Monday, December 17, 2007

Please Play Conley

Now that it's clear that the Grizzlies are lottery bound this season, I have one request for Coach Iavaroni.

When Mike Conley returns from injury, put him in the game.

Last season was hell, and the one consolation we took from that hellish nightmare was that we drafted a promising young point guard - a point guard with the potential to be great.

Damon Stoudamire has certainly provided some quality minutes at times, but he has been streaky at best, and he's not going to be around when the Grizzlies make the playoffs.

Kyle Lowry is showing potential, but he's not Deron Williams yet, so there is still room for Conley to get 20 minutes minimum per night.

It's time to cut our losses and invest in the future.

6 comments:

Lurch said...

That being said (and I agree with you on your point) what do we do with Damon? I see no need to keep him around as a mentor for Conley and surely a team in the playoff hunt would love a solid vet like him. Do you trade him for an expiring contract and a draft pick? Also with Rudy Gay's explosion this season and Pau's struggles (low production and injuries) do we look to rebuild around Gay and conley and get the most we can out of Pau now? I know earlier in the year I said we keep Pau, but that was before I had the chance to watch 20 games.

David Jones said...

Bill Simmons says:

Gasol and Juan Carlos Navarro for Bargnani, Rasho Nesterovic's expiring deal, an unprotected 2008 No. 1 and $3 million.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/071218

I think if we trade Gasol, it needs to be for someone with a better shot at being a star. Gay aside, Gasol is the only All Star we have. We don't need more talented players for our supporting cast.

Curt said...

no more Kinsey. http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/49806/20071218/grizzlies_waive_tarence_kinsey/

I am depressed.

Curt said...

Also, who is Jeremy Richardson? He only weighs 195. I thought we needed a big tough guy to play the 3. Sounds a bit small.

And why are they getting rid of Andy Dolich and not even hiring anyone to take over for him. Heisley is cutting costs bigtime again.

bkatz said...

agreed David, play Conley as much as possible. I see him being in the Deron Williams/Chris Paul of elite PGs if he gets his chance to shine.

Also, I am for trading Gasol only if we package him with La Bamba. Simmons likes that deal mentioned more because it unites 4 of the FIBA spanish team players on one NBA team. That's not fair to the Grizz and he knows it.

I say you offer up Navarro and Gasol and see who bites. If we can get a young player and an additional guaranteed 1st round pick in the 2008 draft, it'd be worth it. We're rebuilding and it's a great time to rebuild considering the plethora of youthful talent in the NBA right now. Besides (as you mentioned in a previous blog), I think if you trade Gasol without trading Navarro with him, La Bamba's numbers and effort go way down due to depression and unhappiness.

David Jones said...

I'd be willing to hear offers for Gasol / Navarro, but I don't know how we're going to replace Gasol with someone who commands double teams in the post.

Or at least someone who can place interior defense.

We need Marcus Camby 3 years ago.