Anyway, hereafter I will refer to the Memphis Grizzlies as the Memphis Blues.

NBA VIEW: Memphis Blues

The Memphis Blues look like they’re really going somewhere, but it’s illusory.  And it’s not because Rudy Gay is signing with someone else this summer, (though he will).  A team can’t go anywhere giving a ton of money to a guy who doesn’t pass or play defense.  And all the “he’s still young” stuff doesn’t float.  In his fourth year, Gay still doesn’t defend and misses being the least willing passer on his team only because he plays with the least willing passer in the league: Zach Randolph.  And do you really see progress with his offense?  I see a few more shots falling for him.  Is he going to the rim more often?  I’d like to know, because that would be an indication of progress, but NBA’s hotspots isn’t working for me now.  Whatever the case, Gay is a faulty foundation; better to live in a tent.

I really do have a hard time seeing upside in a team that doesn’t pass.  Marc Gasol just might be a big time player, and he can only get off 9 shots a game playing with these guys.  OJ Mayo certainly isn’t big time.  I think he can be a good player on a good team, but I’ve never seen much upside in him; being a bit short and not killer quick, he just has to work too hard for his shots.  This spring make sure to watch a Memphis/Portland game and compare Mayo to Travis Outlaw (who’s injured for another few months).  Mayo has tons more game, lots of skills, but he has to because he’s at a physical disadvantage.  Outlaw only has one move, a pull-up jumper off a dribble or two.  But he’s tall, has long arms, and jumps through the roof; he can always always get off a clean look.

The future of the team is Marc Gasol, which makes it kind of awkward that they just drafted their center of the future, Hasheem Thabeet.  Ugh, why couldn’t they have drafted Ricky Rubio?  It’s not like Memphis is going to be in the playoffs anytime soon.  And Rubio is going to be terrific.  I’m not saying that Thabeet isn’t going to be good.  I have no idea, but nobody else does either.  And by the time we do, he’ll be finishing his rookie contract.  Basically, Memphis had to decide whether to bet on Gasol or bet on Mike Conley Jr.  They went with Conley, and they bet wrong.  I can’t give them too much crap about it.  Gasol was fat and turns 25 in a few weeks.  Conley is not fat, three years younger, and might be learning to shoot, finally.  Who knew that drafting Thabeet would light a fire under Gasol’s ass?  It did though; Gasol lost a lot of weight of the summer and is considerably quicker.  I think he’s a star.

Memphis has played Gasol and Thabeet together on the floor at times season, figuring that since the team wasn’t playing defense anyway, why not?  I don’t argue against it.  The two of them playing together, however unlikely to work, is putting their future on the floor.  They should drafted Rubio.  They should have watched the Olympics like everyone else and drafted him.  Who cares that he’s playing in Spain for another year or two or three?  In that time, he will improve on someone else’s dollar, and then come to play in the NBA on his rookie contract.  By that time Gasol will make $10 million+ a year, and Thabeet will be looking for his.  Good luck.