Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Some Rumors to Pass the Time

Ron Tillary posted some Grizz rumors at the Memphis Edge today. I thought I might dust off the keyboard and comment on them. What are fan blogs for if not commenting on trade rumors?


The rumor with the potential to have the biggest impact on the Grizzlies involved Zach Randolph. Tillery reports that the Grizzlies are considering a package that includes Darko Milicic. 

Giving up Milicic isn't a problem. By John Hollinger's* Player Efficiency Rating, Darko is the 48th 'best' center in the league. That's 2 positions above Kwame Brown, and 21 positions below Stromile Swift for those of you keeping score. While PER isn't the final authority on a player's value, directionally, it's a decent indicator of whether a player is good or bad. Anyway, I don't think there's much of an argument that Milicic is good. He'd be a perfect fit in NYC.

The real costs here are:
  1. Zach Randolph is egregiously overpaid with a max contract.
  2. His biggest weakness is also the Grizzlies' biggest weakness: defense.
  3. He loses basketball games with unmatched efficiency.
If the Grizzlies are going to continue to lose (and they are), they may as well do it without paying for Zach Randolph.

The second rumor involved Travis Outlaw. According to Tillery, Mike Conley is a dealbraker in that scenario. 

I like Outlaw, but I can't blame the Grizzlies for not wanting to give up Conley for him. Outlaw is an upgrade at power forward, but I'm not sure he's got as much upside as Conley five years into his career.

*John Hollinger is the best (perhaps only good) NBA writer at ESPN. 

6 comments:

Trinh said...

maybe it is time to trade for a new GM.

Placentasaurus said...

I think they need to change the name, you always have to go w/ a regionally significant animal, or you will lose all the time. Look at the Detroit Lions. David, what are some popular and fierce regional animals in the memphis area?

David Jones said...

Raccoons and catfish come to mind.

Anonymous said...

I think Catfish is an excellent choice in name. A catfish just sucks all day long, on algae, much like the memphis basketball team sucks all day long at basketball...

Curt said...

David, i thought this blog post might interest you.

http://3shadesofblue.blogspot.com/2008/08/anniversies-milestones-and-marriage-of.html

Toward the end of the post, they claim that the top two blogs about the Grizzlies have gotten married, yet they don't mention davidlovesthegrizzlies. However, on Top 100 Grizzlies blogs of all time, your blog still ranks #1. How can I tell which is really the top Grizzlies blog?

David Jones said...

I saw that Curt. However, DLTG was named one of the top 50, not one of the top two, so there's no problem here.