Thursday, June 12, 2008
Workout Update: Butch, Mays and White
Well I finally saw a 28.
Not necessarily the 28 but definitely a potential 28th pick for the Grizzlies.
D.J. White (Indiana) showed himself to be a man among boys today when he worked out against Brian Butch (Wisconsin) and James Mays (Clemson).
At first I wasn't too impressed. He didn't seem to be that agile. He was obviously winded early on in the workout and his shot wasn't exactly beautiful or consistent. I was seeing the flaws in his game in an environment where the Grizzlies started off testing his weaknesses. Early on I was becoming impressed with James Mays who had the better outside shot, far more speed than White and seemed to be just as tall. It was close early on but I was more impressed with Mays at the beginning.
However, the workout eventually moved toward White's strengths and away from Mays. When defense, power play and toughness were tested White left everyone else behind. I don't remember how many times Mays had to pick himself up off the court in the last 30 minutes but it was at least 3 times and probably more. White treated him like a rag doll when he got in his way. White found the range on his shots as the workout went on and Mays' shot seemed to become more erratic the more fatigued he became.
If there was one drill that really set White's power apart from any other player I have seen slotted for the 28th pick it was near the end. In this drill the player had to hit the ball of the backboard twice before starting a full court break. Every player that did this drill tapped the ball off the glass and then took off running. White nearly put the ball through the backboard. BOOM, BOOM came the echo after each touch and still White was in control enough to make a clean pass and haul down the court to finish the break. It got everyone's attention even more so since it occurred so late in a very physical workout.
D.J. White has holes in his game. He showed almost no ability to separate from a defender with the ball, his outside shot has a range to at best 17 ft and he isn't an explosive leaper. However he is strong. Not just because he threw Mays to the court. Honestly a lot of people could have done that. No White's strength revealed itself more at the end of endurance drills. White had the strongest dunks to end the one minute drills that I have seen so far.
I don't know if he is going to be the player Memphis takes at 28 but he is definitely the most qualified candidate we have seen in Memphis so far for that spot.
James Mays didn't have a bad workout. He just didn't have a good one either and where he is weak, Memphis is weak so I don't seem him being a good fit. Mays is thin, athletic and very fast, but was too weak to hold his position in the lane when people got a body on him. His outside shot was nice but nothing to be awed about. He will probably go in the mid to late 2nd round and spend a year in the NBDL before heading to Europe for a nice career. I don't see him contributing in the NBA unless he gets a lot stronger or increases his ball skills on the perimeter. And as so many far more intelligent people than myself have said, if he doesn't have it now, it is most likely that isn't going to be something he develops later.
Brian Butch was deadly from outside. He has pretty close to NBA three point range, was automatic from 15-20 feet and showed a willingness to work very hard and a nice basketball IQ. However, he is slow and non-athletic. I don't like my 6-11 center's best move being a step back three point shot. Call me old fashioned I guess, but I want my center to be a bruiser. He had a couple of inches at least on both White and Mays yet it was White not Butch who made the impressive blocks during the workout. Butch can probably play European ball and find a nice career in some of the less physical leagues but I saw nothing that made me think he will be anything except a late 2nd rd pick who won't make it out of training camp. I could be wrong but I don't think so. I actually thought a few times during the workout that he may have a better career coaching than playing.
White clearly showed something missing from previous workouts with 28th picks including Joey's workout. White has a real nasty streak to him. He is skilled (what else would you expect coming out of 4 years at Indiana) but he also likes contact. I don't know if White will end up being the Grizzlies pick with the second draft spot. Honestly I don't know if he will be available with that pick but if he is then there ought to be a lot of serious consideration about making him a Grizzlies draft pick.
In other news Chris Wallace confirmed the Grizzlies are planning on working out Danillo Gallinari and Brook Lopez this weekend when on the West Coast. He also mentioned that the team is trying to get Eric Gordon in for a workout but have so far been unsuccessful getting a date set. 
Links: Catching Up on the News
Ira Winderman (South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com) with his own trade proposal that has Miami and Memphis swapping draft picks.
Speaking of eye-catching rumors, Matt Steinmetz (Examiner.com) has a doozy: Grizzlies targeting Monta Ellis this offseason.
Boston Globe: Chris Wallace responds to criticism over Gasol trade.
Dustin Starr has some news on Grizz (Eric McMahon) over on m3mphis.com. It's good to know that Eric is continuing his recovery right on schedule.
At least someone who is currently a member of the Memphis Grizzlies will be associated with the Finals. Timekeeper Bob Young worked Game 3 in Los Angeles last night and will also man the clock for Game 4 on Thursday.
David Booth, a scout for the Grizzlies, is hosting a basketball camp in his hometown of Peoria, Illinois.
Speaking of basketball camp, Mike Conley hosted a few of his own.
Where Sport and Thought Interact takes a look at what he thinks the Grizzlies should do this offseason.
Preetom Bhattacharya (Hoopsworld.com) says that the plan should be to rebuild around Rudy Gay.
For the 2nd year, the Memphis Grizzlies will share the Dakota Wizards as their NBA Developmental League team with the Washington Wizards.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Trade Club
Since there is a ton of trade talk floating around the NBA in regard to teams looking to move up or down in the draft, we here at 3 Shades of Blue thought that we would outline some of the rules that you are bound by when you join Trade Club. Enjoy.
The first rule of Trade Club is: You do not talk directly to the media about Trade Club.
The second rule of Trade Club is: You DO NOT talk directly to the media about Trade Club!
The third rule of Trade Club is: You do not Trade big for small, unless there is a noticeable difference in talent levels.
The fourth rule of Trade Club is: You will not sacrifice the future for the present unless a championship is within your grasp.
The fifth rule of Trade Club is: Trade talks will go on as long as necessary.
The sixth rule of Trade Club is: Bring in as many parties as necessary to make a Trade work.
The seventh rule of Trade Club is: You will not Trade future 1st round picks for players who have obvious question marks.
The eighth rule of Trade Club is: Only one Trade with any of the following members allowed per year -- Kevin McHale, Isiah Thomas, Billy King, Elgin Baylor, Chris Wallace, Steve Kerr.
The ninth rule of Trade Club is: If you are caught using RealGM's Trade Checker or ESPN's Trade Machine, you will be banned from Trade Club.
The tenth and final rule of Trade Club is: If this is your first season in Trade Club, we highly recommend that you make a Trade as soon as possible.
Workout Update: Hendrix, Padgett and Hubalek
Wednesday brought in three big men who they may be interested with the 28th pick in the draft. Noticeably missing from the workout was Robert Dozier. Apparently Dozier pulled out of the workout due to scheduling conflicts (he was in Washington yesterday and Charlotte tomorrow).
Richard Hendrix from Alabama was the main prospect the Grizzlies appeared interested in. If he wanted to make a good impression he failed miserably. He looked to be in good shape but he was obviously winded within the first 30 minutes of the practice and was exhausted at the 45 minute mark. That isn't good for a one hour workout. It was too bad because he showed a lot of potential to play the 3 spot. His range was nearly out to the 3 pt line and he showed good interior play despite giving up at least two inches in height to the other players. Tony Barone said they wanted to push the big men to see what they had in the tank and by all appearances Hendrix was not prepared for such a difficult session.
Hendrix had motivation issues right from the start. He rarely followed his misses to the hoop and seemed to quit once the shot was missed. That isn't going to impress too many people when the Barone constantly told the players to finish every play. The one bright spot was Hendrix' range was surprising to me who only knew him as Alabama's center. It was difficult to imagine Hendrix being that effective as a rebounder in the NBA but he did average over 10 boards a game as Junior at Alabama. He also didn't look to be 6-9. He looked to be shorter than Kevin Love with less range, in poorer shape and not nearly as skilled. Of course Love is being considered for a top 5 pick not a bottom 5 pick.
David Padgett was the largest player at the workout and he showed great heart and desire. What he didn't show was great mobility or talent. Padgett could hit from 17 feet in and his motor never stopped running. He looked willing to run longer although he too was showing signs of fatigue at the end. He always appeared ready to do whatever the coaches asked. If any player really distinguished himself and raised his stock today it was Padgett.
Jiri Hubalek (pronounced WHO-bah-lek) was a new name for me and one I hope I don't have to put to memory. He has a smooth outside shot but seemed to frail to bang inside and too slow to get off a shot in the NBA unless left all alone. He did prove that if you give him an opening he will shoot lights out however. In one drill from the elbow Jiri went 12-14 shooting in 60 seconds while sprinting from sideline to sideline between shots. He reminded me of the Houston Rockets big man Steve Novak. He has legitimate NBA 3 pt range but is that an important trait in the NBA for a 6-11 center?
All in all it was not a very informative workout. About 10 invited guests were present and I can only assume they were more season ticket holders. I would have liked to talk to them but the real world called and I had to leave immediately after the workout ended. I did get to ask if Eric Gordon, Brook Lopez or any other new workouts were scheduled. Apparently both players have increased their interest in working out for the Grizzlies but nothing has been set in stone yet.
Also absent were Geoff Calkins and Chris Vernon. Ron Tillery and Chris Herrington was present and I expect a more thorough review from Chris' blog this afternoon. You may also want to check out the Edge to see if Ron makes any comments. For those interested David Sparks (The Arbitrarian) has an interesting blog up about the history of the Grizzlies.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
To Beasley or Not To Beasley -- That is the Question
While reading Geoff Calkins' column in the Commercial Appeal this morning, something kept rattling around in my head. No, it wasn't the loose screw that many people have warned me about. It was an idea -- nay, a vision. A vision of what the future could be. It is a future that includes lots of winning seasons, followed by playoff success and even some title aspirations down the road.
Calkins' piece focuses on the acquisition of Kansas State's Michael Beasley, who was an absolute monster in college and projects to be a tremendous player at the next level as a tweener forward with good rebounding ability and above average range on the offensive end. Calkins thinks that there is one thing the Grizzlies need and one thing only.
But here's the thing: The Grizzlies need more than a perfectly good, defensible pick at No. 5. They need a star, a perennial All-Star and, gee, Chris Wallace, are any of those available in this draft?
So, the Grizzlies need not just a star, but a perennial All-Star to boot, out of this draft, do they? A guy that is a winner, a leader, a marketable star that will bring fans to the FedEx Forum and bring attention from around the league, and get loads of pundits on ESPN to talk about him and show Sportscenter highlights of him. That is what is needed, right? They need the next LeBron James, Dwyane Wade or Kobe Bryant.
Calkins does a very good job of illustrating all the reasons why the Memphis Grizzlies should not "settle" for the "0% chance he's a bust" Kevin Love at the #5 spot in the draft and should instead focus on doing whatever is necessary to trade up to the Miami Heat's #2 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft in order to grab Michael Beasley. In fact, there is but one hitch in his proposal. That hitch is that the Heat are reportedly after O.J. Mayo and would like to trade down to acquire him, rather than watch Pat Riley's head explode dealing with Beasley's questionable maturity. So, if O.J. Mayo is still there at #5, then the Grizzlies could trade him, along with Mike Miller and Kyle Lowry to Miami for the #2 pick (Beasley) and the services of Mark Blount and Marcus Banks to make the salaries match up.
Is that a smart deal though? I mean, both Miller and Lowry are fan favorites, as well as solid contributors at the NBA level. O.J. Mayo has been projected to be an amazing player in his own right at the next level. So that's Mayo/Miller/Lowry for Beasley/Blount/Banks for those of you keeping score at home. That's 3 solid contributors for 1 potential All-Star, 1 bad contract and 1 point guard who logs a lot of playing time for losers, but not for winning clubs. Why not just keep Mayo, if that is the case? Hasn't he been "The Next Big Thing" since he was in the 7th grade? Was the move from PG to SG that detrimental to his overall ability?
Some of you may remember that I was pretty hard on Mayo in a previous post. After talking to a few people who know far more about scouting talent than myself, I have softened my stance on him somewhat. They feel that Mayo, not Beasley, is more likely to be a perennial All-Star in the NBA. There are numerous things that Beasley was able to do in college that he won't be able to duplicate at the next level unless he is the second coming of Charles Barkley. Supposedly, that won't be the case for Mayo, who (like Kevin Love) already had a game predicated on playing at the highest level in the world. If the Grizzlies are so fortunate as to have him fall in their laps at #5, then why wouldn't they just take him and use Miller/Lowry in a trade for yet another quality player? Wouldn't that make more sense? Just checking.
For me, this basically boils down to whether or not Michael Beasley > O.J. Mayo. If Beasley truly is the next Kobe Bryant level talent, then I am 100% behind moving up to take him. Why is Miami so eager to get rid of him then? Shouldn't the real question be, why doesn't Miami just take Mayo at #2? Because they want to gain more assets by getting someone to trade up for somebody that they aren't going to draft anyways. You don't think that Pat Riley got all those shiny baubles on his fingers by showing his entire hand this early in the game, do you? If they want O.J., then they can bloody well draft him at #2. If they want Beasley, then there he is. I can't understand why the Grizzlies should bolster the overall talent level of the Heat (again) so that they can draft the next Antawn Jamison (my prediction for Beasley's career).
If O.J. Mayo is there at #5, then I'd like to think that Chris Wallace will take him, given that he has the chance to be that All-Star player that Memphis is so desperately wanting, needing, begging for. If Mayo is gone (as I expect him to be), then why not take Kevin Love (who I know worked out for the Heat, but don't believe that they intend to trade down to get), who has been described as everything from "a bigger and better Shane Battier" to a unique hybrid of Elton Brand and Bill Laimbeer? Geoff Calkins' co-host on their 730 ESPN morning radio show, Gary Parrish, has repeatedly said that Love might not ever been an All-Star, but he will be a solid starter for his entire career and that there is virtually no chance that he'll be anything remotely resembling a "bust".
If those are the choices that are laid before me, then I say "No" to Beasley at that price and "Yes" to either Mayo or Love. Then the question becomes, what if the draft goes Rose, Mayo, Beasley, Love....then what? That's a post for another day, but I'll leave a poll up to gauge your thoughts.
Update: Chris Herrington has his own thoughts about trading for Beasley on Beyond the Arc.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Monday's Workout - A Love Affair
Today's workout had a lot of big men with big names but it was obvious very early that there was only one player worthy of the Grizzlies first draft pick this year.
Kevin Love matched up with DeAndre Jordan, Javale McGee and Joey Dorsey with Jeremy Pargo and Kyle Weaver around to make the drills play like game situations. All of the big men had moments of excellence. DeAndre Jordan looked like a promising player with trememdous talent. His skills weren't off the chart but his raw ability would immediately put him ahead of any true center the Grizzlies have ever suited up. Of course when that list includes such non-luminaries as Darko Milicic, Lorenzen Wright and Jake Tsakalidis that isn't saying a lot. DeAndre Jordan fans are probably going to be disappointed on draft night. He has a big hitch in his shot, was easily pushed around in the paint by Love and really didn't appear to have a good feel for the game.
Javale McGee showed his speed and surprising strength at times but he didn't seem to have the same athleticism nor skills that the other players showed. If I was going to rank the players strictly on what we saw today he would have finished fourth among the big men. Joey Dorsey gave the most shocking performance of the day. Despite looking barely as tall as Kyle Weaver, Joey hit 8 consecutive free throws and that was broken up over 4 different exercises. Everyone was flabbergasted watching Joey hit one after another. He also showed his strength and defensive ability but in the end he just looked too short to be anything more than a bench player in the NBA and while he shot the ball well Memphis knows he is not a threat at all on the offensive end of the court.
Then there was Love. Love showed his skills by draining 7 of 10 three point shots, hit a high percentage of his free throw attempts, made some incredibly nice passes and even showed some better than expected defensive ability. His basketball IQ seemed very sharp as well as he consistently caught on to what the drills called for and what he needed to do to impress. On one timed drill however the athleticism question mark raised its head. The players had 60 seconds to run back and forth to hit shots from the free throw elbow. Hitting 7 of 9 shots was impressive (and the most that any of the big men hit). However he took one fewer attempt than DeAndre Jordan got off and a lot fewer than Jeremy Pargo. The full court drills gave Love the opportunity to show his intelligence making great passes but he usually trailed the plays and never beat anyone down the court.
I came away from the workout with the impression that Love was the best player at the workout by a wide margin but I question his value at #5. Will he be fast enough to play an uptempo style of game? Love made an interesting comment that confirmed that feeling to me. He said "I would love to play here in Memphis and my ability to make the outlet pass should give me a lot of opportunities to watch Rudy Gay finish with a dunk." Watch was the key word for me. He is going to watch those from the other end of the court because I honestly doubt if he will pass the halfcourt line in time.
So from what I have seen Love is an incredible talent and in the right situation will be a very solid player at the worst but in the wrong situation may struggle to keep pace. Assuming that Rose, Beasley, Mayo and Bayless are off the board when the 5th pick comes up I would have no problem taking Kevin Love 5th but I think it would be disappointing for those expecting a major impact player from that pick.
Love mentioned that he worked out yesterday for Miami in case the Heat trade down in the draft. If the rumor about Miami trading their pick is true I hope Memphis steps up to grab it. Love will be a very solid player but I doubt he will be a the type who can really change the fortune of this franchise.
I recommend our readers check out Beyond the Arc, Chris Herrington's excellent blog today to see his comments as well.
Later Today
Sorry for the lack of blog-worthy commentary this fine Monday morning. Chip will update everyone on the workouts with Kevin Love, Joey Dorsey, DeAndre Jordan and JaVale McGee. My prediction is that Kevin Love dominates the workout, JaVale McGee looks like a solid mid-first round pick, DeAndre Jordan looks completely overwhelmed and that Joey Dorsey impresses the gathered audience with his freakish athleticism. Check back later for Chip's report.
Posts
