Numbers tell a story.
Marc Gasol’s PER in Europe was 27.5. He averaged 16.2 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.3 spg, and 1.8 bpg in only 33 minutes while shooting a blistering 65 percent. Those per 40-minute numbers: 19 and 10 with over 2 blocks. The rebounding is still not where he should have it. He should be grabbing closer to 11 or 12 just based on his height alone. But, apparently he’s heard the criticism about his brother, and spent a great deal of time in the weight room. This kid’s a beast. 7-1 and probably closer to 275 than his listed 265 weight. He’s 23-years-old, so he’s got a couple of years on some of the other rookies, but those years have been spent perfecting technique and game smarts against polished professionals (not college teenagers). He shoots a scalding 37.5 percent from beyond the arc.
Of course, in the NBA, that mark is about three feet further away, but his range could extend to the sideline three-point shot given some practice. He’s got Sabonis form. Think about that for a minute. I thought Sabonis could have been one of the greatest centers in the NBA. I’m not trying to pump up Pau’s little bro Marc too much, but think blue sky upside.
In fact, this kid’s a good passer too. Not nearly as polished or refined as his elder brother’s (or Sabonis obviously), but still good enough to average around 3 or more assists per game. He plays within the offense.
If anything else, going up against Darko Milicic in practice will help both of these 23-year-olds get better. Both are legitly over 7 feet. Both are huge. Maybe Gasol can instill some fire into Milicic. Friendly competition (and if Kwame re-signs, that's 3 giant 7 footers all under 25 with potential--even if it is somewhat unfulfilled. Come on, Kwame as your third stringer...that's good).
Trading Kevin Love, despite how wonderful his outlet passes could have been to all the quick little guards, for O.J. Mayo seems like a good idea because the Grizz were able to snag Darrell Arthur using the 28th pick they received from the Lakers. This is one of the best value pickups in the whole draft. Bill Walker and DeAndre Jordan are the other two.
Despite Mayo’s apparent redundancy on the roster, I can’t help but like this trade.
ESPN’s John Hollinger believes that backup point guard is the easiest position to fill in the NBA. In a sense he’s right because there are so many of them. In another sense, he’s dead wrong because all of the available backups are either straight out bad or are posing as starters.
Look at all the teams that were in or currently are in need of point guard help.
The draft was telling. The Bulls drafted Rose despite already having a point guard making nearly $12 million a season. The Sonics took Westbrook with the 4th overall pick because they had two backups vying for a starters role. The Bobcats drafted Augustin. The Blazers took Bayless.
Phoenix, Houston and New Orleans are looking for backups. Big money was spent on questionables—Udrih in Sacto and Duhon in New York.
The Pacers got Ford through trade. Cleveland, Denver, Orlando and Minnesota all have hybrid points.
And Golden State and Miami have huge, glaring holes at the 1.
So, these guys don’t grow on trees. But Conley, Lowry, Crittendon and O.J. Mayo make up the most talented group of point/hybrid guards on the same team in the entire league. All of them have big upside.
Stock up on the scarcest asset and let those in need drive up your prices. That’s what Chris Wallace seems to be doing. Shrewd move if done correctly. The Grizzlies are in no rush to spend money right now and in no rush to trade. Once free agency dries up—and it will quickly—people will come knocking. Those available unrestricted free agents…Keyon Dooling, Carlos Arroyo, and possibly Shaun Livingston. You can throw Brent Barry in there, but he’s more of a specialist, spot up shooter nowadays.
Others are either aging rapidly—Jason Williams, Damon Stoudamire, and Anthony Johnson—super old, Sam Cassell—or they’ve got some sort of fatal flaw—Sebastian Telfair, Jannero Pargo and Tyronne Lue.
After free agency goes away, many of those aforementioned squads are going to want to dance with the Grizzlies.
But, wait, certainly Mayo is a good prospect, but taking on the contracts of Antoine Walker and Marko Jaric? That’s horrible.
Well, this “baggage” that the Grizz received is really, not that bad. First and foremost, they got the horrible Antoine Walker contract. Okay, there’s no way that Walker should be making $9 million for the next three. But, he wanted to get the hell out of Minnesota, and I’m sure those feelings multiplied when he found out he was coming to the Grizzlies.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he opts out. If not, he’ll either quickly become a forgotten man—a $25 million tax to move up two spots in the 2008 draft, or he’ll be a savy vet who helps lead a group of young kids into maturity. Antoine and maturity have not always gone hand in hand, but he’s got championship cred whether you want to admit it or not, and last year he was able to bring a spark to that Minnesota team. Plus, he’s pretty versatile (can play the 3 and 4 and sometimes the 5) and when he wants to, can really pass.
The other “trash,” Adriana Lima’s boy, who’s being paid like a 2008 midlevel guy, is a versatile, younger vet (29), who brings a pretty smart game, and a certain toughness with him. Jaric can legitimately play three positions from the 1 to the 3, is a solid defender, shooter, and ball mover. Jaric’s young enough that he can still contribute as well as help in the maturation process of the youngsters. Again, look to his fine work with the maturation process of the T-Wolves last year.
Both he and Walker can help facilitate an offense being run by teenagers.
With Rudy Gay potentially taking another step forward (he’s 21), Conley reportedly putting on 10 pounds of muscle without losing any of his quickness or speed, two legitimately large and skilled centers, along with Mayo and Arthur’s upside, as well as the most cap room out of any other team, the Grizzlies are prepared to do big things in the coming years.
They’ve been screwed over many times by the current draft process. So they are saving money and building a young, talented team. Putting the pieces together, stockpiling talent and creating cap room. Not a bad plan. Not a bad plan at all.
I'm going to really try hard not to jump to conclusions (lol, Office Space). Tomorrow I'll talk about Elton Brand's decision as well as somewhat cheerful Clippers insight.
Keywords: Chris Wallace, Darrell Arthur, Javaris Crittenton, Kwame Brown, Marc Gasol, Mike Conley, O.J. Mayo, Rudy Gay
