30 teams in 30 days: Memphis Grizzlies offseason preview
By Jeff Siegel
30 teams in 30 days is a series to get you ready for the NBA offseason — a quick preview of each team’s free agent and salary cap ramifications to help set the table for their summer.
Grit ‘N’ Grind might finally meet its end this summer, as both Zach Randolph and Tony Allen are free agents and there may not be room in Memphis to bring both of them back. The Grizzlies have $74.3 million tied up in Mike Conley, Chandler Parsons, and Marc Gasol next season and restricted free agent JaMychal Green may take priority over Randolph and Allen, depending on the goals of ownership and management. Memphis will almost certainly operate as an over-the-cap team; here’s where they stand going into the summer:
The most important thing this summer for the Grizzlies is navigating the luxury tax, which has essentially turned into a hard cap for small market teams. The punitive penalties and rewards for staying out of the tax create an environment such that non-title teams desperately want to avoid it altogether. The Grizzlies start their summer $26.9 million from the estimated $121 million tax line, which won’t be enough to run it back with Allen, Green, Randolph and the ageless Vince Carter, who will probably be squeezed out and have to find a new home to continue his immortal journey.
Green showed a defensive versatility and prowess behind the 3-point line this year for which every team in the league is looking, but his consistency remains a huge question mark. A team with cap space will come along with a large offer sheet for him and the Grizzlies will find themselves in the uncomfortable position of matching Green and letting Randolph go, or relinquishing one of their youngsters to give it another go with Randolph. Green is expected to receive a contract starting in the $10-12 million range next season, though the restricted free agent market can sometimes lead to strange offers, both higher and lower, than unrestricted free agency. $11 million for Green leaves $15.9 million for Randolph, Allen, and any outside free agents the Grizzlies might bring in via their mid-level exception.
Allen has indicated publicly that he’d like to be back in Memphis and the prevailing thought around the league is that he’ll receive a slight raise from the $5.5 million he made in 2016-17. Allen won’t cash in on his enormous influence on the Grit ‘N’ Grind era, but if he takes a smaller deal with the understanding that Randolph will be back in Memphis and the Grizzlies later opt to go with Green, things could get testy between Allen and management.
It’s not impossible to bring back all three of Green, Randolph, and Allen, but it would put Memphis awfully close to the luxury tax and wouldn’t improve the team significantly. Assuming Green gets $11 million and Allen gets a raise to $6.5 million for next season, there would be just $9.4 million left to either re-sign Randolph or use part or all of their mid-level exception and bring in a couple non-guaranteed minimum guys:
Next: 30 teams in 30 days: Milwaukee Bucks offseason preview
Like so many teams this year, the luxury tax is at the forefront of everything the Grizzlies will do this summer. The salary cap has all sorts of exceptions to help over-the-cap teams add more talent, and this summer will see the mid-level exception take a large jump, but a lot of teams won’t have the opportunity to put it to work because of luxury tax concerns, which has no exceptions. As such, we may have seen the finale of the Grit ‘N’ Grind period in Memphis history.