The Charlotte Observer is reporting that the Charlotte Bobcats will not match the Grizzlies’ three-year, $6.15 million offer sheet to restricted free-agent forward Dante Cunningham, making Cunningham now the 13th player on this season’s Grizzlies roster.
When the lockout ended and the abbreviated offseason began, the Grizzlies were strictly looking true big men — who could play power forward and center — in free agency. But losing Darrell Arthur to a season-ending torn Achilles on the eve of the opener changed — really, expanded — the team’s needs, opening the door for Cunningham, a 6’8”, 230 pound combo forward who can play behind both Rudy Gay and Zach Randolph.
The Grizzlies will be betting on the come with Cunningham, a 24-year old out of Villanova entering his third NBA season. Cunningham averaged about 11 minutes a game as a deep reserve for the Portland Trailblazers during his rookie season and then moved up to a full rotation player — about 20 minutes a game — last season, first for the Blazers and then for the Bobcats after being shipped east in the Gerald Wallace trade.
Cunningham’s skill set is roughly similar to the departed Arthur — he’s a decent mid-range jump shoot who is athletic enough to defend the pick-and-roll and score in transition. Cunningham is a little smaller than Arthur and less dynamic around the basket on both ends. He can’t rotate over and play small-ball center the way Arthur did, but can slide over and give the Grizzlies a bigger option behind Rudy Gay at small forward, an option Lionel Hollins has longed for on this roster.
