The Memphis Grizzlies recalled guard Tony Wroten from the NBA Development League’s Reno Bighorns, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.

In his third assignment this season, Wroten (6-6, 208) recorded 24.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.50 steals on .410 shooting in 29.0 minutes in two games after being re-assigned to the Bighorns on Jan. 11.  The 19-year-old scored a D-League season-high 27 points on Jan. 12 at Idaho, his fifth 20-point performance with Reno this season.

The Seattle native has averaged 15.7 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.50 steals on .410 shooting in 25.4 minutes in 10 games (two starts) over three assignments with Reno this season.

Wroten will join the Grizzlies for tonight’s tilt with the Los Angeles Clippers at 7 p.m. CT at FedExForum.

Drafted by Memphis in the first round (25th overall) of the 2012 NBA Draft after one season at the University of Washington, Wroten has totaled two points, two rebounds and two assists in 14 minutes over six appearances for the Grizzlies during his rookie season.

Dirk Nowitzki is coming along gradually. Maybe the Dallas Mavericks are, too.

Nowitzki scored 17 points and was one of three Dallas starters who didn’t miss from 3-point range, and Shawn Marion had a season-high 20 to lead the Mavericks to consecutive wins for the first time in a month with a 104-83 victory against the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night.

The Mavericks, three days removed from dropping 10 games under .500 for the first time in 13 years, beat a team with a winning record for just the fourth time this season. They did it soundly, too, taking their first 30-point lead of the season and coasting through the fourth quarter.

”It’s the kind of game we need,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. ”We need more of these, but they’re hard to come by.”

The Grizzlies were ragged a night after a big overtime win against Southwest Division-leading San Antonio. Memphis shot 38 percent and Rudy Gay was the only starter in double figures, in part because all five of them sat out the entire fourth quarter. Gay led the Grizzlies with 12 points…

All five starters scored in double figures for Dallas, with Chris Kaman stringing together eight straight in the third quarter and finishing with 14. O.J. Mayo had 11 and Darren Collison 10.

The Mavericks were 11 of 17 from 3-point range, and the starters made eight of nine. Nowitzki hit three, Mayo two and Collison had one. Marion was the only starter to miss, going 2 of 3…

Randolph, who entered the game leading the NBA with 24 double-doubles, had six points and four rebounds.

– Reported by Schuyler Dixon of the Associated Press

The Memphis Grizzlies re-assigned Tony Wroten to the NBA Development League’s Reno Bighorns, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.  This marks the third D-League assignment this season for the rookie guard.

Wroten (6-6, 208) holds D-League averages of 13.6 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists on .411 shooting in 24.5 minutes in eight games (two starts) over two assignments with the Bighorns.  The 19-year-old posted 14.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists on .545 shooting in 29.5 minutes in two games (both starts) for Reno during his second assignment from Dec. 26-31.

The Seattle native will be with the Bighorns for their next game tonight at Idaho.

Drafted by Memphis in the first round (25th overall) of the 2012 NBA Draft after one season at the University of Washington, Wroten has totaled two points, two rebounds and two assists in 14 minutes in six games during his rookie season.

After sweeping its three-game road trip against Phoenix, Sacramento and Golden State, Memphis returns home to host the San Antonio Spurs tomorrow at 7 p.m. at FedExForum.

Mark Jackson figured his Golden State Warriors could be in for a tough night, calling the Memphis Grizzlies ”the best frontline in basketball” hours before tipoff.

At this point, the Warriors coach should know.

Zach Randolph, Rudy Gay and Marc Gasol had their way inside on both ends of the court to help the Grizzlies complete a 3-0 road trip with a 94-87 victory over the Warriors on Wednesday night. Memphis, which has won eight straight against Golden State, outscored the Warriors 60-34 in the paint.

”Those are our horses,” said Grizzlies guard Tony Allen, who had 10 points and four rebounds off the bench. ”We ride those guys.”

Randolph finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds, Gay scored 18 points and Gasol added 12 points and nine rebounds as Memphis made its quick West Coast swing more memorable. The Grizzlies (23-10) also won at Phoenix on Sunday and at Sacramento on Monday, building a 1 1/2-game lead over Golden State (22-12) for fourth place in the Western Conference.

”We needed this,” said Gay, who also had six assists and five rebounds. ”We’ve been going through some ups and downs and had some lapses, some kind of lapse games. We lost a couple at home. We had to come out here for ourselves to get three out of three.”

Consider it done.

Stephen Curry scored 24 points and Klay Thompson had 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists as the Warriors lost back-to-back games for only the second time this season.

– Reported by Antonio Gonzalez of the Associated Press

The Memphis Grizzlies and Phoenix Suns are engaged in trade talks centered on forward Rudy Gay, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

The Grizzlies have been shopping Gay to multiple teams, and found an interested trade partner with the Suns, sources said.

There’s no framework of a possible deal in place, but the Grizzlies have expressed a strong desire that any package involving Gay include Suns forward Jared Dudley and future first-round draft picks, sources said.

In an effort to avoid paying luxury tax in the short term, as well as get off the $17.8 million and $19.3 million owed Gay in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons, new Memphis management has aggressively shopped Gay.

– Reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports

When Zach Randolph found his shooting stroke Sunday night, the Memphis Grizzlies took off.

Randolph scored 21 points and Rudy Gay added 20 to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 92-81 victory over the Phoenix Suns.

”Zach got going in the post and so we had a few options to run with,” said Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins. ”It was a solid win.”

Randolph had been dominant in the team’s first two meetings, averaging 16 rebounds and 28 points on 66.7 percent shooting. Though his numbers were slightly lower this time around - he had only eight rebounds, none on the offensive end - they were more than enough.

Randolph upped his shooting percentage against Phoenix, connecting on 9 of 11 shots from the field and was 3 of 5 on free throws. He also had a steal in 36 minutes…

Tony Allen scored 11 and Marc Gasol had 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who have won three of their last five games.

P.J. Tucker scored a career-high 17 points and Marcin Gortat added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Suns…

Memphis became the first team in the series to win on the road since the Grizzlies won in Phoenix on December 8, 2010. … The Suns had one fast-break point. … Phoenix remained stuck on 1,999 franchise victories. … Memphis is 7-28 in Phoenix. … Suns guard Wesley Johnson played in the first half for just the seventh time in 35 games, scoring his six points on a pair of 3-pointers. … The Suns’ 38 first-half points were one more than the team’s season low.

– Reported by Jonathan Dalton of the Associated Press

The Portland Trail Blazers turned up the defense down the stretch to turn back the Grizzlies.

Wesley Matthews scored 21 points, J.J. Hickson added 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Portland beat Memphis 86-84 on Friday night.

Rudy Gay’s jumper from near the top of the key was off the mark as time expired, allowing the Trail Blazers to escape a closely played game that saw nine ties and 21 lead changes.

”I thought we played very good team defense,” said LaMarcus Aldridge, who had 15 points and 12 rebounds for Portland. ”We played their tendencies very well down the stretch. We had talked about it all game, about knowing what guys were going to do, and I thought down the stretch we guarded that.”

Nicolas Batum and Damian Lillard added 11 points apiece for the Trail Blazers, Lillard also handing out eight assists, as Portland won for the ninth time in its last 12 games.

Marreese Speights had a season-high 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Grizzlies in place of Zach Randolph, who missed the game with flu-like symptoms. Gay had 19 points, but was 8 of 21 from the field.

Marc Gasol scored 12 points and had a career-best eight blocks. Darrell Arthur contributed 10 points off the Memphis bench.

– Reported by Clay Bailey of the Associated Press

The last time Darrell Arthur found himself in this position, he was running around high school gymnasiums in the Dallas area.

Arthur last played small forward when his prep coach wanted to overwhelm an opponent by using a big lineup.

“I’d take my man into the post (on offense) and we’d play 1-3-1 (zone) on defense,” Arthur said, smiling. “I haven’t played it since.”

Arthur has been thrown a lot of curve balls with injuries during his NBA career. He admits having fun hacking away at this slider — playing the three spot behind Rudy Gay with usual reserve Quincy Pondexter out with a knee injury.

“I’m doing a decent job,” Arthur said.

Hollins agrees, though he clearly would rather add another player to the roster so Arthur can spend most of his time at his natural position of power forward.

– Reported by Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal

Tony Allen scored a season-high 15 points to help his current team beat his old one. Then he went down the sideline trading fist-bumps and hugs with his former teammates and coaches.

Mike Conley had 23 points and nine assists, and Allen had nine points and four of his five rebounds in the second half on Wednesday night to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 93-83 victory over the Boston Celtics. It was the fourth consecutive loss for Boston, which won its 17th NBA title with Allen in 2008…

Rudy Gay scored 19 points for Memphis, which shot 61 percent from the floor - and 62.5 percent from 3-point range - in the first half. The Grizzlies led by 18 early in the fourth quarter, then made 8 of 11 free throws down the stretch after the Celtics made it a five-point game…

Paul Pierce scored 17 for Boston, but he had just one basket in the third quarter and none in the fourth while missing seven of his last eight shots.

Rajon Rondo had 11 points and 10 assists for the Celtics, who trailed by 79-61 after the opening basket of the fourth quarter but closed the gap to 83-78 with under 5 minutes to play on back-to-back 3-pointers from Jason Terry. Boston began fouling and the Grizzlies made their shots.

– Reported by Jimmy Golen of the Associated Press

The Indiana Pacers are now finding ways to win on a regular basis with or without veteran players.

”I’m proud of them and the effort to be a really good basketball team,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said.

Paul George scored 21 points to lead the Pacers to an 88-83 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday.

D.J. Augustin had 17 points and David West added 13 points and nine rebounds for the Pacers, who have won five of six. George also had six rebounds and five assists.

Zach Randolph had 21 points and 15 rebounds and Marc Gasol scored 13 for the Grizzlies, who have lost three of four…

Still without star forward Danny Granger and with the injured Hill on the bench and even without center Roy Hibbert putting up the expected numbers, Indiana remains atop the Central Division and now a game up on the Chicago Bulls…

[Lance] Stephenson was listed as day to day with a left orbital contusion, but started. … Grizzlies F Quincy Pondexter didn’t travel with the team because of a left MCL sprain. … Hibbert’s first offensive rebound of the night was his 800th career.

– Reported by the Associated Press

The Memphis Grizzlies recalled guard Tony Wroten from the NBA Development League’s Reno Bighorns, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.

Wroten (6-6, 208) averaged 14.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists on .545 shooting in 29.5 minutes in two games (both starts) for Reno after being re-assigned to the Bighorns on Dec. 26.  The 19-year-old has recorded 13.6 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists on .411 shooting in 24.5 minutes in eight games (two starts) over two assignments with Reno this season.

The Seattle native will join the Grizzlies for their road contest against the Indiana Pacers at 2 p.m. CT today at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Drafted by Memphis in the first round (25th overall) of the 2012 NBA Draft after one season at the University of Washington, Wroten has totaled eight minutes in three appearances for the Grizzlies during his rookie season.

The Memphis Grizzlies re-assigned guard Tony Wroten to the NBA Development League’s Reno Bighorns, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.

Wroten (6-6, 208) averaged 13.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists on .370 shooting (.438 three-point shooting) in 22.8 minutes in six games for Reno during his first assignment from Nov. 27-Dec. 17.  The 19-year-old scored a D-League season-high 21 points in his Bighorns debut on Dec. 2 at Santa Cruz and matched that total in his next game on Dec. 7 vs. Bakersfield.

The Seattle native will be Bighorns for their next game on Friday, Dec. 28 at Idaho.

Drafted by Memphis in the first round (25th overall) of the 2012 NBA Draft after one season at the University of Washington, Wroten has totaled eight minutes in three appearances for the Grizzlies during his rookie season.

Memphis will seek its fourth consecutive home victory tonight when the Grizzlies host the Philadelphia 76ers at 7 p.m. tonight at FedExForum.

Houston coach Kevin McHale figured the best way to beat the Memphis Grizzlies was to get down the court before they could get their dominant defense set.

His plan worked perfectly.

James Harden scored 31 points with eight assists, and the Rockets earned their third straight win, 121-96 over the Grizzlies on Saturday night.

Memphis entered the game allowing an NBA-low 89.2 points a game. But the Grizzlies had no answer for Harden. He did all his scoring in the first three quarters and reached at least 20 points for an eighth straight game…

Mike Conley had 16 points for the Grizzlies on a night when leading scorer Rudy Gay finished with a season-low six points…

”I think tonight we showed how explosive we can be offensively because we put 120 points on a team that hasn’t allowed over 100 since the first game of the season,” Lin said. ”This is just a testament to people moving and passing the ball.” …

Lin added 15 points and a season-high tying 11 assists, and Marcus Morris scored 16 points…

Randolph finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds for his 21st double-double this season, which leads the league.

Houston’s 32 assists were a season-high.

– Reported by Kristie Rieken of the Associated Press

The Memphis Grizzlies recalled guard Josh Selby from the NBA Development League’s Reno Bighorns, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.

Selby (6-2, 183) posted 22.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 7.0 assists on .439 shooting in 34.0 minutes in two games for Reno after being assigned on Dec. 17.  The 21-year-old finished with 23 points and scored the Bighorns’ final 10, including the go-ahead free throws with 5.0 seconds remaining, in a 98-97 win on Dec. 21 at Austin.  He totaled 21 points in his season debut for Reno on Dec. 20 at Rio Grande Valley.

Drafted by Memphis in the second round (49th overall) of the 2011 NBA Draft, the Baltimore native has logged a total of 15 minutes in five appearances for the Grizzlies this season.

Selby will join the Grizzlies for tonight’s tilt with the Houston Rockets at 7 p.m. at the Toyota Center, where Memphis will seek its fifth consecutive victory.

The Memphis Grizzlies were struggling early against the stingy Chicago Bulls, taking bad shots and committing turnovers.

Then the Grizzlies’ bench took over, providing the burst that helped Memphis beat the Bulls 80-71 on Monday night.

”I thought it was huge what they did,” Grizzlies guard Mike Conley said of the second-period play by the reserves. ”They came in and changed the game, changed the tempo. They got it going up and down a little bit. Got the ball movement where we like it to be.” …

Conley led Memphis with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting and four assists, while Zach Randolph added 10 points and 15 rebounds.

Rudy Gay had 12 points for Memphis but shot 5 of 13, continuing his slump. Wayne Ellington scored all 11 of his points in the second quarter, when the Grizzlies’ reserves provided the lift after a sluggish first period, when Memphis managed only 11 points for its lowest output in the opening quarter this season.

Carlos Boozer led the Bulls with 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Marco Belinelli finished with 13 points. Luol Deng and Joakim Noah had 11 points apiece for the Bulls, but Deng was 4 of 17 from the field…

Both teams shot just better than 37 percent. But Memphis was 6 of 11 from 3-point range compared to the Bulls hitting only 2 of 11 long-range shots. The Memphis frontline of Gay, Randolph and Marc Gasol were a combined 10 of 34, while the Bulls starting frontline of Deng, Boozer and Noah made 16 of 42.

– Reported by the Associated Press

The Memphis Grizzlies assigned guard Josh Selby to the NBA Development League’s Reno Bighorns and recalled guard Tony Wroten, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.

Selby (6-2, 183) will be assigned to Reno, the Grizzlies’ D-League affiliate, for the first time this season.  The 21-year-old enjoyed great success with the Bighorns during the 2011-12 season, posting 25.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists on .475 shooting in 34.1 minutes in eight games (four starts) over three assignments in Reno as an NBA rookie.

Selby will be with the Bighorns for their next game on Dec. 20 at Rio Grande Valley.  Drafted by Memphis in the second round (49th overall) of the 2011 NBA Draft, the Baltimore native has logged a total of 15 minutes over five appearances for the Grizzlies this season.

Wroten (6-6, 208) recorded 13.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists on .370 shooting (.438 three-point shooting) in 22.8 minutes in six games for Reno after being assigned on Nov. 27.  The 19-year-old scored a D-League season-high 21 points in his Bighorns debut on Dec. 2 at Santa Cruz and matched that total in his next game on Dec. 7 vs. Bakersfield.

Drafted by Memphis in the first round (25th overall) of the 2012 NBA Draft, the Seattle native has logged a total of eight minutes in three appearances for the Grizzlies during his rookie season.

Memphis hosts the Chicago Bulls at 7 p.m. tonight at FedExForum to tip off a three-game home stand that will also feature matchups on Wednesday, Dec. 19 vs. Milwaukee and Friday, Dec. 21 vs. Dallas.

Former Memphis Tigers basketball star and NBA player Shawne Williams was arrested Thursday in Raleigh after police reported finding marijuana and codeine cough syrup in his car.

An officer was on routine patrol outside a Cricket wireless store in the 3400 block of Austin Peay near the Raleigh Springs Mall. The officer approached Williams in his nearby Porsche Panamera after smelling marijuana, according to a police affidavit, and the 26-year-old Williams was asked to exit his vehicle.

Williams then said, “Officer I ain’t gonna lie to you, there’s a blunt in the car and some syrup,” according to the affidavit.

Police reported finding inside the car a partially smoked marijuana blunt, another blunt that had not been smoked, and a bottle containing 83 grams of codeine cough syrup, for which Williams did not have a prescription.

– Reported by Scott Carroll of the Memphis Commercial Appeal

The Memphis Grizzlies announced today the hiring of John Hollinger as Vice President of Basketball Operations and Stu Lash as Director of Player Personnel and Basketball Development. Hollinger and Lash will work with General Manager Chris Wallace on basketball-related matters.

“We are thrilled to have John and Stu join the Grizzlies,” Grizzlies CEO & Managing Partner Jason Levien said. “Both of these individuals will provide innovative and unique perspectives that bolster the organization’s future.”

Hollinger joins the Grizzlies organization by way of ESPN, where he was best known as an NBA Insider columnist on ESPN.com at the forefront of basketball’s analytics movement. He is the inventor of advanced statistics such as Player Efficiency Rating (PER), Offensive Efficiency, Defensive Efficiency and Pace Factor, as well as several other tools that analyze and forecast team and player performance.

Before joining ESPN, Hollinger covered the NBA for SI.com, Oregonlive.com and The New York Sun. He also authored four annual editions of the Pro Basketball Forecast. He first gained notoriety nearly 20 years ago as the creator of Alleyoop.com, a Web site devoted to basketball analytics. Hollinger is a native of New Jersey, where he played on his high school basketball team, and graduated from the University of Virginia with degrees in Economics and Environmental Science.

“It is clear to me that this is an organization that is focused on building thoughtful decision-making processes and establishing a forward-thinking culture of sustained success,” Hollinger said. “Working in Memphis and being part of the new vision and leadership was an opportunity I just could not pass up.”

Lash comes to the Grizzlies after serving as Vice President of Basketball for Lagardere Unlimited since 2009. Lash spent five NBA seasons with the Denver Nuggets where he worked with the front office and coaching staffs, including serving as the scouting and video coordinator. He was responsible for draft analysis, scouting efforts, scouting schedules and upcoming game preparation. Lash graduated from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

In addition, the Grizzlies announced that longtime Grizzlies’ employee Chantal Hassard will assume the expanded role of Director of Team Operations. Hassard, now in her 18th season, will manage the team’s administration systems and development while working closely with the coaching staff. In addition, Hassard will serve as the team’s player development representative providing Grizzlies players with educational programs and critical support services.

This past April, Celtics analyst Donny Marshall claimed O.J. Mayo‘s refusal to play for the Celtics led to the collapse of a deal with the Grizzlies that would have brought him to Boston last season in exchange for Ray Allen and a draft pick. “Mayo basically said, ‘I don’t care about banners,’” announced Marshall.

After losing to the Celtics in double overtime on Wednesday, the current Mavericks guard denied that accusation, referencing his lack of veto power without a no-trade clause and affirming he would’ve welcomed the deal to Boston.

“I was in a good situation in Memphis at the time,” said Mayo. “Obviously, Boston is a big-time organization as well. Great players. It would’ve been an honor to play with KG [Kevin Garnett], [Paul] Pierce and [Rajon] Rondo. It would’ve been great to play with those guys and with [Celtics coach] Doc [Rivers].”

Instead, Mayo blamed the deal’s failure on an internal debate between C’s players and the front office over Allen’s future.

– Reported by Ben Rohrbeach of WEEI

The Grizzlies conducted a workout with veteran point guard Mike Bibby in Phoenix Wednesday afternoon before their game with the Suns at US Airways Center.

Bibby, 34, lives in the Phoenix area but hasn’t played in the NBA since appearing in 39 games for the New York Knicks last season. Sources with knowledge of the situation would not describe Bibby’s workout and insisted that no deal is imminent.

The Grizzlies’ roster stands at 13 players. The NBA allows teams to carry 15.

– Reported by Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal