The Grizzlies have picked SG/PG Greivis Vasquez with the 28th overall pick of the NBA Draft. The 23-year old Vasquez brings nice size to the court at 6′6″, 200 pounds. He played in 33 games (32 starts) at Maryland last season and he averaged 19.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game. He played in 136 games (123 starts) in his four years in college and he averaged 16.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game. I really like this pick for the Grizzlies as Vasquez can play both guard spots.

The Grizzlies used the #25 overall pick on 21-year old shooting guard Dominique Jones out of South Florida and they then traded him to the Mavericks for cash considerations. Jones played in 95 games (94 starts) in three years at South Florida and he averaged 18.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game. The Grizzlies probably should have kept Jones because he’s the kind of offensive player they need coming off the bench.

The Grizzlies have selected 19-year old shooting guard Xavier Henry out of Kansas with the 12th overall pick of the NBA Draft. Henry played in 36 games (all starts) at Kansas last season and he averaged 13.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Henry will likely back up O.J. Mayo as a rookie but he could easily develop into a starting player down the road.

A lot of teams have cleared cap space this summer but not every one of those teams are going to get some of the great unrestricted free agents on the market. That means that 23-year old SF Rudy Gay will likely be pursued by a lot of teams driving up the price for the Grizzlies but they have little option but to match it or they will be looked down upon. Gay played in 80 games (all starts) for the Grizzlies last season and he averaged 39.7 minutes, 19.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He has now played in 318 games (281 starts) in his four years with the Grizzlies and he has averaged 35.3 minutes, 17.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Gay has played the 8th most games in Grizzlies’ history with 318. He is also # in three pointers made (337), #8 in rebounds (1,756), #3 in steals (198), #6 in blocked shots (276) and #3 in points scored (5,538) in team history. Hopefully Gay will be re-signed so he can move higher up in the Grizzlies’ record book.

UPDATE: (6/30/2010) - The Grizzlies have extended a qualifying offer to Rudy Gay giving the Grizzlies a chance to match any offer he gets. The Timberwolves seem willing to offer Gay a lot of jack so it will be interesting to see if the Grizzlies’ front office does the right thing by matching it.

UPDATE II: (7/1/2010) - The Grizzlies have re-signed Rudy Gay to a 5-year, $81.6 million dollar deal. This is a excellent move for the Grizzlies as it proves that they are serious about putting a winning team on the basketball court.

The Grizzlies have 2 restricted free agents and 3 unrestricted free agents heading into this summer. The Grizzlies should match any offer made to Rudy Gay who is one of the restricted free agents this summer. He has really developed into a solid player in Memphis and it would be a shame to watch some other team steal him away. Ronnie Brewer is the other restricted free agent on the Grizzlies and they would like to bring him back too as they traded a first round pick for him near the trade deadline. Steven Hunter, Jamaal Tinsley and Marcus Williams are the unrestricted free agents for the Grizzlies and I don’t see any reason for them to bring any one of these three guys back.