With a “Welcome Back Mike” message on the marquee above the dais, the Grizzlies celebrated the return of a franchise favorite today at the lobby of FedExForum.
Flanked by head coach Dave Joerger and team CEO Jason Levien at a spirited and well-attended public press conference, the newly signed Mike Miller praised his new team with a long string of defensible superlatives: Joerger as “an unbelievable hire.” Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol as “the best big-man combo in the league.” Conley as “the most underrated player in the league.” Add in a “lockdown defender” in Tony Allen and the “championship pedigree” of Tayshaun Prince, and Miller made clear he sees this Grizzlies team as one that can compete to get where his most recent employer has been for the past three seasons: In the NBA Finals.
Larry Kuzniewski
Levien indicated that the team had been game-planning a potential Miller amnesty since before the past season ended. Miller revealed that Levien was one of his first phone calls when the amnesty came down. And the tone of the day underscored how close a relationship Miller and Joerger have.
“Isn’t this great?,” a Grizzlies employee said afterward, surveying the scene. “Great that it’s not happening in Oklahoma City today,” another onlooker answered. And that’s part of it.
The Miller introduction felt like the peak of the late-summer momentum that seems to have firmly re-entrenched the Grizzlies as a legitimate Western Conference contender. And Joerger went into a bit of detail about how Miller can factor on the floor, not only in spacing the court for the team’s power players but also using his versatility to give the team more playmaking and more small lineup options.
