Memphis Grizzlies Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Grizzlies Sign Tyreke Evans To One-Year Deal

July 10th, 2017 at 12:17pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 10: The Grizzlies have officially signed Evans, per the NBA’s transactions log. As confirmed by Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal (Twitter link), Memphis is using its bi-annual exception to complete the signing. That means the Grizzlies have a hard cap this year and won’t be able to use the BAE next year.

JULY 7: The Grizzlies have agreed to a one-year, $3.3MM deal with Tyreke Evans, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

[RELATED: 2017 NBA Free Agent Tracker]

The move represents a homecoming of sorts for Evans, who played his college ball at the University of Memphis before being selected fourth overall in the 2009 draft. After spending several years with the Kings, Evans joined the Pelicans in 2013 and eventually returned to Sacramento earlier this year as part of February’s DeMarcus Cousins trade.

Evans, 27, is coming off the least productive season of his NBA career. In addition to being limited to 40 games due to health problems, the veteran guard averaged career lows across the board, including in PPG (10.3), APG (3.1), and FG% (.405). One silver lining for Evans? He has made 36.9% of his three-point attempts over the last two seasons after making just 27.8% in his first six seasons.

Based on the reported terms of Evans’ deal, it sounds like the Grizzlies will complete the signing using the bi-annual exception, which is worth $3.29MM. The team also has more than $3MM of its mid-level exception left over after committing a chunk of it to Ben McLemore, so it’s possible that Evans’ contract will be worth the remainder of the MLE. Either way, Memphis would be hard-capped at $125.66MM for the 2017/18 league year. Unless JaMychal Green receives a mammoth offer sheet, that hard cap shouldn’t have an impact on the Grizzlies’ ability to retain the RFA power forward.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Wayne Selden Contract Details

July 8th, 2017 at 8:48am CST by Luke Adams

The first season of Wayne Selden‘s two-year minimum salary deal with the Grizzlies is fully guaranteed (Twitter link).

And-Ones: Clark, Shved, Bogdanovic

July 6th, 2017 at 11:04pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Add Warriors guard Ian Clark to the list of wing players who interest the Timberwolves, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. C.J. Miles remains their prime target, but Minnesota doesn’t have enough cap room left to make a competitive offer. The Wolves have discussed a sign-and-trade that would send center Cole Aldrich and Oklahoma City’s 2018 first-rounder to Indiana in exchange for Miles, according to an ESPN report.

Here’s more from around the league:

Alexey Shved may void the final year of his contract with Khimki Moscow in order to return to the NBA, a source tells international journalist David Pick (Twitter link). Shved last played in the NBA for the Knicks during the 2014/15 campaign.
The Kings are covering all of Bogdan Bogdanovic‘s $850K NBA buyout with Fenerbahce, a source tells Pick (Twitter link). Sacramento signed the swingman to a three-year deal worth $27MM, which is the richest contract for a rookie in league history.
Phil Ricci will join the Kings’ coaching staff as an assistant player development coach, James Ham of NBC Sports tweets. Ricci played professionally abroad for several seasons before coaching at the high school level.
Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace has penned a thank you letter to Zach Randolph for his contributions over the past eight years. The note, which is posted on the team’s website, credits Randolph for helping to establish Memphis’ “grit and grind” identity. Randolph agreed to a two-year, $24MM deal with the Kings on Tuesday. The Grizzlies also announced today that Randolph’s number will be retired.

Arthur Hill contributed to this post

RFA Rumors: Mirotic, Noel, Simmons, Green

July 6th, 2017 at 5:06pm CST by Luke Adams

A handful of restricted free agents have made out well so far this year on the open market. Tony Snell, Joe Ingles, Cristiano Felicio, and Andre Roberson got lucrative new multiyear deals from their respective clubs, and Otto Porter reportedly has a maximum salary offer sheet in place with the Nets, though the Wizards have yet to receive it.

Still, there are a number of RFAs still on the market as league-wide cap room begins to dwindle. Sean Deveney of The Sporting News takes a closer look at six big-name RFA still seeking a new contract, so let’s dive in and round up the highlights…

Prior to free agency, rival executives estimated that Nikola Mirotic would seek something in the range of $20MM annually. However, the Bulls‘ power forward may have to settle for something closer to $12MM per year, according to Deveney, who notes that team owner Jerry Reinsdorf has played “hardball” in these situations in the past.
Deveney predicts that the Mavericks and Nerlens Noel will eventually negotiate a deal in the four-year, $85MM range.
The Spurs are expected to match reasonable offers for Jonathon Simmons, which could mean something in the range of $30MM over three years, per Deveney. The Kings and Knicks have expressed interest in Simmons.
Grizzlies RFA JaMychal Green has drawn some interest from the Bulls and he may be a backup plan for the Spurs depending on what happens with Simmons, says Deveney, adding that Memphis still wants to retain Green.
Bojan Bogdanovic‘s price tag is “quickly dropping,” according to Deveney. The Wizards RFA was believed to be seeking something in the range of $50MM over three years, but that doesn’t seem realistic at this point. The Kings may be Bogdanovic’s best bet if they don’t land another small forward, writes Deveney.

Clippers, Grizzlies Discuss Tony Allen Sign-And-Trade

July 5th, 2017 at 3:24pm CST by Luke Adams

The Clippers have engaged the Grizzlies in discussions about a possible sign-and-trade deal involving Tony Allen, reports David Aldridge of TNT (Twitter link). As Aldridge observes, Los Angeles is in the market for help on the wing after losing J.J. Redick and Jamal Crawford this week.

The Clippers’ roster remains somewhat in flux, with several moving parts involved in this week’s transactions, but the most logical outgoing piece in a sign-and-trade for Allen would probably be Wesley Johnson, who is earning $5.88MM in 2017/18 and has a player option worth $6MM+ for the following season. If Johnson were included in a deal with the Grizzlies, the Clippers would likely need to attach some form of draft-pick compensation as incentive for Memphis.

The Clippers will already be hard-capped at $125.266MM as a result of their tentative sign-and-trade deal for Danilo Gallinari, and completing a sign-and-trade for Allen would allow L.A. to hang onto its mid-level exception. In a hypothetical deal, Allen’s contract would have to run at least three seasons, though not all those years would have to be guaranteed.

Allen, 35, is coming off his 13th NBA season, and has spent the last seven of those years in Memphis. His production has remained remarkably consistent during that seven-year stretch — he has never averaged fewer than 8.4 PPG or more than 9.8 PPG, and continues to provide the club with solid defense on the wing, earning a spot on the All-Defensive Second Team last month.

We heard back in April that Allen wasn’t looking to “break the bank” in free agency, which suggested it may be possible for the Grizzlies to get him back on a hometown discount. However, a June report indicated that Memphis may only be open to offering the minimum, and it’s not clear if the veteran swingman is willing to take that much of a pay cut.

Western Rumors: Gasol, Faried, T-Wolves, Young

July 5th, 2017 at 12:33pm CST by Luke Adams

While a handful of Western Conference teams have made major roster moves so far this offseason, the Grizzlies have been fairly quiet. The team reached an agreement to sign Ben McLemore, but also lost Zach Randolph and has yet to lock up its other free agents like JaMychal Green and Tony Allen.

With their window of contention potentially closing, would the Grizzlies consider moving Marc Gasol? Two league executives suggest to Chris Mannix of The Vertical that Gasol is a player worth keeping an eye on as a possible trade candidate. Mannix’s note is tucked away in a larger piece about the Celtics‘ next moves, and as he points out, Gasol would make a lot of sense as a target for Boston. However, there’s no indication that any talks have happened or that Memphis is even considering such a roster shake-up, so it sounds like speculation at this point.

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

Teams are calling the Nuggets to inquire about Kenneth Faried, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype. With Paul Millsap arriving in Denver, the Nuggets’ frontcourt is getting crowded, and the team probably wouldn’t mind getting out from under Faried’s contract, so a trade remains a possibility.
Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News, who reported on Tuesday that the Pacers might be interested in working out a sign-and-trade deal with the Timberwolves for C.J. Miles, suggests that Indiana is further along on a Miles sign-and-trade scenario with another team (Twitter link). Meanwhile, Minnesota is waiting on Nick Young, having made him a two-year offer that is likely worth the room exception, tweets Wolfson.
In other Timberwolves news, first-round pick Justin Patton won’t be participating in Summer League with the club, having suffered a foot fracture during a workout, the team announced on Tuesday. Patton underwent surgery to repair a broken fifth metatarsal in his left foot and will be sidelined indefinitely, per the team.

JaMychal Green Considering Offer Sheet, Sign-And-Trade Scenarios

July 4th, 2017 at 3:33pm CST by Arthur Hill

3:33pm: The Grizzlies made an offer to Green when free agency opened and are now awaiting an offer sheet, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. That doesn’t contradict Hodges’ account (noted below) — it sounds like the Grizzlies haven’t had discussions with Green’s camp since making their initial offer, and will consider their options when he brings them an offer sheet or sign-and-trade scenario from another team.

In the wake of Randolph’s departure, I’d be surprised if the Grizzlies don’t strongly consider matching an offer sheet for Green, as long as the price isn’t exorbitant.

2:59pm: JaMychal Green may be the next player to leave the Grizzlies, tweets Ronald Tillery of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Green appears headed out of Memphis either in a free agent deal or a sign-and-trade.

“I’m looking at two offer sheets and sign-and-trades,” said Green’s agent, Michael Hodges. “Seems to us Memphis is going in a different direction.”

Hodges adds that he hasn’t spoken to the Grizzlies about a new contract for his client since free agency began on Saturday (Twitter link). However, Green is a restricted free agent, so even if he does sign an offer sheet with another team, Memphis would still have the opportunity to match it.

The Timberwolves have talked to Green, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News, but they aren’t among the teams Hodges referenced.

A 6’9″ power forward, Green signed two 10-day contracts with Memphis in February of 2015 and has been with the team ever since. He appeared in 77 games this season, starting 75, and averaged 8.9 points and 7.1 rebounds.

The Grizzlies saw another free agent power forward, Zach Randolph, strike an agreement with the Kings earlier today.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Grizzlies Sign Ben McLemore To Two-Year Deal

July 2nd, 2017 at 9:24pm CST by Austin Kent

JULY 6: The Grizzlies have officially signed McLemore, according to the NBA’s transactions log.

JULY 2: The Grizzlies are finalizing a deal with Ben McLemore, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. The pact, Chris Haynes of ESPN adds, is said to be for two years at $10.7MM.

The 24-year-old shooting guard has strung together four underwhelming seasons with the Kings after getting picked seventh-overall in the 2013 NBA Draft. In 2016/17, however, he posted 8.1 points per game in just 19.3 minutes of action.

There isn’t much standing between McLemore and a larger role in Memphis, USA Today’s Jeff Zilgitt suggests, noting that he’ll likely see significant minutes with his new ball club. The swingman does, after all, boast the physical tools to be a decent perimeter defender and is a capable three-point shooter.

McLemore was eligible to be a restricted free agent this summer, but didn’t receive a qualifying offer from the Kings, allowing him to sign with any team as an unrestricted free agent.

Based on the terms of the agreement, it appears the Grizzlies will use the full taxpayer mid-level exception on McLemore — a deal with that MLE would top out at $10,643,600 over two years, and would allow the Grizzlies to avoid being hard-capped.

I doubt Memphis will go too far into the tax, if they even exceed that tax line at all. But if the team wants to try to bring back JaMychal Green, Zach Randolph, and Tony Allen, it will get expensive. The Grizzlies are projected to have more than $98MM in guaranteed salary on their 2017/18 cap after taking McLemore’s deal into account. That doesn’t include Green, Randolph, Allen, or the team’s other free agents.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Grizzlies Sign Kobi Simmons

July 1st, 2017 at 4:08pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 1: The Grizzlies’ signing of Simmons is now official, the team announced today in a press release. It’ll be either a minimum salary contract or a two-way contract, since those deals can be made official during the July moratorium.

JUNE 23: The Grizzlies have reached an agreement with former Arizona guard Kobi Simmons, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (via Twitter). Simmons will sign a free agent contract with Memphis sometime after the NBA’s new league year begins.

The 76th-ranked prospect on Jonathan Givony’s big board at DraftExpress, Simmons went undrafted on Thursday night after declaring for the draft as an early entrant this spring. In his lone season at Arizona, Simmons averaged a modest 8.8 PPG and 2.0 APG, with a .397/.327/.775 shooting line.

Despite his underwhelming numbers as a freshman, Simmons – who will turn 20 in July – is viewed as an explosive athlete with a lot of upside, even if teams aren’t sure whether he’ll end up as a point guard or shooting guard, writes ESPN’s Chad Ford. Ford placed Simmons at No. 51 on his top-100 list.

Despite not having any draft picks 24 hours ago, the Grizzlies have been active in adding players from this year’s rookie class. On Thursday night, the team acquired two second-round picks in trades, selecting Ivan Rabb and Dillon Brooks.

Grizzlies Sign Wayne Selden To Two-Year Deal

July 1st, 2017 at 3:35pm CST by Luke Adams

3:35pm: The Grizzlies have officially announced Selden’s new deal in a press release. Since it’s already official, we know it’ll be a minimum salary contract, since those deals can be finalized during the moratorium.

7:23am: The Grizzlies have agreed to re-sign Wayne Selden to a two-year deal, reports Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Terms of the agreement aren’t yet known, but given Selden’s limited role in Memphis, I’d anticipate a minimum salary pact that isn’t necessarily fully guaranteed.

Selden, 22, made his NBA debut in March for the Pelicans. However, New Orleans didn’t re-sign him after his 10-day contract with the club expired, opening the door for him to sign a deal with the Grizzlies. In 14 total games between Memphis and New Orleans, the former Kansas Jayhawk averaged 5.1 PPG, 1.1 RPG, and 0.9 APG in 16.9 minutes per contest.

Selden’s previous contract with the Grizzlies featured a team option for the 2017/18 season, but Memphis didn’t exercise that option, apparently having elected instead to bring back the 6’5″ shooting guard on a brand new deal.