Geez. Grizz had it down to 1 with the ball on a fast break and couldn' connect. Since then 2 Iguodala 3's have extended it to 7.

Conley can't make a basket to save his life but he is at least driving the ball..

That was a bad no-call, and a damn lucky shot from Curry

Wow

OMG. Green gets mugged on a 3 attempt, no call, ball comes loose and Curry hits a 75 foot shot at the buzzer to close the 3rd Q.

8 point lead going to the 4th for GS.

Well, if that counts, might as well leave

That was a 5 or 6 point swing.

Jeff green should be shooting 3 free throws

13 point lead now. Iguodala killing the Grizz.

It was just a 1 point game a few minutes ago.

Not looking for Memphis

GS just hitting everything again now looking to close it out.

87-72 GS.

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Not looking for Memphis

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Nope. Just not enough firepower. Gasol was the only starter who showed up offensively and he stuggled to get his points.

Three 6 Mafia's appearance between quarters seemed to motivate the Warriors, and put Memphis into off season mode

Ha ha. 3-6 Mafia had help from that 70 foot 3 pointer!

Well, Grizz giving it one last push here. Got the 15 point lead back down to 8.

And out of the timeout, Curry is left wide open for a 3.

Lead to 12 after Curry hits another 3.

Barrage of trading 2s for 3s here in the 4th. GS up 100-89 with 2:45 left.

Grizz season about to end...

15 3 pointers for GS tonight to Memphis's 4 made 3 pointers.

45 points to 12 from 3.

Last game for which Grizzlies?

108-95 Final.

Grizz had a window in this series but Kerr made some good adjustments and the Grizz never really threatened in the last 3 games.

Well, that's it. Great thread that I've enjoyed sharing with Iowaggie and Trevas and all the rest! Overall a good year.

But same song, different year:

--No reliable outside shooting to space the floor and give space to Gasol and Randolph; the theme in almost all the Grizz losses this year was giving up many 3s and not getting many themselves
--No real superstar playmaker you can rely on night in and night out for 25+
--Mike Conley beat up and not healthy for the playoffs
--Role players too streaky (Carter, Udrih, Green, Lee) and inconsistent
--The franchise continues to draft players that for 2 regimes now the coaches just don't trust to play much during the regular season so they of course aren't ready to play any minutes in the playoffs

This is the story of the Grizz and their ceiling will continue to be a 5 or 6 seed (maybe at best a 4 seed) and first/second round exits unless they get serious about getting more consistent outside offensive firepower to complement the big guys inside (if they can re-sign Gasol).

Y'all are good folks over here...love the victory gifs, and made GS sweat some. It's already tough enough for the Rox against y'all...throw in a reliable outside sniper and that'd be bad news for the rest of the West.

Most discussion is on Marc Gasol, and Peter Edmiston lays the money out in today's CA.

IF GASOL SIGNS A LONG-TERM MAX DEAL THIS OFFSEASON:
MEMPHIS: 5 yrs, $107,174,834 (average per year: $21.4 mil)
ELSEWHERE: 4 yrs, $82,944,032 (average per year:: $20.725 mil)

Then Peter goes into the whole new TV deal and new salary contract, LeBron's contract, Bird rights, and this is where, I think, Grizz fans need to get worried...or comforted, depending on what you think Gasol will do.

IF HE SIGNS A TWO-YEAR DEAL AKA "THE LEBRON":
IN MEMPHIS: $18,639,102 ($20,037,034 option for 2016-17) (keeps Bird rights), which could be followed by: 5 yrs, starting salary of $25 million, approximately $157,000,000 over the life of the contract
ELSEWHERE: $18,639,102 ($20,037,034 option for 2016-17) (loses Bird rights), which could be followed by: 4 yrs, starting salary of $25 million, approximately $120,000,000 over the life of the contract



I think he does the shorter contract, then cashes in in 2016, which is also when Conley becomes a FA.

If they re-sign Gasol, and continue with the nucleus of him, Z-bo, and Conley for the next couple of years; who could they get that could fill it up from the outside consistently and provide that deep outside threat that they have seemingly needed for the last 4-5 years?

The main issue to me is at the 2 and 3 spots. Courtney Lee is a decent defender but streaky shooter and often forgets to shoot. Allen is a defensive specialist that offers junkyard dog offense but can't be relied on for outside shooting (unlike say Bruce Bowen from SA years ago who could reliably hit the 3 if you left him to help inside) and when they had Green starting, he can't play defense and is really less consistent than someone of his athleticism should be. Those positions are the weak links.

Could they have beaten a Golden St. in 7 game series or a strong shooting Houston, LAC, or SAS with a 100% healthy Conley and Tony Allen? If ownership thinks this, then maybe they continue with the same basic group of complementary players and hope someone like Jordan Adams can step up, show a consistent outside game, and compete for more playing time. I don't know all the cap ramifications or contract situations well enough to know if they could even go out and get some free agent shooting guard that is reliable (like Danny Green for example)

Memphis has:

• one more year of Jeff Green (he can opt out, but makes 9mm)
  
• two more years of Tony Allen
  
• one more year of Courtney Lee
  
• two more years of ZBo
  
• two more years of Vinsanity
  
• one more year of Mike Conley
  

They pretty much have no room to do anything but use the MLE this offseason and with so many contracts coming off next year (except ZBo, Allen and Vince) they probably don't want to do anything major to screw up the 2016 cap space.

Mike Dunlavy at SF might make sense, but he is pretty old. I'd like to see him play 20 minutes/game in SA, too. Gerald Green lit it up last year. Always been pretty undisciplined, though.

I don't think LA or the Knicks are serious contenders for Marc.

I think wherever Gasol goes, it will be a franchise that has a plan for success.

That isn't NY. And the Lakers had Pau on the proverbial trading block fora long time, plus, Pau stayed professional about Kobe, but I can't imagine that privately, Pau will be saying Kobe is a real treat to play with.

Dallas has no appeal that Memphis already has for Gasol.

Obviously, San Antonio has an appeal, and can probably demonstrate a plan. I still believe that for San Antonio to get Aldridge or Gasol, Pop has to come out and state he will be coaching for 5 more years or so. Pop would be the primary appeal for Gasol. I think it hurts SA that they are in the same division as Memphis, and I do think Gasol has an incredible loyalty, and it is one thing to leave Memphis. It would be another thing to join the Clippers, OKC, Spurs, or any of the SW division teams.


When the new television deal impacts the salary cap, this free agency will be the wild, wild west, and if you don't have an anchor player or two to attract others, good luck.

Soup, thanks for the insight and contract stats. Kind of what I figured and have been hearing from the local guys on the radio here. Looks like we'll be pretty much the same group next season (if we can sign Gasol) which certainly isn't bad but hopefully we can get some better shooting and stay healthy.

Ron Tillery, beat writer apparently predicts that Gasol will leave, likely to SA.

I'm not sure this video will show up, but basically mentions that people think he's made up his mind.


It seems to me like he's looking for an exit strategy, not necessarily deciding where to go.

That's strong coming from Tillery who knows the organization better than anyone. I hope Calkins is right in that he signs the short term deal.

Tillery was dead on right in that clip in that the Grizzlies have failed for the last 5 years to put shooters out on the floor that can complement the bigs inside and its not only cost them wins, playoff seeding and series, and now that may be ultimately what pushes Gasol to a team like SA which does have the management and players to complement him and contend.

Wouldn't Memphis have to take Splitter for that to happen though?

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Wouldn't Memphis have to take Splitter for that to happen though?

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It would help a lot, but would depend on a lot of other things, including if the Spurs keep Danny Green.

The Spurs will have a serious hole at the 2 if they lose Danny Green, especially with Manu likely to retire.

The Spurs roster doesn't exactly scream UPGRADE with what's left over, even though I think it would be at least in the short term. The backcourt D would be flat out awful with how much Parker and Mills would have to carry the offense.

Parker / Mills
Beli? / ????
Kawhi / Anderson
Tim for a year or 2 / Diaw
Gasol / ???? Baynes???

If they're going to make a run on Gasol, I hope they've got the intention of keeping Green or acquiring a suitable replacement. Does Memphis having Splitter for 2 years really add enough for them that they'd be willing to do the Spurs a favor?