2011 Van Memphis Grizzlies Presser

[LoCo89]

Van Memphis (Elder), South Dakota

(Midway Between Vancouver and Memphis)

GM Enrique walks out of the basketball gym and into the connected conference room. As this years training camp closes, he is visibly happier than he has been. He claps his hands together as he begins

GM Enrique: Good afternoon everyone, we're just finishing up Training Camp and getting ready for our first preseason game against the Charlotte Hornets.

GM Enrique: For the last few years, I've come to you and preached patience as we were beginning our rebuild. I asked for trust as we were about to start a difficult and arduous journey to be a contender. I'm here to tell you today, there is now a light at the end of the tunnel. It's not very big right now, and its still a ways away, but we can see it.

GM Enrique: Last season, we felt the continued effect of not having Bobby Simmons at his former All Star level as he continued to decline as quickly as he had risen. We tried to bring in veteran forward Antawn Jamison to provide a steady hand, and that move did not really pan out for us. We managed a league worst 18 wins. We did however also have the fifth worst pick in the Pistons first from our Kyle Lowry trade with the Timberwolves.

GM Enrique: Going into Lottery Night, we announced to the other GMs that we were hoping to win the lottery with both picks in order to combine who we thought were the most exciting prospects in Kawhi Leonard out of SDSU and Jimmy Butler out of Marquette. As the lottery unfolded, we slowly saw those dreams dashed as our 5th pick stayed where it was and then we lost the top pick to the Denver Nuggets. We began to make other plans, even having talks to trade both picks on draft day with around 5 teams, and accelerate our rebuild by bringing in some veteran talent. Then Draft Day happened...

GM Enrique: The Nuggets took Klay Thompson with the first overall pick, and we were able to get Kawhi with the second pick. We made plans to deal the fifth pick as now we felt we would be able to make waves. However, the Bucks and the Jazz selected Kyrie Irving and Jonas Valanciunas. We were able to cancel our deal and selected Jimmy Butler with the fifth pick. Due to sheer luck, we were able to nab the players we came into the draft wanting. With our third pick, we were also able to bring in Marcus Morris.

GM Enrique: When we traded Anthony Morrow away, we made sure to take a deal that had two picks. There were more attractive deals out there, but we always knew we'd have to trade at least two picks if we wanted to move Bobby Simmons's contract as he declined. We were able to send him to Milwaukee, and we'd like to thank him for everything he's done for the Grizzlies franchise. He was the epitome of rags to riches in our league as he went from being picked 23rd overall to being a force for our team and a 3 time All Star. He will always have a home with the Grizzlies franchise.

GM Enrique: Seeing as how we didnt make much noise in FA, that rings us to Training Camp. All of our young guys have shown phenomenal work ethic and are starting to gel as a team. We saw excellent improvement from our last three draft classes and are excited to see these guys play together on the court. While we wont be up there, we're making strides and the we're starting to see what looks like a nice young team rounding out.

Now if there are any questions, ask away

[NOLa.]

Walk us through what the grizzlies front office was doing or thinking during your 2 picks when both Leonard and Butler fell to you.

Sent from my SM-S765C using Tapatalk

[LoCo89]

Walk us through what the grizzlies front office was doing or thinking during your 2 picks when both Leonard and Butler fell to you.

Sent from my SM-S765C using Tapatalk

So usually I'm not one to share a private group message, but this was essentially our scouting departments reaction, repeated over and over again in the chat:




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Xist2Inspire]

Random Reporter: Even though your youth movement is off to an excellent start from 1-3, down in the post is still a bit of a mystery. Is acquiring some big men the next step, or are you comfortable with being a perimeter-focused team for the time being?

[JNR]

GWR: This is the final year of Antawn Jamison's contract. We know you didn't sign it, but we just wanted your opinion: is it the worst contract in league history?

[WigNosy]

How does JJ Reddick feel about being back after you tried to trade him but got tripped up by math? Will he be a locker room cancer?

[LoCo89]

Random Reporter: Even though your youth movement is off to an excellent start from 1-3, down in the post is still a bit of a mystery. Is acquiring some big men the next step, or are you comfortable with being a perimeter-focused team for the time being?

We've taken the long term approach to this. In doing that, we've taken what was best available and simply worried about filling the holes later.

While we love what Marcus Morris and Anthony Randolph have shown, we know that if there was more talent there, they'd be more rotational than being relied on for heavy minutes.

We have a ton of options to fill in the depth there between current talent, future picks, another potential 50 million in cap space next season, and of course trades. That's the long way of saying we know we're not complete yet and aren't too worried about it just yet


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[78#]

Do you feel like you will fill your frontcourt in future draft? Also do you feel like Kawhi Leonard has the potential to be the best player you will have ever had?

Where exactly is VanMemphis?

[LoCo89]

GWR: This is the final year of Antawn Jamison's contract. We know you didn't sign it, but we just wanted your opinion: is it the worst contract in league history?

I won't say that. I will say that there was a certain sentiment about the contract when it was signed by most GMs and that sentiment has been mostly true


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[LoCo89]

How does JJ Reddick feel about being back after you tried to trade him but got tripped up by math? Will he be a locker room cancer?

JJ is many things. He's sneakily athletic. Gritty. He plays the game the right way. He's the first one in the gym and the last one out. He has a high basketball IQ. But most of all, he's a professional's professional. He quietly asked us to trade him this offseason and if we couldn't, to decline his team option. We don't expect him to cause any issues while he's with us


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[LoCo89]

Do you feel like you will fill your frontcourt in future draft? Also do you feel like Kawhi Leonard has the potential to be the best player you will have ever had?

Where exactly is VanMemphis?

As I just said to random Wizards reporter, we have a lot of options to fill out our team.

Kawhi is potentially one of the better players we've had yes.

Elder, South Dakota


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JNR]

How does JJ Reddick feel about being back after you tried to trade him but got tripped up by math? Will he be a locker room cancer?

JJ is many things. He's sneakily athletic. Gritty. He plays the game the right way. He's the first one in the gym and the last one out. He has a high basketball IQ.

WHITE