Tillery: Grizzlies Set To Sign Quinton Ross, Haddadi Arrival Held Up

Ron Tillery is reporting that the Grizzlies are close to finalizing a deal with free agent swingman Quinton Ross. The 27-year old former Clipper is expected to sign on the dotted line for a non-guaranteed contract tomorrow.

At 6'6" and 193 lbs., Ross is well suited to be the backup SF that the team obviously needs, given the unknown conditioning status of Antoine Walker or how well Greg Buckner will fit in with this Grizzlies team. He's a solid perimeter at both swingman positions, which is good in a division that includes Tracy McGrady, Peja Stojakovic, Manu Ginobili and Josh Howard. Also, it bears noting that at age 27, he could be a long-term fit for the Three Year Plan. Tillery notes many of the same things in a blog post on the Memphis Edge.

He also has information that Hamed Haddadi hasn't been officially cleared to travel to the United States yet. Apparently there are still some immigration issues to work out. Well, that's what they say, but we all know that he's really having difficulties in arranging transport for his pet camel, Bubbles.

NBA Teams Cleared to Talk to Hamed Ehadadi and Give Him Ridiculous Sums of Money

Via Interbasket:

Just days after news broke that the NBA had disallowed any teams to talk or deal with Iranian superstar Hamed Ehadadi, as well as other Iranian basketball players, due to a lack of the correct license and permission from the US Government, reports are that the NBA has been approved for the license and the restriction has been lifted.

So now the Memphis Grizzlies, as well as the other teams who has shown interest in the 7'2" center since his coming-out party in the Olympics, are allowed to enter into contract negotiations. And no, I won't make a joke about camels being involved in the terms. That would be silly.