The Grizzlies trade Jay Huff, sign Jock Landale, and begin Summer League

The Grizzlies trade Jay Huff, sign Jock Landale, and begin Summer League

[Applause] Mor with a running start. Element overdone. Gasol will turn his he is gone. Memphis on top. 17 remaining. And finally now a three. Count it. A 15-point lead for Memphis. And Blake Griffin gets into it on the floor with Randol. Hard to tell if there are any punches being thrown under there, but Griffin took exception. Adams going long. Mor [Applause] insanity. You got to be kidding me. Welcome to Grits and Grinds, a Memphis Grizzlies podcast. My name is Keith Parish. The Grizzlies made a trade. They signed a center. Maybe to address their front court needs, maybe for other reasons. The Grizzlies also kicked off Summer League by beating the world’s champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the Salt Lake City Summer League. So, on today’s episode, I’m going to talk about all those things. Going to say goodbye to Jay Huff. Before I do, just a reminder, if you want to support the creation of this show, you can do that at patreon.com/fastbreak. If you sign up over there for $5 a month, you can join the listener Slack channel. You get access to bonus content, including bonus episodes. You also can play fantasy basketball and football with me when the time comes later in the fall. Uh, thanks by the way to Lou and Jack who just signed up over at patreon.com/fastbreak breakfast. All right, the Grizzlies traded Jhuff. Jhuff of the Huff stuff and the Huff Snuff is no longer on the Grizzlies. He was sent to the Indiana Pacers for one second round pick and another second round pick swap. After this trade was announced, Sham Sherania lets us know that the Grizzlies are going to sign Jock Landale, who was recently cut by the Houston Rockets. Now, many of you could be asking, why did we get rid of Jay Huff for Jock Land? Well, I’ll tell you. At least I’ll tell you what I think is going on here. Uh, a lot of things going on actually. I think one very importantly the way this is being ordered the order in which these transactions are taking place creates more cap space creates more space more money to pay Jiren Jackson Jr. that deal that’s been agreed to to renegotiate the final year of his contract. So the Jay Hoff deal initially that happening first is about clearing up a little more space. It’s about maybe preventing the team from having to wave and stretch Cole Anthony. Now, the salary cap nerds, as I affectionately call them, they’ve basically circled that the Grizzlies still need to create about $4 million more in cap space to give Jiren all the money to pay him the agreed upon rate. That’s essentially a max contract. I uh have not updated my spreadsheets, by the way. One, because I’m not very good at it. Actually, that’s the main reason. I’m not very good at it. I don’t want to get it wrong. I’m waiting for everything to settle before I try to figure out what’s going on. But by trading away Jay Huff, they cleared off Jay Huff’s money from the books. The Jock Landale signing hasn’t happened yet. It’s just agreed to going to be for a minimum. We feel like based on again the things the Grizzlies can do. If they give all their cap space to Jiren, if they use the entire room exception on Tai Jerome, then they just have minimums left unless they do signing trades and things. But this won’t be a signing trade. This will be a signing. But anyways, you get rid of Jay Huff to create more cap space. Now, are we sad to see Jay-Huff go? Sure. Jay Huff was pretty good last year. There was a stretch where Jay Huff was this magical shot blocking, lobcatching, three-point hitting stretch five. He led the NBA in true shooting percentage through like 20 games of the NBA season. I was having fun with that. Lot of great numbers. the analytics people confused because of the true shooting percentage, the numbers, the prototypical rim protector and floor spacer. Like, why doesn’t he play more for the Grizzlies? I mean, there were some numbers that weren’t particularly kind to Jay as far as the onc court numbers, but that’s not his fault. Those are murky at times, that statistic, very noisy statistic. Uh Jup struggled at defense at times, but I think basically this is less about Jhop the player. There is some thought that Jock Landale maybe more of the type of center. They want someone closer to Zack Ed’s game, a screener, a better rebounder. This way you don’t have to totally change your style of play depending on the guys. Jock Landel arguably a more proven NBA player with Jiren Hurt possibly could miss the start of the season with Zack Edi going to miss the start of the season. you needed front court help. Jock Landale arguably can hold up maybe to more minutes to being a temporary starter. He had a lot of success filling in for Alpurn Shingun a couple of years ago as the starter. So I think the idea is Landale more dependable, but it’s less about that. I think it’s some about that, but it’s more about again cleaning up the cap sheet, shaving off more money, hopefully preventing you from stretching and waving Cole Anthony. More on that in just a second. Also, I don’t know if you know this, the Grizzlies are not close to winning a championship. Zack Kimman said it many times, so maybe now people won’t get angry when I say it. The Grizzlies are not close to winning a championship. Jay Huff is not the key player that’s going to help you, oh, I don’t know, win two more basketball games in the regular season. Jay Huff’s not getting you out of the playin or the first round, there are other Jay-Huffs out there. At this point where the Grizzlies are, even if you weren’t trying to create cap space for a specific purpose, if a team offers you a second round pick for Jay Huff, I think where the Grizzlies are, you say, “Yeah, okay, let’s do it.” Turning Jay Huff into a second round pick and a swap, it’s great. I mean, Jay Huff’s old, frankly, as far as his NBA experience. He’s going to turn 28 in August. He fell out of the rotation at times. He’s not a guy you even play every night. So, he’s totally replaceable as far as a guy at the end of your roster. You can get another one of these guys. Being able to turn him into second round picks, one second round pick and a swap. That’s a great bit of business. It’s also a great reminder of maybe the importance of summer league. Flashback last summer, Jay Huff was playing summer league for the Orlando Magic. I might have identified him as a player I would wave Trey Json for as far as uh swapping out your two-way guys. That’s exactly what the Grizzlies did. So, this is a great bit of business by the Grizzlies front office. One, identifying Jay Huff last summer, getting him on a two-way deal, converting him to a standard contract, and then trading him for future draft assets. That’s all great. So, while we liked Jay Huff, while he was pretty good, while he ended up somehow playing more games than the Grizzlies, than Marcus Smart and Derek Rose combined. Also, by the way, he scored way more points last season than the best Chandler Parson season, the best uh Justice Winslow Grizzly season. Also, of course, Marcus Smart or Derrick Rose. Again, last year’s single season scoring total for Jay Huff, higher than any of those other players ever had in a season on the Grizzlies. But you move on and I don’t know if Jock Landale is an important piece for the Grizzlies or, you know, do they have to go ahead and agree to this deal? Could they not maybe shop for a better center? I guess they thought this was the best guy out there. He’s proven he can start some. He can handle uh a heavier workload in the NBA. And thus, you bolster your front court. You take care of some of the concerns you have with your injuries. You get a a bruising, he’s not the biggest guy. He’s 6’1, a natural center who can rebound a little bit better, set some screens, be a tough defender, uh who’s not going to space the floor at all. And that’s how you fill out your roster. Now, going back to the Cole Anthony situation, which again, we sort of assumed it probably looked like they were going to have to wave him, get a buyout, and then stretch his contract. One of those things. And not a fan of doing that necessarily. This move getting rid of Jay Huff right now. And again, he’s going to the Pacers. The Pacers, it’s a clean fit with them losing Miles Turner, which we still think is going to happen. It hasn’t officially happened yet, but with the Bucks somewhat unexpectedly waving and stretching Damen Lillard and then agreeing to a deal with Miles Turner, all of a sudden the Pacers, who cheaped out and didn’t want to pay luxury tax to keep Miles Turner, said we can get 65% of Miles Turner for30th [Music] of the cost in Joff. And so it seems like a fine fit. They’ll do center by committee, do the Moneyball meme, recreate Miles Turner in the aggregate with Jay Huff and Thomas Bryant and Tony Bradley and maybe a return to health Isaiah Jackson. But it makes sense for the Pacers. It could be a good opportunity for Jay for the Grizzlies. You you turn that guy into couple second round picks. You create that space where now you only have to get rid of $4 million more dollars to give Jiren his contract. So, the ways this could happen if you don’t stretch the Cole Anthony contract, the easiest way would be for hopefully Cole Anony’s agents to find another NBA team that would pay him $4 million for this upcoming season. And then the Grizzlies could do a buyout with Cole saying, “Hey, you give you give us back $4 million and then your next team will make you whole and that way we clear this cap space. We pay Jiren. we don’t have to stretch you and have your dead money on the books for the next couple of years. That doesn’t seem that likely to me. Those things don’t normally happen like that. Normally, it’s a minimum contract that Coenthy would maybe be looking at and that would be the buyout and thus the Gries would still end up a couple million dollars away from what Jiren would probably or feel like he was owed the agreed to amount. Now, if Cole Anthony would agree to just a buyout at the minimum, as in he gives back the money, the minimum salary that he would make by signing with another team, you get Jiren very, very close. Maybe Jiren would just do that. But again, that seems wishful. Also, I think if you’re patient about this, you probably could still find a landing spot for John Contar. I think the way things are going as teams are still setting up their rosters for next season, there’s eventually going to be teams that end up maybe looking at their roster and saying, “Okay, we didn’t get the guys we targeted as dream targets this year and we could use a John Kar.” And we’ve seen deals being made. We’ve seen other teams make deals like you think about the Denver Nugget situation where they traded for Yonas Valunis. Jonas foundus didn’t want to go. He wants to leave the NBA. There’s still no exact resolution to this situation. But if for whatever reason the Nuggets released Jonas from his contract and Jonas gave back all of his money, well the Nuggets would have their full mid-level exception to work with, they might say, you know, we still need a center, but someone like John Kar to eat some innings in the regular season would be great for us. We will take him for free. You can see a team like the Bulls, I feel like they could use just another okay, useful player. they have their full mid-level exception available. They could take John Kchar. There are I think lots of teams maybe possibly like that where you could unload these guys. Also, I mean this is neither here nor there. John Kchar’s contract could be so useful in trades. It is very frustrating as a Gri’s fan right now. Maybe seeing some other deals that are going down. I’m specifically talking about the Norm Powell trade, which just happened as I record this on Monday, July 7th. The Heat got Norm Powell for matching salary essentially. And it’s not even expiring salary. The Heat, and again, this is breaking news. I might not have all the details. always a risk recording these episodes. But the Heat sent Kyle Anderson’s contract, which has two years left to the Jazz and also Kevin Love for Norm Powell. Norm Powell almost made the All-Star game last year. Norm Powell’s in the last year of his deal. I would love to have Norm Powell to replace Desmond Bane. The Grizzlies could have, again, it would have been legal for the Grizzlies to match Norm Powell’s salary with just Cole Anony’s deal. I’m pretty sure that would be more appealing for the Jazz. It would save them essentially the same amount of money this off season, but it would eliminate, it would get another contract off their books for next season. Theoretically, the Grizzlies could have traded. I mean, I don’t know if they were involved in these trade discussions, but you see the Heat saying, “Yeah, we’ll give you Kevin Love and this bad Kyle Anderson contract and you give us Norm Powell and they move John Collins to the Clippers. They clear cap space for this year, for this off season. And then also, you know, they actually they added money for next year because they because John Collins contract was expiring. I feel like the Grizzlies could have gotten involved if they didn’t have to renegotiate and extend Jiren. If the Grizz didn’t have to pay Jiren one year early, alas. But John Kar’s money could be super useful. You could trade him for a player making up to $13 million or so. You could trade him. We We keep talking about like a Gogo Batz trade or a Jaylen Smith or you could trade him for Kyle Anderson. You could trade him for any player making $12 million, $13 million this next season. And that’s a way the Grizzlies could rebalance their roster, get more help specific to maybe what they need to win some basketball games. So, I’m not eager like if you told them, actually, that’s a good question. Would I rather the Grizzlies wave and stretch Cole Anthony and have dead money on the books for the following two seasons after this one or just salary dump John Kchar and not have his matching salary? It’s tough. I mean, if you told me we were going to keep Cole Anony’s matching salary, then I’d say, okay, let’s just salary dump John Kchar. But I think what could happen if they move on from John Kchar’s money, they get off his money for nothing. Or maybe by using that top 50 protected pick or top 50 protected second round pick they got in the uh Jamai Meshack deal or by moving off that second round pick swap they got from the Pacers for Jay Huff. They could use that to salary dump John Kar. I think what would then probably also happen is they still would buy out Cole Anthony and then just have an open roster spot beyond the Jock Landale spot. But anyways, that’s everything that’s going on there. That I think is the explanation for why the Grizzlies turned Jay Huff in to Jock Landale. Um, now let’s talk about the Grizzlies summer league debut in the summer league roster and we will do that right after this short break. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Okay, the Grizzlies kicked off their summer league with a win on Saturday to kick off the Salt Lake City Summer League. They were led by returning Grizzlies players GG Jackson and Jaylen Wells. Those guys both scored 20 points. The Grizzlies started three returning players, main roster players on guaranteed contracts with GG and Jaylen and also Cam Spencer. And then they started two-way player Zion Pullen who played the whole year last year for the Hustle. Also hustle player Armando Bacott. So a relatively veteran Grizzlies summer league team gets the win. the other players on the summer league team. I mean, these are some deepcut NBA prospects. Unfortunately, Cedric Coward is doubtful to play for all of summer league according to the commercial appeal as he rehabs that shoulder issue. Second round pick Javon Small did play in the game against the Jazz. He had a great left-handed layup where he did this stiff arm with his right arm. Essentially a Sha Alexander style push into the defender, but he made a tough layup with his left hand. And then he hit a shot clock beating floater. Uh seemed pretty strong out there. Otherwise, some maybe basic summer league struggle for rookie stuff. Uh he did have six assists. I mean, Cam Spencer, Jaylen Wells, and GG Jackson looked good, and that’s what you would hope to see. Cam Spencer maybe a little loose with the ball, but solid player, great looking shot. He made two out of four threes, was five for eight from the field. I mean, Gigi Jackson, I think, is the guy we focus on. Of course, the youngest player on the Grizzlies summer league team still despite him entering his third NBA season. GG looked really good, really comfortable at summer league last year. Looked really good, really comfortable in this game. I mean, the only I guess the nitpick, kind of a rough turnover near the end of the first quarter. He threw the length of the court for no reason. Gave the Thunder the ball right back. But, I mean, his driving dunk, that’s the stuff that he showed. His size and athleticism, the reason we’re so tantalized by him with his play on the wing, his ability to beat guys and just throw it down. It’s awesome. Uh, I think the highlight of the game was probably a alleyoop finish from GG where Jaylen Wells stripped Thunder first round pick from 2024. Nicola Topic, Jaylen Wells strips the ball from him, starts a fast break that finishes up with an awesome alleyoop finish by GG Jackson. As far as the non-Main guys, and again, we didn’t see Coward. He’s not going to play. uh Jamai Mhach that trade finally went official on Sunday. The Warriors were involved in the huge 17 team deal and that finally got approved and then they were able to consummate the trade with the Grizzlies where the Grizzlies traded down to move back and pick up Mhach and then they picked up a future top 50 protected second round pick for doing so. But MSAK, officially a Grizzly, should play in the game on Monday night tonight as the Grizzlies face the Jazz. Um, beyond that, I mean, I I wasn’t really impressed that impressed by that many people. Like, you could say Armando Bacott, you know, he played pretty well, five rebounds, nine points, but like he to me feels like a G-League only guy. I can’t see him. I can’t even see the Grizzlies using a two-way spot on him. I think he’ll play for the Hustle. I think that two-way spot, you’re going to save it for somebody you identify maybe in summer league or someone you already have your eye on who possibly has more NBA upside, a higher ceiling or even is more ready to help in a pinch to fill in. I think you’re probably going to use a two-way spot on a big this off season. I don’t think Bacott is that guy. I mean, they do have several bigs on the roster. They have this guy Lawson Lovering who played on Utah last season. He uh he played 10 minutes in the game on Saturday. He did get three steals, three steals a block, and uh three rebounds. That’s all right. But like they’re going to be focusing on I think the bigs who are going to play. Zion Poland did not have a good game. He was kind of a mess out there. I think he’s attempting to hang on to his two-way spot this summer. He was just one out of nine from the field for the Grizzlies. The other players who played on Saturday, Nate Hinton, he played for the the Hustle last season. Um Eftton Reed III, Jeremy Jones, Philandress Fleming Jr., neither one really uh stuck out that much to me. If any of these guys really pop in the upcoming games, I will try to learn more about them. Of course, the Grizzlies play on Monday night against the Jazz and then again on Tuesday night against the 76ers. Then they’re off to Las Vegas. I will be out there in Las Vegas covering the Grizzlies games. They play on Friday and Saturday in Las Vegas and then the following Tuesday and Thursday. By the way, if you’re in Las Vegas and you track me down, I’ll have a That’s right. I’ll probably have another Vince Williams Jr. rookie card for you. I have plenty left over from last year. As long as I remember to pack them. If you find me in Las Vegas at NBA Summer League, I will give you a signed Vince Williams Jr. rookie card. That’s my deal. That’s my guarantee for you guys. Anyways, um I think that’s all that we need to do on today’s episode. I mean, the Chris has made a trade, traded away Jay Huff. They’ve agreed to a deal with Jock Landale. They kicked off Summer League. And also, there are still more dominoes to fall. Something’s going to happen to create that cap space they need to sign Jiren to the renegotiation. And I really wish they’d be out there aggressively trying to upgrade the roster. Again, when I say aggressive, I’m not even talking right now about trading away future picks. Maybe this is the thing that separates us outsiders the most from the people who work for the teams. I think as an outsider, we watch these transactions. We watch these players play and we’re like, wait, why why aren’t we interested in getting like a Cam Whitmore? Cam Whitmore’s 20 years old or I think he turns 21 tomorrow. Cam Whitmore, lottery talent. sure can put the ball in the basket. I think most people thought he didn’t play much on the Rockets because they they have Amin Thompson and Dylan Brooks ahead of him. And so, all right, he falls out of the rotation, but he’s still young. He’s still promising. I wouldn’t mind taking a look at him. We need scorers. We need people who can put the ball in the basket. Wizards get him for a couple second round picks, only slightly more than the Pacers played for Jay Huff. You see that? You see the Norm Powell trade? I haven’t seen Bradley Beal out there. I’m like, I’ I’d take Bradley Beal for free. Although, the Grizzlies can only offer Bradley Beal a minimum. I think he’s going to probably make more once he gets bought out. Anyways, uh with that, I’ll wrap up. If you want to support the creation of this show, do that at patreon.com/fastbreak. [Music] Thank you so much to everyone who already does that over there. All right, you guys have a great Monday. I’ll talk to you soon. Go Grizz. [Music]

The Grizzlies traded back-up center Jay Huff to the Indiana Pacers over the weekend, and reportedly will bring in Jock Landale to bolster the front court. Also, the Summer Grizzlies kicked off summer league with a win over the Thunder, where GG Jackson, Jaylen Wells and Cam Spencer led the way.

This episode discusses the Grizzlies signing Jock Landale, the decision to trade away Jay Huff, the salary cap ramifications, plus- the Summer League victory.

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