The Grizzlies have acquired 24-year old power forward Marreese Speights from the 76ers in a three-team deal also involving the Hornets.  The Grizzlies have sent 20-year old shooting guard Xavier Henry to the Hornets and a 2nd round pick in 2012 to the 76ers as part of this deal.  The 76ers will also get a 2nd round pick in 2013 from the Hornets.  Speights played in 64 games (1 start) for the Sixers last year and he averaged 11.5 minutes, 5.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  He has now played in 205 games (4 starts) in his first three years in the NBA and he is averaging 14.7 minutes, 7.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  Speights will definitely help up front due to the injury to Zach Randolph.  Xavier Henry played in 38 games (16 starts) for the Grizzlies as a rookie last year and he was averaging 13.9 minutes, 4.3 points, 1.0 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.

The Grizzlies will be without 30-year old, starting power forward Zach Randolph for the next 6-8 weeks due to a torn ligament in his knee.  Randolph has played in 4 games (all starts) for the Grizzlies so far this year and he is averaging 28.3 minutes, 14.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.3 steals per game.  He has now played in 160 games (159 starts) in his first three years with the Grizzlies and he is averaging 36.8 minutes, 20.3 points, 11.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.  Randolph is going to be very hard to replace for the Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies have signed 24-year old power forward Dante Cunningham to a 3-year, $6.3 million bucks.  Cunningham played in 78 games (18 starts) for the Trailblazers & Bobcats last year and he averaged 21.0 minutes, 6.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.  He has now played in 141 games (20 starts) in his first two years in the NBA and he has averaged 16.6 minutes, 5.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  This was a nice signing for the Grizzlies as Cunningham will back-up Zach Randolph.

The Grizzlies have lost 23-year old power forward Darrell Arthur for the rest of the season due to a torn Achilles tendon.  Arthur played in 80 games (9 starts) for the Grizzlies last year and he averaged 20.1 minutes, 9.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.  He has now played in 188 games (73 starts) in his first three years with the Grizzlies and he is averaging 18.8 minutes, 6.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.  The Grizzlies are now in the market for another big man as they are suddenly a tad thin in the frontcourt.

The Grizzlies have re-signed 26-year old center Marc Gasol to a 4-year, $58 million dollar contract.  Gasol played in 81 games (all starts) for the Grizzlies last year and he averaged 31.9 minutes, 11.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.7 blocked shots per game.  He has now played in 232 games (225 starts) in his first three years with the Grizzlies and he is averaging 32.7 minutes, 12.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game.  The Grizzlies might have overpaid for Gasol a little bit, but that’s o.k., as they are ready to be a legit contender in the Western Conference this year and beyond.

The Grizzlies picked 20-year old, 6’2″, 183 pound shooting guard Josh Selby with the 49th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.  Selby didn’t play too well in his only year in college.  He played in 26 games for Kansas last year and he averaged 20.4 minutes, 7.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.  Selby only shot 37.3% from the floor last year.  The Grizzlies have a lot of players ahead of Selby at shooting guard, so they should be able to bring him along slowly.

The Grizzlies have five free agents coming into this off-season, so some tough choices are going to have to be made.  If all starts with center Marc Gasol, who is a restricted free agent.  Gasol and Nene’ are the best two free agent centers on the market this summer, so the Grizzlies are going to have to ante’ up if they want to keep him in the fold.  They should bite the bullet and match any offer for Gasol, as the Grizzlies are a team on the rise.  The Grizzlies have a team option on SG/SF Sam Young and they should pick that up as he has been outperforming his contract.  SF Shane Battier will likely be allowed to leave as the Grizzlies are going to have a really high payroff if they bring almost everyone back in 2011-12.  PF Leon Powe will likely also be leaving Memphis unless he’s willing to work cheap.  Center Hamed Haddadi is a restricted free agent and I think the Grizzlies will let him go as he doesn’t appear to like Memphis too much.

24-year old SG/SF Rudy Gay is officially done for the year for the Memphis Grizzlies as he needs shoulder surgery.  Gay played in 54 games (all starts) for the Grizzlies this year and he averaged 39.9 minutes, 19.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.1 blocked shots per game this season.  Gay has now played in 372 games (335 starts) in his first five years with the Grizzlies and he is averaging 36.0 minutes, 17.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game.  The Grizzlies are getting along fine without Gay right now but they would be so much better with him.

The Memphis Grizzlies have acquired 32-year old small forward Shane Battier and 22-year old rookie point guard Ishmael Smith from the Rockets for 24-year old center Hasheem Thabeet, 24-year old power forward DeMarre Carroll and a first round pick.  Battier played in 59 games (all starts) for the Rockets this season and he averaged 30.8 minutes, 8.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game.  He has now played in 744 games (619 starts0 in his first 10 years in the NBA and he is averaging 33.2 minutes, 9.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.0 blocked shot per game.  Battier will take over as the starting small forward for the Rockets until Rudy Gay is ready to return to action.  Battier is a good defensive player and he’s very unselfish on offense while being a good three point shooter.  Ishmael Smith played in 28 games (3 starts) for the Rockets this season and he averaged 11.8 minutes, 2.6 points, 1.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.  He is only shooting 38.6% from the floor so far this year so he has some things he still needs to work on.

Hasheem Thabeet was a high first round pick in the 2009 NBA Draft but he just wasn’t good enough to earn a spot in the Grizzlies’ rotation.  He played in 45 games (0 starts) for the Grizzlies this season and he averaged 8.2 minutes, 1.2 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game.  Thabeet played in 113 games (13 starts) in his two years with the Grizzlies and he averaged 11.1 minutes, 2.3 points, 2.8 rebounds, 0.1 assists and 0.9 blocked shots per game.  DeMarre Carroll played in 7 games (0 starts) for the Grizzlies this season and he averaged 5.6 minutes, 1.4 points, 1.1 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  Carroll has now played in 78 games (1 start) in his first two years in the NBA and he has averaged 10.7 minutes, 2.8 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  Carroll has only shot 39.8% from the floor and 63.6% from the free throw line so far in this NBA career.  Thabeet, Carroll and a first round pick seem like a pretty steep price for Shane Battier but give the Grizzlies credit for trying to win right now.

The Grizzlies have signed 26-year old SG/SF Rodney Carney to a 10-day contract.  Carney played in 25 games (1 start) earlier this season with the Warriors and he averaged 13.2 minutes, 5.0 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  He has now played in 297 games (48 starts) in his first five years in the NBA and he is averaging 15.5 minutes, 6.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  This was a good signing for the Grizzlies as Carney is a decent bench player.