The Grizzlies have inked executive vice president of basketball operations and general manager Zach Kleiman to a long-term extension, according to an official team press release. The exact terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Kleiman has been Memphis’s lead front office decision maker since April 2019, when the club overhauled its basketball operations department and reassigned former GM Chris Wallace to the scouting department. As Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets, Kleiman played a big part in rebuilding the team from the “Grit and Grind” era to its current roster.
Kleiman traded longtime Grizzlies veterans Marc Gasol and Mike Conley, drafted rising star Ja Morant, and hired current head coach Taylor Jenkins. He’s also responsible for locking up players like Dillon Brooks, De’Anthony Melton, and Jonas Valanciunas to reasonably team-friendly multiyear contracts.
“Zach has proven to be a strong cultural leader in this organization, consistently demonstrating high-integrity, hard-work, humility and a drive for continuous improvement,” Grizzlies owner Robert Pera said in a statement. “We have confidence in our strategy and believe it will result in an elite organization over the long-term.”
Alex Kirschenbaum contributed to this story.
Solid move, my Grizzlies are an up and coming team. I love how Ja showed up for the post season and silenced much of the haters, not all of them obviously. If Ja develops a shot he will be a Superstar, he already has the “it” factor and you can’t learn that.
What position does he play?
Memphis has the “too many guys” problem. Good thing to have almost 15 competent guys on the rosters, but they need one more Dude to get them over the hump – like CP3 did for PHX. What could they get for Jonas+Bane+picks? Clark and JJJ should be their frontline of the future – switchable, shot blocking bigs who can shoot.