The Memphis Grizzlies have not signed any players in free agency so far. What does it mean?



The Memphis Grizzlies have not signed any players in free agency so far. What does it mean?

on this Wednesday edition of locked on Grizzlies it remains quiet on the Memphis free agency front heading in to a Fourth of July holiday what does that mean for the Grizzlies does it mean anything for the Grizzlies are you as impatient as some members of the social media fan base uh summer league schedule is official and it is out both for Salt Lake City and for Las Vegas what are some of our takeaways from that and then Adrien wowski of ESPN said something interesting on Tuesday that I want to pick to Michael Co ‘s brain on Larry marinan of the Utah Jazz could he be a fit with the core of the Memphis Grizzlies all that and more on this locked in episode of lock on Grizzlies let’s lock in you are locked on Grizzlies your daily Memphis Grizzlies podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day welcome welcome welome welcome to a Wednesday edition of lock on Grizzlies it is uh the 4th of July Eve and it’s an exciting time here in America America’s been taking a lot of losses lately not g to lie not to get too political um more so on the soccer side right it just feels like things aren’t going great I think Simone biles will help write the ship here in a few weeks watching Olympic trials I think she’s gonna you know just completely dominate everybody did you see the picture of her de Michael like 12 feet in the air see see she she floats she literally is uh she’s highlight reel a lot of fun to watch I can’t wait to see her in Paris I can’t can’t wait absolutely uh so anyway Amer I think we’re going to turn it around here in these next few weeks but not not the best time for the United States for a variety of reasons uh but it’s a great time to be on lockdown Grizzlies it’s a great time to have you with me Joe mullenax one of your hosts and with my co-host to Michael Cole the Commercial Appeal there in Memphis Tennessee award-winning beat writer covering the Memphis Grizzlies for that publication this episode of lockon Grizzlies is brought to you by Game Time download the game time app create an account and use the code locked on NBA for $2 off your first purchase terms apply we are free and available wherever you get Podcast as proud members of the locked on podcast Network your team each and every single day like comment rate review subscribe on YouTube Apple Spotify Amazon literally anywhere you get a podcast you can find lockdown Grizzlies and we are so grateful for the continued strong showing another really good episode yesterday on YouTube and on our all our podcast channels so continue to help us build lockdown Grizzlies spread the good news that is demichel and I’s coverage of the Memphis Grizzlies on this here podcast we appreciate it demichel another day more radio silence right we’ll talk about Adrien wowski saying something in passing that was pretty interesting to me at the end of the show uh but nothing really to report from Memphis and terms of what their roster is going to be now they did announce their official summer league schedule we’ll talk about that I did notice there’s a little bit more National TV love than I think folks originally thought there might be probably because of the Zach Edy effect now that it’s you know known that Edie is going to be there with Memphis as opposed to Team Canada but I I continue to wonder and it’s becoming a larger dividing point on social media to Michael obviously Memphis kind of is what they are right you either believe in this core or you don’t others would counter that point saying that they don’t believe in the pieces around the core like I’ve seen people talk about being concerned about Brandon Clark uh you know the lack of shooting the lack of a true big Beyond Edy how heavy this roster is on wings you talked about that on yesterday’s show y does and obviously Luke Canard is still not a member of the Memphis Grizzlies is this a case of Memphis moving methodically at their own pace just kind of be patient are you starting to wonder what’s going on at 191 Beal Street how do you feel about the current state of play with Memphis in this free agency period we’ve gone through a few days now and no real movement everyone just breathe in breathe out like we say with the FanDuel ads the sports aren’t sportsing as much so people are impatient yeah calm down there’s not much to it I mean there’s there’s two ways we can we can do the macro and the micro view here and on on a larger scale no one in the NBA is making a lot of moves right now look around I mean the 76 the second apron has folks sh the mob mob deep is calling everybody halfway Crooks the first the first apron has them because because there are certain moves you can’t make that will put you in the first apron that will hard cap teams I know a lot of people don’t understand what being hard capped means but uh historically there haven’t been too many teams that have been hardt it’s much easier to get hardt now and case in point let’s say the Grizzlies were hardc this past season they wouldn’t have been able to sign 3132 guys uh because when you’re hard cap there’s a number you can’t go over it no matter what if guys get hurt you’re down to 11 men if another guy gets hurt you’re down to 10 you cannot surpass that hard cap number no if and buts about it uh that’s a scary site uh for a lot of teams were a lot of franchises uh so with all that being said you know uh it’s the first apron it’s the second apron it’s uh the idea that you know signing trades uh uh trading players using certain mid-level exceptions and things like that will hardap teams and whatnot but then getting to the grizzly side of it right we’ve talked about this for months when you get into this off season there were a couple decisions that were going to take care of themselves UDA wab Lamar Stevens uh those have taken care of themselves then there was the luanar team option still with all of that being factored in there a lot of roster space right now you know it it you have to sign a first round pick which is zachie and that’s going to be a standard deal and you you right now with the way everything’s shaping up jayen Wells is potentially gonna be on a standard deal and then let’s say if Luke Canard is to return that’s your 15 right there Zack e jayen Wells Luke Canard they take up the three spots of the guys who are no longer uh the two guys that are no longer here plus Luke Canard returning so now you’re seeing a situation where all 15 of your standard roster spots are take okay well what about the two-ways my Scotty PIV Jr he’s on a two-way he signed a multi-year two-way deal when he came here so he’s still on tway Trey Json signed a multi-year twoa deal he’s still on the twoa you only get three of them the third spot cam Spencer your other second round pick he’s gonna occupy that one so now you got a situation where you got three guys on two ways you got 15 guys uh well 14 and then of course we’ll see how the luuk Canard situation plays out but that’s that’s part of this free agency front why the Grizz are quiet so Joe I like to think of it like this uh there’s some movement that needs to be made on the roster in order to create the space to be more aggressive in free agency but those things don’t just happen overnight if you want to trade players under contract for example and and and you’re gonna have to probably attach assets on top of that uh teams have to agree to that and you only have a certain amount of teams that you can even do that with like uh as of right now I think there are only like six teams in the NBA with cap space and only two teams think Detroit and Utah have a considerable amount of cap space where they could easily take on a John kar’s contract or Z Williams contract or someone like that uh so the point is you shouldn’t have expected much from the Grizzlies coming into this off season just because of the roster layout uh the rotation is pretty much taking care of itself for the most part there should they’re going to probably be a couple moves along the margins we’ll see if they can shed salary somewhere in order to get this Luke canar thing worked out but that’s the situation now Joe they’re they’re not in the situation where they have you know five open roster spots and they can go out and sign a bunch of different guys I am as guilty as anybody of the trade machine stuff right I could sit here all day maybe this is you know when we get into the dog days of the off season in August I could sit here and give you all sorts of John conar zier Williams and two first round pick trades it takes two to tango dear listener dear viewer and if you don’t have a partner that is willing to take on those contracts is not happy to do that unless unless there are considerable draft Capital assets attached no matter what you dream up in the trade machine there is no possibility for you to improve and we have to remember who we’re talking about the Memphis Grizzlies who Zig when everybody else zags the Memphis Grizzlies who are proud of the culture they’ve built the guys that are in the system have been a part of that culture or are young enough like their new draft picks to be malleable within the culture you’re not going to G to bring in dear de rozan and say come on in dear right I feel like that’s somebody like you’re not going to go bigname hunting you’re not going to look at the Klay Thompson deal and see that they essentially got him for peanuts from the Golden State Warriors in Dallas and say oh well the Grizzlies could have done that well Klay Thompson has to want to be here Demar Rosen has to want to be here the Memphis Grizzlies I think are better equipped than any front office that Memphis has had they understand that and you need a certain type of guy that wants to be here and that takes time to find and that also takes the right amount of opportunity cost what is it worth to you let’s say DeMar rosen did want to be here okay you’re gonna have to move on from Marcus Smart is that worth it you have to debate that you have to have conversations internally you want another big that’s fine Mo vogner just went off the board in free agency back to the Orlando Magic that was a guy that I talked about on our most recent episode as a free agent free agency wish but if that guy doesn’t want to be here there’s levels to this we we assume so much when it comes to this stuff and there’s just so much that we’re not privy to yeah it’s it’s really that simple you know uh the end of the day the way the CBA is designed now is more so for teams with two stars and and put complimentary pieces around it I have no I I always ask myself why did the players agree to this but the only thing that I could come to is the players were thinking competitively they were saying hey we’re tired of the super team stuff we want balance in the league that’s the only reason I could see the players agree something like this because you’re taking money out of your pocket for example yes PG just got 50 plus million uh a year with Philly but La the Clippers weren’t going to offer him a comparable deal or even more money than that which they could have simply because they don’t want to go into the second apron that second apron is scaring teams there are going to be other teams if the second apron didn’t exist Paul George would be a much wealthier man he and he beat with the Clippers still so uh it’s a it’s they’re taking money out of their pockets to in it’s to to some of the players are you know not all of them but the star players uh in certain situations I think you’re going to see more situations like Paul George uh going forward but but yeah as it as it pertains to the Grizzlies uh it’s quiet because there are certain limitations that we’ve touched on a lot that come with the first APR come with second apron and you shouldn’t be in a rush to to deal with those things when right now you can pretty much comprise a good roster uh that that can compete for a championship without dealing with those limitations assuming that Luke Canard is back this is a 50- win team right now right now even without a big man like we’ve talked about and with all the fuss about how things have been going they’re a 50- win team right now and that gets you into the playoffs now where does that put you in the Western Conference you might be the five seed you might be the six seed but you’re a 50- win team and you’re in the playoffs and I think Memphis wants to get to that point develop the guys that they’ve got and roll the ball out the first round against whoever it is Come What May is that right is that wrong I guess we’ll find out and there will be people that are blamed and and celebrated for whatever does indeed come of that but they have a certain way of doing business the exception is a Marcus Smart trade or a tus Jones signing that’s not usually how they operate still possible that happens but again precedent would tell us it’s much more likely they go in the opposite direction and they stand Pat for the most part let us know what you think in the comments hit us up how do you feel about the quietness of the Memphis Grizzlies as of this recording at least you know dichael and I could go to bed and we’ll wake up to a w bomb or something at 5 in the morning uh but as of this recording still pretty silent in Memphis obviously no one’s more tuned in than to Michael he’s not disagreeing with my assessment how is that GNA look to you let us know in the comments when we come back here on lockdown Grizzlies some actual basketball being played starting next week the Vegas summer league but before Vegas it’s Salt Lake City all seven games have been announced we’ll talk about that next here on lock on Grizzlies but first this episode of lockon Grizzlies is brought to you by game time I love game time especially when it comes to summer baseball with MLB going to a game for me it would be the Washington Nationals I’m guessing for demic would be the Atlanta Braves going and checking out your favorite team for me spending time with my family first foul ball caught eating a hot dog and some you know and some ice cream whatever the case might be in the little plastic helmets you know what I’m talking about the little with the little logo soft serve Mah chef’s kiss right I promise I wouldn’t do that anymore I’m sorry I’m looking forward to making I’m sorry I’m looking forward to making memories and I know that game time is goingon to help me do it all right you can use game time for all sorts of things like last minute deals saving up to 60% off buying for last minute events like major league baseball games but also concerts comedy theater Etc toggling all in pricing will allow for you to see the total cost upfront with no surprise fast fees a checkout and Game Time provides the lowest price guarantee or they will credit you 110% of the difference take the guesswork out of buying major league baseball tickets with Game Time download the game time app create an account and use the code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again create an account redeem the code l o c k d o n NB for $20 off download game time today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed when we come back here on lock on Grizzlies we will continue our conversation about summer league stick with us welcome back to lockdown Grizzlies I am Joe Mullen joined by my co-host Michael Cole the Commercial Appeal there in Memphis Tennessee he is the Memphis Grizzlies beat writer for that publication I have been covering the Grizzlies Here There and Everywhere for over a decade between the two of us you have come to the right place for Memphis Grizzlies content consumption we are both patient with Memphis we kind of understand understand how the Grizzlies operate at this point going into I believe year six of the Zack kimman johnar Taylor Jenkins era I could be mistaken on that right the years are moving over half a decade now yeah pretty remarkable so uh we kind of know the score with these guys not too surprising that it’s going a little bit slower I know some folks are getting impatient something that you don’t have to be impatient about is Summer League basketball it is around the corner Memphis the last few years has participated in the Salt Lake City version right the kind of tuneup before going into Vegas everybody participates in Vegas uh but Memphis does the salt League or Salt Lake City summer league and then they go to Vegas after that what are some takeaways for you to Michael from this schedule my biggest takeaway was uh they start Monday right July 8th they play the hosting Jazz the Sixers and the Thunder they play three games in three nights so obviously a guy like Zack Edy I think you talked about on yesterday’s show maybe Ed plays Monday and Wednesday he won’t play that Tuesday game but then go to Vegas and you play the Kings the Mavericks the magic the Pelicans technically by record this past season the worst team on memphis’s schedule for summer league is the Memphis Grizzlies so you’re not seeing any of these top picks you’re not seeing any of those guys the the best in theory pick that is available to watch in all these games is Zack Edy that was my biggest takeaway yeah like I mean you don’t get any bronnie James you know you but I mean the top of his draft class isn’t just you know I mean it’s not like you’re missing you know Victor wiama from from last year or anything so uh but yeah that that that definitely stood out to me as well but like a reed Shepard for example to me Reed Shepard is somebody as much as I hate him for how he got cooked by the Oakland Grizzlies that’s someone who I feel like is gonna be fun to watch in summer league right like I’m gonna have to go seek out a Houston Rockets game assuming Reed Shepard plays and and watch him play I I I don’t think that there’s anybody really and maybe you disagree with me obviously there might be some second or third year guys that might check that box for these teams but there’s no other rookies aside from ed0 that I really want to see yeah he is the rookie that I want to see the most I mean and that would not have been the case last year if when Bama was on your schedule yeah right right right at all but uh you know it’s a it’s an interesting State slate of games or whatever I just I want to see how well they’re goingon to do the the summer league roster will be coming out here shortly uh with with the guys on it and whatnot like I said we we know some of the names will be on it uh there will be some names added to that as well so that’ll be interesting to see uh because from a competitor standpoint I want to see how they’re going to compete more than anything this roster is is is very manageable I think the Kings game is interesting because you know we don’t know who’s going to coach the grizzly summer league yeah this moment but I think it’ll be cool to let Anthony Carter coach it uh because he his son you know maybe gets the coach against his son you know in that case that’ll be you know uh fun to watch uh but the but the Mavs the magic the Pelicans you know no standout rookies you know from those squads so the Grizzlies honestly uh I mean we’ll see how the rest of those teams shape their rosters out but um I I expect them to to be kind of dominant um through this stret agreed and that’s one of the positive tradeoffs right like I think you’ve talked about the potential starting lineup Scotty Pippen you know cam Spencer Jay Wells GG Jackson Zack Edy yeah Trey Jon Off the Bench yeah assuming how they structure the roster around those guys and waiting to see how these other rosters shake out like you alluded to Memphis might go like six and one seven and0 because they are more youth heavy now this might go back to our previous segments point of Are We quadrupling down on depth because we have all these young guys that are summer league eligible like GG Jackson was all rookie this past season but it makes sense for him to play Summer League because he’s so young right three of them are two-way guys so it’s last year you had you know Jake laravia David Rody and all those guys down there and then you know like there was questions about whether the zier should play as with like and these are all rostered guys so that was that was a little different yeah that’s fair that’s a fair point so I think for me looking at the schedule it’s a lot of basketball in a short amount of time right I wouldn’t expect to see Edie you know maybe he plays four or five of these seven games uh but I do think that you will see a very interest interesting Dynamic with whoever coaches the Grizzlies I think that you know the Lakers from afar obviously you know Memphis is their own you know ecosystem uh but the fact that JJ reick is not coaching the summer league team for the Lakers is fascinating to me you were literally calling you were calling the NBA Finals a month ago dude and you have never coached before and now you’re just not gonna get that get those live reps summer league like coaches are allowed to do that right like if it’s Nick nurse who was an experienced championship winning coach did for Philly I just think that’s fascinating obviously reick will be there but uh you know just the way that this summer league is going to shake out because of the fact that these draft classes are not as enticing obviously I I I haven’t followed the Spurs I’m guessing wanyama is not playing summer league uh I don’t think he needs to clearly uh so my point is it’s gonna be interesting it’s going to be lower on name recognition potentially but for Memphis in particular it’s going to be higher in terms of they might be able to win this thing I can’t wait to see uh that first game too you you you know who’s on Utah’s summer league roster oh yeah your boy Kenneth Lofton Jr yeah how about that Zack Ed versus Kenneth Lofton J gonna win that let’s get right into it Ian I mean I want to see it you know just be fun to watch like so Zack is like eight inches taller than Kenny is look if Ken Lofton Jr gets off more than two shots we’ll come up with some sort of a pro Joe come on anytime Ed is on that dude and he’s in the post I’m not talking about open threes or like shots on the perimeter anytime he’s able to get off a shot on Edy on the Block I will be very impressed because I’ve watched that guy play he’s got moves don’t get me wrong he went a brick house but there yeah you’re right I mean yeah Ed is a different breed I know he went at went be in cck but Ed is a little just a little bit stronger than those D so uh I want to see it though I just want to see what it looks like it’ be a fun polarizing match up 87 foot4 300 pounds whereas Chad and wanyama are seven Footers that are like 220 pounds it’s gonna be very different but I am I agree with you that’ll be interesting to watch okay let us know what you’re looking forward to with Summer League obviously once the roster is finalized demichael and I will share our thoughts and all those sorts of things but let us know in the comments how you’re feeling about summer league approaching when we come back here on lock down Grizzlies we’re going to close out this Wednesday episode episode Adrien wowski of ESPN you know demichel very tuned in with the Memphis Grizzlies nobody’s more tuned into to the NBA than WJ and he said something pretty interesting on ESPN on Tuesday that I wanted to pick to Michael’s brain on regarding one low Markin in and Memphis perhaps calling uh with interest in him in the last year or so we’ll talk about that next year on lockdown Grizzlies but first demichel and I are having a wonderful conversation about the Grizzlies we’re not the only lockdown hosts that put on shows like this most if not all of the locked on podcast network has nuanced analytical conversations where we’re not screaming at each other this isn’t Fox Sports this isn’t ESPN this is locked on podcast Network stuff and you can find the very best each and every day of the locked on podcast network over at locked on sports today it’s the first of its kind 247 streaming service over on YouTube you can also check it out on Amazon fire under the free TV channels app make sure you’re going and looking for locked on NBA locked on NFL locked on NHL so many different ways to take in the lock on podcast Network including locked on Grizzlies and we’re very excited about locked on sports today so make sure you’re checking out on YouTube or Amazon fire when we come back Larry Markin in to Memphis probably not but it’s still fun to talk about stay with us welcome back to lock on Grizzlies I am Joe mullenax joined by my co-host Michael Cole the Commercial Appeal there in Memphis Tennessee very excited to be with de Michel on this episode as always and it’s been a good show talking summer league talking about the the sloth Pace that Memphis is moving at and free agency and whether we should be concerned about that something that caught my ear when I was checking out ESPN on Tuesday to Michael was Adrian wowski saying that multiple teams have called on Larry marinan in the past or even recently about his availability it sounds like he’s more available than he’s ever been with Utah doesn’t mean that all uh Danny a over with the jazz is not going to take a king’s ransom for for L Markin but maybe they’re actually listening to offers one of the names that Ro Janowski I want to stress he didn’t make it sound like it was in the last two days but in the past one of the names that has been brought up as a team that has inquired about the availability of Larry marinin is the Memphis Grizzlies and let’s say it costs the same as Mel Bridges right we’re talking five first round picks we’re talking GG Jackson there’s all sorts of reasons why I wouldn’t do this trade right I want to stress this isn’t necessarily what I would do but I’m curious as to how you would see his fit in Memphis because this past season he played very limited reps at small forward he was mostly a power forward for the Jazz he’s about seven foot tall yeah how would he fit now that you have Zack Edy jiren Jackson Jr do you play him at the three if this was even possible do you entertain trades where you might be moving on from Bane or jiren to save some draft Capital to me that’s that’s a non-starter right I’ve got my three guys I’ve got I’ve got jiren I’ve got Dez Marcus Smart and five first round picks for Larry marinin if I thought it would fit roster Wise It’s hard to not say that that makes Memphis a championship Contender right like I think that’s worth pondering I don’t know that I would do it because that’s a hell of a lot of draft Capital but just the fact that Memphis was brought up in these discussions what do you think of Markin and’s fit I’m not positive if they were willing to give up that many picks for Mel Bridges that’s the one thing that makes me pause to Michael if they were willing to part with four first round picks which is the documented report from numerous sources that that was one of the offers that was made it was either for Bridges or Kevin Durant they’ve shown the capacity to offer that type of capital yeah is that worth it for low Markin in in your view so so let’s Circle back to the the idea of Mar in Memphis and the theory here’s here’s here’s the point that the the thing to take away from this you know I think and it’s something I’ve said before and it’s it’s one of those things that people don’t actually love to hear but it’s the truth uh the idea that jiren Jackson Jr will be the Grizzly Star and Center at the beginning of the next season or beginning of this upcoming season is still not a moot point jiren Jackson Jr very well still even with Zack Ed on this roster even with Brandon Clark on the roster jiren it’s very realistic that jiren Jackson Jr is the starting center for the Memphis Grizzly that’s a great point you gotta you you you got to remember that part when you when you think about why would they pursue AI marketing the Grizzlies are not married to the idea that jiren is the power forward they’re married to to the idea that he’s a starter in the front court and he’s a big Court piece of the future but that does not mean that he’s the power forward of the future so that’s where uh the marketing interest in my in my mind makes the most sense and uh that brings us to to a bigger point of the idea that me and you’ve talked about a lot is jarn a four is he a five and all of that but uh that’s where I think the conversation starts I’m not saying that jiren will be the starting center at the beginning of the next at the beginning of this upcoming season or whatever the case may be because again we’ve talked about the idea that the Grizzlies need to add more depth at Center in free agency whenever they can you know free up a roster spot or whatever the case may be and in that case Zack could potentially be your starting center or they could they say he’s a rookie we’re going to start Jing that Center the beginning of the year give him some backup minutes and uh we’ll see where we are in January like that’s very that’s very well a possible a situation here that’s where I think the markting and fit uh the idea of him joining the team comes into play with the idea that the Grizzlies are saying if we put jiren at Center who are some of the guys that make sense to get us over the hump uh you’re right I don’t see them playing him at power forward you know not the way the Grizzlies play or whatnot uh if if there was real interest there and you’re right it it would also take a h not only because Lori marinin is you know one of the better uh I guess you could say young stars at his position in the game but Danny a you do your research on Danny a he’s the reason right now that Boston uh is is part of is a big reason why Boston is in the position that it was because people forget that Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown were top five picks backtack years off pick acquired by the Celtics not picks from the Celtics just being a terrible team and uh those picks were from the Brooklyn Nets uh when they traded Kevin Garnett and Paul Paul Pierce at you know pretty much close to the end of their careers so uh Danny a is gonna get his you’re not gonna get over on Danny y it just doesn’t happen so um he’s one of those guys I tend to say hey stay stay away from him unless you know you got a nice uh likable deal but more marketing is a nice piece I’m not really sure about the idea of him in Memphis because of the fact that Jan would be the center I’m not uh I don’t really love that idea uh but I mean if you if you got more in marketing I mean if you had the opportunity to get them if if the Jazz even listen and said okay let’s keep talking I do think you pick up the phone and and you you say hey let’s let’s talk through this the thing that makes me the most nervous about marketing we talked a lot about this first apron second apron those sorts of things if you bring in marketing he’s on the last year of his deal right so you’re second apron team you’re going to be a second apron team and you’re assuming that you’re keeping all of these guys Robert per is one of the re richest owners in the NBA I haven’t checked the rankings lately he was top five recently like Steve balmer’s in a class all by himself which is why we talk about the apron rules like if the second apron didn’t exist most of these guys might be playing for the Clippers Steve balber is scared of the second what does that tell that’s exactly right he ain’t scared about spending money he’s scared of the second apron um I I think that the biggest thing for me is it makes sense if you’re going all in this year right I think it makes sense if you want to say okay Marcus smartt 25 27 29 31 all unprotected first round picks say no to that Utah and then angrew calls back and he goes actually that’s fair we’ll do it you’re like oh crap he actually said yes right and now now you’ve got a starting five of Morant Bane DG Jackson Vince Williams Jr take your pick Lowry Markin and jiren Jackson Jr with a bench that includes a Luke Canard and a Zach Edy now as your Sixth Man big you know imagine Markin in playing next to Edy as well as jiren playing next to Ed imagine the front Court Brandon Clark is your fourth big right like that you’ve got four legitimate potential all stars that guys that have played at that level at some point in their careers on the same starting lineup makes you a championship contender in a tough western conference right now but what comes next right jiren Jackson Jr’s due for a contract extension he’s not going to come cheap you have to resign Markin and otherwise you gave up and mortgaged your future for essentially nothing right so you’re going to be a second apron team and you better hope to all that’s good that those guys that are on your roster currently are able to supplement because if they’re not you just lost every single path to build around them there’s future yeah your future is those four Dudes that’s a bold strategy that’s a major bet to make so that’s why I would say it would you know in on paper if you’re playing NBA 2K you do that trade right let’s go play Let’s go ball when you are managing a billion doll plus team and franchise and you are trying to figure out how to keep a team in the smallest Market in the NBA successful for the long term that is a serious conversation that have to have in terms of is it worth mortgaging your future to be a team that if that trade happened maybe you put Denver in front of Memphis but I think Memphis is the second favorite in the Western Conference maybe OKC maybe but that that’s also part of the point even with that there’s still teams that you can make a legitimate argument that would be better than the Grizzlies yeah I mean it’s it’s a it’s a tough one to to pull now at the same time talking about a five out offense that’d be pretty awesome to watch they it be fun like I mean you talk I talk about the shooting struggles with this team I mean you you get a sniper like L Markin and to go in that lineup with Desmond Bane um we don’t gotta talk about that anymore we don’t have to talk about the shooting Str they be one of the most explosive offenses in the NBA and John Morant would go to another level so uh I’m not really opposed to the idea of seeing what that looks like I’m opposed to sounds like what you’re saying to the idea of that kind of uh the the limitations that it puts on you in the future because there are certain limitations that are naturally going to come because next offseason around this time a little bit before this time we’ll be talking about a jiren Jackson Jr contract extension and what that looks like and then the year after that you know there’s going to be another contract extension uh well well two years after that we’re gonna be talking about Jaws and then the year after that it’s going to be de but the the JMA is the is the big one because J and Dez already got Max uh deals that is going to be about 25% of the cap and with the case of Jaren Jackson Jr he’s probably gonna be 25% or even more of the cap which hasn’t been the case since he has this de escalating contract so uh it’s going to be real interesting to see how the future of the Grizzlies shakes out but uh yeah the idea of Lori marketing kind of uh probably made sense once upon a time I I don’t really see the Grizzlies making that move especially with what they’re trying to I mean again I said it earlier this is a roster that’s close to Championship level and they’re not even in the first apron I don’t think you have to to do all of that and and and put these limitations on yourself uh to win a championship I think you nailed it I think that they explored the market and stuff when maybe they were a little more unsure about ja or you know jiren’s not doing what they want you know what I’m saying like I feel like that makes more sense you hear more and more analysts talking about like Bobby marks of ESPN who hopefully will have on once things calm down in the off season um the way the teams are starting to look at it is you have two Max guys right and then it’s complimentary guys around that because you want to avoid that second apron at all costs what does that mean for jiren Jackson Jr right and that’s GNA be something that’s going to Bear watching maybe Memphis again they zag when everybody else ziggs right so maybe Memphis says you know what screw it we’re gonna go 75% of our cap in these three dudes and we’re just gonna have draft picks and we’re going to try to build around them and and see if we can do the best that we can it’s going to be fascinating to watch how other teams build with these new rules and the Grizzlies are walking through that just like anybody else so let us know what you think in the comments Larry marinin probably not going to be a Memphis Grizzly but it’s fun to dream and like I said Adrian wowski bringing his name up that carries a little bit of weight doesn’t mean it’s gonna happen but I do believe a phone call was made at some point uh thank you so much for being with us on this Wednesday edition of the show it’s the 4th of July the next time that we’re together and we’re going to talk about some NBA fireworks some more updates on NBA free agency uh maybe an early take on who’s gotten better who’s gotten worse that sort of stuff and you know again maybe the rosters will be out for summer league and we can go a little bit more in depth with what we’re working with here partner oh yeah yeah for sure uh looking forward to that and um looking forward to seeing what other pieces they put on the roster as well I think the guys that we’ve covered pretty much are the main names to watch for it and also you know zachie isn’t it hasn’t been he’s not 100% on the roster at this point so to actually see his name listed on the roster that’s going to be confirmation to what you know many people believe at this point is that he will be on the roster but it has not been stated uh yet or reported yet that he he’s on the roster so um true that’s that’s G to be uh uh something worth watching as well that would be a very Grizzly thing to do is convince him to not play for Team Canada and then they say oh he doesn’t need to play Summer League yeah we got Trey Jimson Trey Jimson you’re the starting center for the summer league Grizzlies there there’s Zach Ed sitting on the bench in Vegas instead of getting ready for the Olympics that would be that would be quite a kick in the pants but again these Memphis Grizzlies you never know with these guys so um it’s going to be a great show on the fourth of July before you go to your cookout whatever the case might be celebrate with the Michael and I heading into our fourth of July episode thank you so much for being with us today make sure you’re checking out locked on sports today on YouTube as well as Amazon Fire free TV channels app like comment rate review subscribe wherever you get podcasts YouTube Apple Spotify Amazon continue to make lock on Grizzlies part of your NBA and Memphis Grizzlies content consumption for demichel I am Joe thank you thank you thank you once again we will catch you on the 4th of July we appreciate each and every one of you that have spent some of your day with us here at lockdown Grizzlies we hope you will do so again tomorrow see you then

Three days into free agency, the Memphis Grizzlies have not made a move. In this episode of Locked On Grizzlies, hosts Damichael Cole and Joe Mullinax discuss the latest in free agency, Grizzlies summer league schedule and a Lauri Markkanen report.

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8 comments
  1. Memphis passed on some great, very cheap, centers that would have gladly signed here.

    The only reason for not signing Luke kennard immediately is to avoid the first apron temporarily, sign using an mle, then sign Luke.

    If you’re not going that route, then why put Luke through this big stall?

    It does seem that we are really timid about money and the clock is going to start ticking on this amazing squad. At some point you have to go all in, if you don’t, the likelihood of winning it all is dramatically diminished.

    My biggest fear is that we have a front office more worried about profit than winning. I get it but if you have 15 owners that don’t view this as a profit thing, it makes beating them difficult.

  2. If Jaren Jackson Jr. can genuinely play center, he needs to prove it to his teammates and against players like Nic Claxton and Anthony Davis. While it might be exciting to see Lauri Markkanen join the Grizzlies, it's not necessary to acquire a high-caliber player to win a championship. The Grizzlies can succeed through continuity and by having serviceable players in positions where they might be weak, such as at the backup center and the backup point guard spots.

  3. I don't want the Grizzlies to go all in on just anyone just to make a move. If they go in on someone, I hope it's someone who is somewhat healthy and good for the culture.

  4. Excellent show! Our off season is going exactly how I predicted for the reasons stated in the show. We have been injured for 3 entire seasons.. the projected starting lineup has played 21 games together in 3 seasons.

    We need a healthy season to see if the team can play together. I’m sure the front office is trying to make moves but being honest the moves we need and want to make I probably wouldn’t accept if I was the other team.

    I think we will go into the season with some holes that can be filled after this coming season.

  5. It’s the same thing every year now – they never sign free agents other than role players that come off the bench… Zach Kleiman is a gambler, just hoping and praying that the team magically stays healthy for once and that all their players play better than they ever have. Apparently he doesn’t believe in reinforcements, only replacements.

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