Larry Kuzniewski
I don’t have a picture of Ryan Hollins in a Griz jersey so here’s Dave Joerger.
According to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports, the Grizzlies are going to cut newly-signed Joerger favorite reserve center Ryan Hollins in order to make room to sign Elliot Williams of the Santa Cruz Warriors to a 10-day contract.
The tweets below:
Grizzlies expected to sign D-League Santa Cruz guard Eliot Williams to a 10-day contract, source said.
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) January 7, 2016
The Grizzlies will open a roster spot for D-League Santa Cruz guard Elliot Williams by cutting center Ryan Hollins, source told Yahoo Sports
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) January 7, 2016
The Grizzlies waived Russ Smith in order to sign Hollins, after the Brandan Wright injury (among other things) had the Grizzlies thin in the frontcourt. Pretty much immediately, Mike Conley got injured, only now the Grizzlies only had Conley and Mario Chalmers on the roster to run point.
I’m not a believer that Hollins is anything but a replacement-level NBA player at best, so I’m not really upset if this report turns out to be true. And the Grizzlies (or Dave Joerger anyway) had clearly given up on Russ Smith’s prospects as an NBA point guard.
As long as the Grizzlies don’t do anything that jeopardizes their future flexibility (see today’s rant about the state of the team) I don’t have a problem with this. But if things continue to get worse with the injury situation, the Griz will have to start doing something more drastic than fiddling with the end of the bench to clear space. Maybe some two-for-one trades for expiring contracts?
Oh yes, about those.
Sam Amick reported in a video that the Timberwolves have been trying to pull off a Courtney Lee/Kevin Martin swap. Both players are underperforming their season averages, but Martin has another year on his deal, so… if the Grizzlies take back Kevin Martin’s contract, I think it’s a mistake, unless they can (1) stretch provision Martin this summer and (2) get Tyus Jones, who they liked in the draft, in the deal. I doubt that happens, so hopefully they don’t do the deal and waste time/money/my emotional injury on another over-the-hill wing player instead of bringing in youth and athleticism.
At any rate, don’t be surprised if this Hollins/Williams business happens sooner rather than later.
