After picking Wroten up off waivers, drafting Baldwin and Davis, I'm thinking Memphis is definitely trying to become more athletic and versatile. Its one thing to do add the pieces, but its another to actually implement them in the system.
I'm hoping FIzdale is able to do it.
My take on recent moves and rumors....
- Indifferent about Fizdale. Apparently, he's a player's coach and most players have said good things about him. I'm not quite sure about him from a X's and O's standpoint, but he did do a great job hiring his staff (Bickerstaff and NVE). I think having a great staff will basically help shore up his weaknesses as a head coach.
- I'm a firm believer on Conley staying BUT I think he's only staying if the Grizz sign an impact player in free agency. He clearly mentioned it would be nice to have KD (jokingly), but also mentioned Batum. I'm thinking if the Grizz can swing for the fences and get Batum or maybe even Barnes (to a lower extent Deng), Conley will stay (80/20). If we plan to not make any significant free agent moves, there I'll give it a 60/40 chance of him staying/leaving.
- Saying all that, I do not want Conley to re-sign for the max (at leadst not long-term max). Everyone knows I'm a huge Conley fan, but I also don't agree on paying him $33M when he's 34 years old. I believe Conley deserves a hefty pay raise, but he may only have 2 years of elite basketball left in him (possibly 3). I don't think its smart to extend him for 5 years given his current age and the fact that he's not a clear cut superstar. He's elite in a lot of ways, but I'm not paying that kinda money to no PG not named Westbrook, Curry, Paul and now Kyrie.
- Loved the draft. I'm just really hoping our top 2 selections don't go to waste. I'm hoping to see Baldwin play alongside Conley or even become the backup. Davis can definitely end up being a future starter on the frontline.
- I believe Wroten is more of a sign of Memphis preparing for life without TA. Between Wroten and Lance, we have 2 high energy guys who are capable of playing high level defense. Neither are excellent offensively (Lance is better to an extent), but both have great passing ability and solid ball handling. This is something more than what TA had to offer, but I'm thinking the team would like to see our next TA have those characterisistics (great defensive, great passing ability and good ball handling).
- Signing Wroten could also mean the Grizz moving Lance soon (which I don't think is a good idea). I really would like to see Lance under Fizdale and see him with a healthy roster. Memphis needs a ton of impact players in their rotation with the core group of guys getting older. Our only way of truly competing is to have a rotation of 7-8 starting caliber players. As of now, we would have 5 with Conley, Lance, TA, Zbo, Gasol. Wright, Martin and Jarell are solid rotation guys, but I wouldn't put them in a group of "starting caliber".