What are the Bucks Thinking?

ESPN is reporting that the Bucks have not made a qualifying offer to Charlie Villanueva. I am not understanding what their mind set is on this. A qualifying offer was only 4.6 million. In only 27 minutes of playing time, Charlie was the 3'rd leading scorer at 16.2 ppg and the 2'nd leading rebounder with 6.7 rpg. He shot 34.5% from 3 point range and was at 83.8% from the free throw line.

As a Bucks fan, I would have to really question the logic in allowing a player of that talent to walk for nothing. I do realize that the Bucks are over the salary cap. So the Bucks are going to say goodbye to a steady contributor to their team.

Here is where the Grizzlies come into the equation. We need a Power Forward. We need 3 point shooting on this team. We are dealing with a 3 year plan in which we are looking for younger players that can learn how to win together and be there in the future. So how does the Grizzlies and Charlie match up together.

1. Charlie is a 6-11 232 pound power forward. Though maybe just a few pounds on the slim side for his height, he does fit the position we are shopping for.

2. The Grizzlies need 3 point shooting. Charlie last season made 89 3 point shots while shooting 34.5% from 3 point range. That is a much higher percentage than any other power forward the Grizzlies have had.

3. The Grizzlies 3 year plan with younger players. Charlie fits into the 3 year plan as well. Charlie turns 25 this August. So he is young enough to grow with the franchise and be coming into his prime when our other stars are coming into their prime.

I am not saying that if we sign Charlie V that he is the Power Forward to lead the Grizzlies to the NBA Championship. But Charlie does fit the position and some of the needs that our team has at this time. Charlie would be a big improvement for the Grizzlies at the starting power forward position. I am slightly worried about his rebounding numbers. In 27 minutes last season he only averaged 6.7 per game. I would hope playing with the Grizzlies he would be playing around 34 to 36 minutes. In that amount of minutes, we would need him to be averaging 10 rebounds a game.

A starting lineup of Conley, Mayo, Gay, Villanueva, Gasol would be a nice starting lineup with 5 guys capable of averaging in double figures. That would also leave some scorers on the bench. The addition of Charlie V along with the draft picks I believe would allow us to compete for 35 to 40 wins next season. Read more!

Chris Wallace's Comments

Unfortunately for me I had ACL surgery on Thursday. This meant that I missed the Draft Party and the FedEx Forum and the press conference the following day. I emailed Chris Wallace in regards to the draft and am posting his comments here.

We are happy with the draft. Thabeet is the defensive presence the team has always lacked. He and Gasol will compete for the starting center spot. No one is handed anything, this is a competition. Haddadi will be given a shot as well. He is currently working out with us and is scheduled to return agaon in late August which should be a real benefit. Remember, he came in last year within three days of training camp.

We feel the additions of Young and Carroll will bolster our weak bench from a year ago. Young will play both the off guard and small forward positions while Carroll is a small forward and versatile enough to flop over to power forward when we size down, as they say in the NBA, and go small.

We are upbeat on Arthur's future and look forward to seeing him in summer league.

Blair was ranked below Young and Carroll with us, however, if Young had been select prior to 36 we would have picked Blair as he was the highest ranked player still available at the point. So we were very close to getting him.

We will be aggressive seeking out trading opportunites but it is too early to forecast what awaits us on that front.

Go Grizzlies!

Chris Wallace

I want to thank Chris Wallace for taking time to give me these comments regarding the draft.

David

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Thabeet rolls on in Memphis

Last night the Grizzlies ended up keeping the 2'nd pick and drafted Hasheem Thabeet. I kept wondering if they were then going to trade him later in the night like the Grizzlies did last season with Kevin Love. When it was announced that the Grizzlies instead traded Darko Millicic to the New York Knicks, that told me they intend to keep Thabeet. So we now have another international 7 footer on the roster.

It will be interesting to see how they are going to use Thabeet. You know he will get playing time ahead of Hamed Haddadi, but will he start over Marc Gasol. I can't believe that would be the case because you can't afford to take the offensive game of Gasol and put that on the bench with the lack of offense of Thabeet. So with that in mind, does that mean Gasol will play about 31 minutes like he did last season and Thabeet back him up and play the other 17 minutes. That seems like not enough minutes for the 2'nd pick that you drafted to make a defensive difference. However the playing time works out for these 2 players, I am sure that this will put Hamed Haddadi back on the bench or perhaps back in the NBDL.

I have heard an option mentioned is to move Gasol to the 4 spot and play him along side Thabeet at the 5. The problem I see with this is that you drafter Arthur last season and then you drafted DeMarre Carroll with the 27'th pick. He averaged 16.6 ppg and just over 7 rebounds per game. If you play Gasol at the 4 with Carroll coming off the bench, then what do you do with Arthur and Warrick if you resign him.

I believe the Grizzlies did well in the 2'nd round drafting Sam Young. I believe he will be a great backup for Rudy Gay. He averaged 19 ppg and just over 6 rebounds as well. Hopefully he will be able to score well off the bench. He could be possibly be a great 6'th man for the Grizzlies. Hopefully, Young along with the newly acquired Richardson and Warrick will be able to provide some consistent scoring from the bench. Richardson in 26 minutes was averaging just over 10 ppg. Warrick averaged 11.6 in 24.7 minutes off the bench. I think the bench with these 3 guys leading need to average 25 to 30 points on a nightly basis.

What do you do with Arthur, Jaric, and Buckner? As it stands now, Jaric would be again the backup for Conley at the point. But I think now might be the opportunity to play O.J. at the point some in relief of Conley and give a few of Jaric's minutes to Richardson. That would allow the Grizzlies to maintain more scoring threat on the floor. To many times last season when the 2'nd unit came in, the scoring died. The only somewhat consistent scorer was Warrick. As far as Arthur and Buckner, I think they won't see much playing time this season. If I was Chris Wallace, I would try to see if I could trade any of the three, Jaric, Arthur, or Buckner and try to obtain a backup point guard. Read more!