Enrique Well we've arrived. Even though they haven't told me specifically, we all know I'm probably gonna be out as GM next season. You can't run a team into the ground like I have financially and expect to be brought back. As the team moves forward to navigate out of the hell hole, I imagine they'll bring some young upstart to GM the squad moving forward.
EnriqueIt's funny I'll often look back. at the trading for Rondo 3 seasons ago that kicked this off and wonder if I'd do it again. No titles, playoff runs marred by injury, poor TC results, financial ruin... And every time, as I sit there, sipping at some cocktail undoubtedly, I think yes, 10/10 of course. I can only control what I can control, and I feel like I put one of the best teams seen in this franchise's history. Sure other teams won more, but top to bottom, talent-wise, this team blows the old, Carter-Marion or Gatling-Daugherty teams out of the water.
Enrique I think about where these guys will be a year from now, Rondo as he enters his twilight, Hawes the same, Kawhi and Jimmy finally separated and it makes me a bit sad. This team should've been great... It's funny, I mentioned before how I havent been told anything about my future here, but you can tell so much by the fact there's no damn food at this presser. They finally nixed the budged on me and it was on the food at my likely last presser
EnriqueBut we still have this year. This will undoubtedly be this team's swan song, it's farewell tour, it's curtain call. We knew that coming in. In the exit meetings last season, I told the guys they'd be kept together for this last run. I was transparent with them and I only asked for one thing in return. I wanted them to use every connection they had. Call every player they knew and try to get them in here. We in the office followed every rumor of a contract offer and went to players that we knew were unhappy with their offers. Together with the players, I feel like we put together a group befitting of a last run.
EnriqueOur big coup was free agency. Yes we picked up a solid piece in the draft that could help now, in Bonifaz Wenninger who will likely be the start of the next iteration of Grizz Basketball. But Free Agency is where we shined. First we wanted some veteran PG help. We were very happy to be able to pick up George Hill and think he can spell Rajon for times. Next was our wings. We've lacked three point shooting for the last few seasons and wanted to pick up guys who could contribute in that aspect. We brought in OJ Mayo who is a self proclaimed gunner from range. In addition, we were very happy to bring in promising SG Sean Kilpatrick. He's shown flashes of being a solid guard and we hope he can help anchor our bench
Enrique Finally, we've all seen the terror that is Anthony Davis in Detroit. We wanted to make sure we could guard at the big positions for all 48 minutes and then some. We were able to pickup Jeff Adrien to solidfy the 4 spot and bring back Omer for a 3rd run with the Grizz. As we began to wind down feeling good about our class, we received a phone call. Jimmy and Kawhi were on vacation in LA and had run into Roy Hibbert. He was unhappy that he wasnt offered a contract to stay with the Clippers after being 3rd team All NBA. He wasnt satisfied with the offers that were drying up as teams went in other directions. And so I flew down to LA to meet with the 3 of them. We were able to secure Roy Hibbert and bring him to Vancouver.
Enrique So there you have it, while the team is filled out, we haven't quite decided how to deploy our rotations. We expect to experiment to start out the season. Assistant Coach Rob-O tried some things in Preseason, and we liked the mix of what we saw but ultimately it led to a poor overall preseason result. But overall we're excited as we head into this final chapter of these Vancouver Grizzlies
We will now take questions
