Remember that trade exception that the Griz picked up from Cleveland? That will give them the ability to keep Tony Allen (which would have been impossible otherwise) and add additional pieces. You can dismiss this kind of statistical mumbo-jumbo if you like, but it is, at the very least, revealing.īeyond that, the Grizzlies shed $37.2 million in salary over the next three years. So can Davis and Prince make up for the loss of Gay? Let’s go right to the “ESPN Trade Machine.” It’s a gizmo at which enables you to come up with your own trades, plug in players, see if the salaries match and even get adjusted win totals according to a program devised by former ESPN and current Grizzlies employee John Hollinger.Īccording to Hollinger, the trade boosts the Grizzlies win total by three. But it was true even when he was winning a championship with the Pistons.
That’s a good thing, because Prince is now 32. Prince is the sort of small forward Gay never could permit himself to be. He rebounds (6.7 a game) and scores at the rim (.549 shooting percentage). He’s a young power forward with potential. Instead, the Grizzlies will have Davis and Prince, two useful pieces.ĭavis could be really good. The idea of Gay carrying the Grizzlies on one last glorious playoff run is built around an imaginary upside version of the guy that has never actually existed. He’s shooting 40 percent from the field and 31 percent from the 3-point line. And he was the same frustrating player at Connecticut for two years before that. They see Gay’s length, explosiveness and ability to get off a shot, and they imagine what he could be like if he ever puts it all together.Įxcept, of course, Gay has now been the same frustrating player for 6 1/2 years in the NBA. So the only thing that might possibly have been blown up Wednesday was this coming postseason.īut was it blown up? Are the Grizzlies that much worse today than they were yesterday? That depends on your opinion of Gay, largely. A trade had to happen, either before the trade deadline or during the offseason. Nobody in the basketball universe disagrees with that. The Grizzlies simply couldn’t keep Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol and Gay after this season.
To the extent the Grizzlies blew up anything, the explosives were set to self-detonate by the previous ownership. “We can’t control, but if we have a chance to be special,” he said.Team rather than taking a shot at the title. If the team stays intact, Gay believes the Grizzlies will be title contenders. Memphis has won four of its past five games and went undefeated on a three-game road trip that concluded Wednesday. The Grizzlies (23-10) have the Western Conference’s fourth-best record and are 2½ games behind the San Antonio Spurs in the Southwest Division. He’s going to be able to focus on the task at hand and be that player we’ve seen for seven years now.” “Basketball is always a safe haven for all of us. “There are different emotions that play into it, but I don’t think it plagues him too much,” Jack said. Jack, a valuable reserve guard for Golden State whose been traded four times in an eight-year career, has been key in helping Gay cope with the distractions. The more people talk about it, the more I think about it, because I don’t talk about it at all.” “Your family is calling saying, ‘What is going on? What is going on?’ I just tell them, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ “People don’t understand that we do have families, we do have personal situations we have to deal with while trying to be productive on the court,” Gay said. Gay said the biggest strain has been how the rumors have affected his family. “I can give just as much as I did here, if not more.” “I’m more than just a basketball player and wherever I am, or will be, or wherever I go, they are going to realize I’m more than just a basketball player,” Gay said. Gay, 26, said he would like to stay in Memphis, but added that he would be happy wherever he plays. Grizzlies management has been calling teams to gauge interest in Gay, but no trade is imminent, a source told Yahoo! Sports. The Grizzlies have a new owner in Robert Pera and a front office led by new CEO Jason Levien, who both sat courtside during a 94-87 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday. Grizzlies big men Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol have also been mentioned in trade rumors, but Gay’s name has garnered the most attention. 21 deadline, the small-market Grizzlies would rid themselves of the $17.8 million and $19.3 million owed to the seventh-year forward for the 2013-15 seasons, which could ease luxury tax concerns, depending on what Memphis receives in return. Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski has previously reported that the Grizzlies have been shopping Gay to multiple teams, most notably the Phoenix Suns. Gay, who is averaging 17.8 points and 5.8 rebounds, is being paid $16.4 million this season.