I am inclined to think on the surface a net loss. So again we seem to be hoping that one or more of our several young players can fill the the shoes of rotation players instead of locking in a proven vet talent to help secure our depth issues. Now this could very well be our best option if some youth do breakout but I thought we were past the point of going into a season needing to gamble on internal improvement to have overall team improvement. Why make all the statements about using the MLE and needing more vets and then making a sideways move on that front.

Now don't get me wrong I am actually excited to see which young player can emerge from all off these opportunities but at the same time would have liked to hedge our bets with a proven 3/4 type that could have held down the fort until a young player has proven to be worth it especially with Clarke's unknown future. It looks like we are banking on hope springing internal again, which is not a terrible choice but a risky one for a team hoping to make a real playoff push.

[esvl]

Like there is any good player still on the market…

[esvl]

we are netting a 7m or so TPE out of the whole Brooks SNT.

.

Where did you get this 7m? I was hoping for 11-13

[psman2]

we are netting a 7m or so TPE out of the whole Brooks SNT.

.

Where did you get this 7m? I was hoping for 11-13

We brought in Christopher and Dodd during that trade and Brooks only counted 11.4m due to BYC. Thus 7m.

[esvl]

we are netting a 7m or so TPE out of the whole Brooks SNT.

.

Where did you get this 7m? I was hoping for 11-13

We brought in Christopher and Dodd during that trade and Brooks only counted 11.4m due to BYC. Thus 7m.

Got it. Thanks!

[esvl]

We might surprisingly see LaRavia in a starting line early the season if he keeps progressing in a similar fashion. He defends, blocks, creates, finishes, shoots 3s and stays active all minutes. His ballhandling is better. The last two games contrasted with the 1st one in a remarkable way. I have always believed in this kid.