Using the words “absurd,” “ridiculous,” and “preposterous,” Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace refuted an assertion on HoopsWorld.com today that the Grizzlies are interested in trading Javaris Crittenton to the Orlando Magic for the rights to Spanish forward Fran Vasquez in what would essentially be a cost-cutting move.
Wallace talked to Beyond the Arc via cell phone from the Athens airport, where he landed today for a vacation, and characterized the HoopsWorld report as “reaching for straws.”
“We’ve never had a conversation with Orlando about Fran Vasquez and we have no interest in Fran Vasquez,” Wallace said.
The Hoops World piece read, in part:
The Grizzlies have been exploring ways to get even further below the minimum salary number; such as trading Javaris Crittenton to Orlando for Fran Vasquez's rights and a future draft pick. Vasquez counts against the cap and the NBA minimum, but no dollars have to be paid out. The Grizz were also said to be exploring ways to get a hold of Nenad Krstic before he opted for Europe in a similar cost cutting move, get his rights let him walk to Europe, get an additional $2 million off the books.
Wallace also denied the core allegation of the piece, that the Grizzlies are seeking a way to bring their salary obligations for the coming season to the league minimum.
“That is not a concept for us,” Wallace said. “We don’t have a goal to be at the minimum.”
Wallace further commented on the possibility of exercising a trade for Crittenton or Kyle Lowry this summer. “If we make a trade for one of these guards, people may disagree with what we do, but we would want [basketball] value back,” Wallace said.
As for me, I'm still trying to figure out if all of the assertions in this HoopsWorld piece are at least theoretically solid in regards to the league’s collective bargaining agreement and will try to post more in the near future on this subject and on the general discussion about the very real tension between the team’s competitive and financial goals.
But, there are at least a couple of relevant points about this alleged potential trade that the HoopsWorld writer doesn’t address:
1. Orlando is over the cap and could not trade Vasquez and a pick for Crittenton without a trade exception of some kind to fit Crittenton’s salary into. Does Orlando have an exception? I’m not sure. But, barring that, a player under contract — like the widely mentioned Keith Bogans or J.J. Reddick — would have to be included.
2. The Grizzlies currently have 12 players on their roster (including Antoine Walker) with the league minimum set at 13. Trading Crittenton (or Kyle Lowry) for a player that wouldn’t be part of next year’s team would necessitate signing an additional player to fill the roster spot. Even if that’s just a minimum-salary free agent, it still cuts into the savings this article alleges would be the goal of the trade.
More later.
The Magic obtained a $3.3 million trade exception from the New Jersey Nets in a sign-and-trade for Keyon Dooling a few weeks a go.