December 30, 2013

Furthermore, an unnecessary part of the Gay deal saw them opt for Prince and Austin Daye over keeping Jose Calderon and his expiring deal. (Calderon eventually went to Detroit). Daye is already gone, while Prince will cost $7.7 million next season to perform like the backup-caliber player he now is. And in an underappreciated, but increasingly sore mistake, the team moved last year's first-round pick, Tony Wroten, to Philadelphia exchange only for a second rounder, then dealt another second rounder for the rights to Nick Calathes. Wroten, four years younger and considerably more athletic, is averaging 13.8 points and 3.6 assists per game as one of the league's best sixth men, where Calathes has struggled badly on his way to 2.8 points and 2.6 assists.

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November 6, 2013

Feeling a need to cut costs, the Bulls recently shopped little-used third-string point guard Marquis Teague around the league, asking for a first-round pick in return, according to ESPN's Marc Stein. Despite being a competitive team in a big market, the Bulls are $7.5 million over the luxury tax and therefore due to be paying the $1.75-$1 rate, so they wanted to save some money while also gaining a basketball asset in the process. In the process, they deemed the player they so rarely use (and whom they want to trade before he even turns 21) to be worth asking for a first-round pick.

Three months ago, in a similar situation, the Grizzlies succeeded in trading fellow 2012 first-round pick Tony Wroten in exchange for only a 2014 second-round pick. In fact, they will only receive that second-round pick if it is between Nos. 51 and 55. Considering the pick they traded for is from Philadelphia, which will not draft that low, Memphis will never receive that pick. They therefore traded Wroten for nothing, gaining only financial savings.

When viewed together, these two players demonstrate where the market lies for first-round picks these days. In light of the Grizzlies being unable to return a single basketball asset (other than a Traded Player Exception, which the same financial constraints that necessitated they deal him will likely prevent them using) for the older, but highly comparable Wroten, Chicago's attempts to land a first-round pick for a player to have proven nothing so far look highly ambitious.

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July 8, 2013

Orlando Johnson

Johnson is simply a gifted scorer. Hesitations, spin moves, jumpshots, dribble drives, contested shots, finishing at the rim...he does it all with instinct, skill and effort. And while he takes a few too many at times, he can score both with and without the ball. It's a rare skill and he should stick for some years.

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June 30, 2012

Pick 25: With Memphis on the clock, a long discussion takes place as to what the Grizzlies need the most. It is concluded - rightly - that they need a shooter. The Grizzlies were one of the worst shooting teams in the league last season, and have just let their best shooter become an unrestricted free agent, for fear that he might accept his QO were he offered. With Jenkins having just been taken, then, attention turns to the other good shooters out there.

Naturally, then, Memphis takes Tony Wroten, one of the worst jumpshooting guards out there. To further emphasis quite how much Wroten needs to work on, Bilas points out problems with his decision making, shot making, and work ethic. Let's call him a project, then.

It is difficult at this point in the draft to strike a balance between "best prospect" and "most helpful tomorrow," especially as we are now dealing with players who likely won't manage more than a few years in the league, if that. It is also true that Memphis regularly prioritises athleticism above all else, which again seems to be the case here. Nevertheless, backup point guard has long been a problem for Memphis, especially in the wake of Jeremy Pargo's bizarre ineffectiveness in the NBA. So they do still scratch an itch.

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