The Trouble with Being Earnest

There is nothing inherently better or more certain to spending our cap space at the trade deadline this season, in the summer of '09, or in the summer of '10 compared to spending some of it this summer...
A quote from the Memphis Grizzlies Message Board

This attitude is seemingly spreading around the Grizzlies fan community lately and also among people wanting the team to make more dramatic moves than they have seen so far this summer. Not that trading Mike Miller and Kevin Love for O J Mayo wasn't a dramatic move.

While I empathize with this emotion I also have heard enough times from Chris Wallace and Michael Heisley this summer to realize this isn't going to happen. The leadership for the Grizzlies has been focused almost since the draft that they were not going to be spending the cap space this summer. They were going to focus on developing the youth on the team and when the players proved they could become a .500 team (and what was missing became more obvious) Heisley and the Grizzlies would provide them with what they needed to go the rest of the way.

People may disagree with the strategy but they can't act surprised the team is pursuing this strategy. Lest we forget, the Grizzlies have lost a lot of money over the last few seasons and there is nothing inherently better or more certain spending the money now instead of waiting to see what is available in 2009 or 2010 except spending it now without ticket sales supporting the move will just make the franchise less profitable.

This coming season the team is going to put the rookies into the fire and see what they are made of. The leaders of the franchise realize that this won't increase attendance this season. People will support winners and that is what the team is building toward over the next three seasons. Next summer the team will add another lottery pick and will be forced to spend at least some of the cap space because they will likely be below the minimum salary mark for teams in the league.

There is discipline in sticking to the plan for the future and not make moves that would hamper the teams flexibility. There is logic in developing the young players and then look to attract players who want to be a part of the growth of the team rather than throwing money at players merely interested in getting the biggest payday they can this summer. There is common business thought that you don't want to create expenses that inflows won't pay for.

There will come a time when the wallet will need to be opened and Heisley has stated frequently that when that time comes he will step up to the plate. Heisley knows that failure to invest in a business is a sure fire way for that business to fail and Heisley isn't known as a man who lets business' fail. Heisley is known as a man who turns around bad businesses and makes them profitable and successful.

So just because the business of the Grizzlies actually has some money they can spend doesn't mean the team should empty out the savings account to buy the newest hot thing on the market. Without fully understanding what the future needs of the business will be, it makes little sense to buy something you may not need or desire in the very near future.

I believe that is what Heisley, Wallace, Iavaroni and just about everyone connected with the Grizzlies have been telling people all summer. They have a lot of pieces here but they don't know yet how they will work together and until The Grizzlies brain trust knows what else is needed, it doesn't make any sense to spend the money. They are being earnest in what they are saying. They want to wait and make sure of what they need before the incur the expense of bringing someone in. People may not appreciate or understand this thinking but they are telling the truth about the strategy they are employing.

And that is the trouble with being earnest.