Category: Memphis Grizzlies Blog

The Memphis Grizzlies signed free agent guard Jamaal Tinsley, an original draft pick of the club in 2001, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“We are pleased to add a veteran playmaker with Jamaal’s credentials to the team,” Wallace said.  “He will add experience and high-level passing ability.”

One of the NBA’s most prolific playmakers over the last decade, Tinsley ranks seventh among active players and 24th in league history in assists per game (7.0).  In his last NBA season, the 6-3, 195-pound guard averaged a career-high 8.4 assists in 39 games with the Indiana Pacers in 2007-08.

Tinsley, 31, is expected to bring his playmaking abilities to a Grizzlies team that finished 30th in the NBA in assists (17.4) in 2008-09 and ranks 21st in the category this season (18.8).  The Brooklyn, N.Y. native holds career averages of 10.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 1.66 steals in 30.2 minutes in 398 games over seven seasons (2001-08) with the Pacers. He was waived by Indiana on July 22, 2009.

Originally selected by the Grizzlies with the 27th overall pick in the first round of the 2001 NBA Draft, Tinsley’s draft rights were traded in a draft-night deal to the Atlanta Hawks along with Shareef Abdur-Rahim in exchange for the draft rights to Pau Gasol (No. 3 overall), Brevin Knight and Lorenzen Wright on June 27, 2001. Tinsley’s rights were acquired later that night by the Pacers for a future first round pick.

Tinsley had an immediate impact in his rookie season with Indiana, posting a triple-double (19 points, 11 rebounds, 23 assists) in his 14th career game on Nov. 22, 2001 vs. the Michael Jordan-led Washington Wizards.  Tinsley’s 23-assist performance established a new Pacers record and was two shy of the NBA rookie record, shared by Tinsley’s then-head coach Isiah Thomas (1981-82) and Ernie DiGregorio (1973-74).  Tinsley was named the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month twice (Nov. 2001, March 2002) and earned 2001-02 All-Rookie Second Team honors.

InsideHoops.com editor says: Now the Grizzlies should sign Stephon Marbury, Dennis Rodman and J.R. Rider. But seriously, this Tinsley signing suggests that Allen Iverson probably isn’t ever coming back to Memphis. Anyway, it’s curious and a bit questionable that the team would choose to add another player with a reputation as a malcontent. The Pacers wanted literally nothing to do with Tinsley anymore. And, his last NBA action was 39 games in the 2007-08 season. Still, if Tinsley works hard and focuses on being a good teammate, he can help them a little.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

Scott Cacciola of the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports:

Rookie center Hasheem Thabeet suffered a ridgeline fracture in his mandible — a bone in his lower jaw — when he appeared to collide with Zach Randolph’s head going for a rebound late in the first quarter.

Play was stopped with 57.4 seconds remaining as Thabeet rolled around near the basket in obvious pain.

He will not make the trip to Houston for the team’s game against the Rockets tonight, but his status will be day-to-day after that.

Thabeet is off to a very quiet start in his rookie season, playing just 6.0 minutes per game and averaging 0.6 points and 1.6 rebounds. He’s extremely raw and may not be able to contribute much for most of the season and possibly beyond.

Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports:

The Allen Iverson saga has taken another turn as the veteran guard asked for and was granted permission to leave the Grizzlies to deal with a personal matter, according to an NBA source.

Iverson, 34, met with Griz owner Michael Heisley Friday night following the team’s 114-98 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. The pair met again this morning, and Iverson was expected to depart for Atlanta this afternoon.

Atlanta is where Iverson lives during the offseason.

But things were going so well! Seriously, I wonder — and this is just logical guesswork — if there’s a chance the team and Iverson will part ways, either now or in the very near future.

I say the Grizzlies should have a final discussion with Iverson and explain to him what they see his role being for the rest of the season. And if the two sides can come to some sort of agreement, end the disputes and agree to start again. But if the Grizzlies still see Iverson as a super-scorer off the bench rather than one of the team’s core top two or so guys, and Iverson simply cannot stomach that, they should immediately discuss a buyout.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in the InsideHoops NBA forum.

The Memphis Grizzlies waived forward Trey Gilder, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.

In two regular season games with Memphis, the 6-9, 205-pound forward collected two points, one rebound and a steal in a total of five minutes of action.

After signing with the Grizzlies as a free agent on Aug. 27, the 24-year-old appeared in six preseason games, averaging 4.3 points and 1.5 rebounds in 9.8 minutes.

The current roster stands at 14 players.

Yahoo reports – Negotiations between the Memphis Grizzlies and Rudy Gay ended on Monday without a contract extension, and the forward will become a restricted free agent at the end of the season, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. League sources said Gay wanted a $12 million annual deal – either over three or five years – because because that’s what Indiana Pacers forward Danny Granger received last season. But Memphis never raised its offer beyond approximately $10 million a year.

The Memphis Grizzlies are a young team built around just a few players, two being guard O.J. Mayo and small forward Rudy Gay. Last season there were rumblings of some disagreements between the two players. Nothing too serious, though. But yesterday the two guys tossed some heated words at each other.

Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports:

The scoreboard wasn’t all that provided fireworks in what turned out to be a shootout Sunday night between the Grizzlies and Denver Nuggets.

The Grizzlies had to douse an explosive shouting match between O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay on their bench before the end of a 133-123 loss in a wildly entertaining affair at the Pepsi Center.

Mayo tossed in a career-high 40 points only to have the performance overshadowed by Nuggets’ forward Carmelo Anthony’s 42-point outburst, and somewhat marred by an incident during a late fourth-quarter timeout.

The Commercial Appeal continues:

“We’re both competitors. We just felt that defensively we weren’t communicating,” Mayo said. “Our energy was going down and we said some things. But we got it situated, and continued to play the game.”

Gay said the incident was “nothing” and his hope is that people won’t blow it out of proportion because of rumors he didn’t get along with Mayo from last season.

“It’s not what people think it was,” Gay said. “Me and O.J. were together all summer. We’re fine.”

It’s probably nothing. Competitive players are prone to get annoyed at their teammates once in a while, whether they’re buddies or not. Now, if they start punching each other in the face some day, that’s something. Still, we’ll keep an eye on this.

The Memphis Grizzlies today exercised the fourth-year team option on guard Mike Conley and picked up the third-year team options on guard O.J. Mayo and forward Darrell Arthur.  Per team policy, financial details were not disclosed. All three players are now signed through the 2010-11 season.

Conley, the fourth overall selection in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Grizzlies, owns career averages of 10.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 28.8 minutes in 136 games (108 starts). The third-year 6-1, 185-pound playmaker showed vast improvement last season, averaging 14.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 5.7 assists on 45.4 percent shooting in 36.3 minutes in 39 games after Lionel Hollins was named the team’s head coach on Jan. 25, 2009.

Mayo, the third overall selection in the 2008 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves, was the runner-up to the Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose for the 2008-09 NBA Rookie of the Year Award after leading all first-year players in scoring (18.5 points, 28th in NBA) and minutes (38.0, 11th). The 6-4, 210-pound guard, who was acquired by the Grizzlies in an eight-player deal on draft night, owns career averages of 18.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 38.0 minutes in 83 games (all starts).

Arthur, who was originally selected by the New Orleans Hornets with the 27th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, was traded three times on draft night before he eventually landed in Memphis. In his first NBA season with the Grizzlies in 2008-09, Arthur ranked in the top 10 among NBA rookies in rebounds (4.6, 8th), blocks (0.68, 7th) and steals (0.68, 10th) and added 5.6 points in 76 games (64 starts). The 6-9, 235-pound forward is slated to miss up to four months after undergoing surgery to repair a partially torn right pectoralis muscle on Oct. 23.