GRIZZBAG!!!! June 15, 2012.

Hola Grizz fans, it’s Friday again. As you should know now, Fridays are reserved for GRIZZBAG!!! GRIZZBAG is our hoops question and answer segment. As always, if you have any question that you’d like me to answer in this space, don’t be hesitant to hit me with a question. You can reach me on Twitter (@bealestreetbear) e-mail (bealestreetbears@gmail.com) and even on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/BealeStreetBears.) If you join the Facebook group, it’ll even notify you and let you know that I just posted a new article. What’s more convenient than that?

Let’s get to going.

• You don’t really think that the 2012 Olympic Team would beat the Dream Team, right? I bet you still believe in the Tooth Fairy don’t you?

Michael J., Chicago, Illinois.

I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that wasn’t really Michael Jordan. Anyway, as I outlined yesterday the 2012 team is deeper, more athletic and longer defensively than the ’92 team. The Dream Team, while awesome, is behind the 2012 team in those areas and featured a bench that wasn’t nearly as deep as the 2012 team’s.

But let’s make all things fair: let’s say that Dwight Howard and Derrick Rose do miss the Olympics, since they’re going to. The 2012 team will likely take Russell Westbrook (the middle class man’s Rose) and Tyson Chandler or Anthony Davis, if not both. Going from Rose to Westbrook and Howard to Chandler are downgrades to be sure, but it’s not a crippling blow. Chris Paul will start at point guard instead of Rose, so there’s little or no drop-off there and for the international game, that may improve the starter’s unit. Chandler doesn’t have the polished offensive game that Howard does, but he’s still an excellent, premier defender and the reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year.

The Dream Team’s bench didn’t feature anyone like like the 2012 team will off of it either. Remember, Bird is back to his 1992 form and a crippling back injury. The ’92 team’s second unit would be John Stockton, Clyde Drexler, Chris Mullin, Karl Malone or Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing or David Robinson. Bird and Christian Laettner would be the 11th and 12th men in this scenario.

That’s a good second five, but can they do anything with Westbrook or Deron Williams, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Love and Anthony Davis? Davis is unproven and this will be the first time he’s played with NBA players in his career, but all he’ll be asked to do is play 8-10 minutes per game, control the boards and block shots. He’ll never even have to shoot the ball with all of the scoring ability that will be on this team. He just has to run around and do Anthony Davis things.

This could have all been avoided if Andrew Bynum would have played for the team. He could have done everything that Howard did and it could have been good for his career like the experience has been for other stars. Joakim Noah or Brook would have also been good fits if Noah wasn’t a traitor (kidding) or Lopez could stay healthy for three weeks at a time.

Alas, true centers aren’t as much of an advantage in the international game because of the differences in the rule book that we discussed yesterday. The only time a true lack of size will hurt the 2012 team will be against Spain and make no mistake about it, they will be playing Spain and probably for the Gold Medal again. Marc and Pau Gasol are licking their chops at the prospect of posting up Davis or Bosh’s skinny frames with the Gold Medal on the line.

• Are the Grizzlies going to move?

Are they going to move today? No. Will they move before the season starts? Nope.

Look, everyone is justifiably nervous about prospective new owner Robert Pera’s plans for the Grizzlies. I’m in that group as well. After growing up in the Memphis area and having no team, I’ve gotten used to having the Grizzlies in my life for the past 11 years. Even though a majority of those seasons were disappointing, it was still exciting to have an NBA team at home and be able to go to FedEx Forum whenever I wanted to watch a game. Now that’s in jeopardy.

The scary thing about this potential sale is that David Stern and the NBA allowed Clay Bennett to move the Seattle SuperSonics to Oklahoma City and did nothing to stop it. Memphis has become a much better NBA city in the past three years, but if it can happen to Seattle, it can definitely happen to Memphis. I don’t mean to alarm you or sound overly pessimistic, but it has to be mentioned.

Seattle even won a world championship (1979) during the Sonics’ stint there. If Pera did want to pack up his team and leave Memphis, Stern won’t be the guy to stop him.

The only solution is to keep supporting the team. One advantage Memphis has at this point is a new building as FedEx Forum opened in time for the 2004-2005 NBA regular season and a team that seems to be improving. It’s always easier to support a winner, but if you care about this team then buy some tickets because at the end of the day, money talks.

This is just something that we’ll have to wait-and-see about. I don’t want the team to move and until recently, Michael Heisley said he didn’t want them to move either. That all changed when he discussed the team with Pera and admitted later that he didn’t even have a discussion about whether Pera planned on keeping the team in Memphis. That’s not exactly confidence-inspiring.

If the Grizzlies do move, it likely won’t be until after 2021 when their lease that ties them to Memphis and the FedEx Forum eases up. Until that time, Pera will likely want to know that the team can draw fans and support his new franchise. If attendance reverts back to 2007-2009 levels, he’ll likely want to move the team, and at that point, I can’t blame him if he did.

If attendance stays strong and people are still excited and he still moves the team? Then he was always going to move the team, regardless of the fan support being good or not.

In case you haven’t noticed, basketball can work in a small market as Oklahoma City is showing us in the Finals. It helps to have Kevin Durant on your team, but the fan support for their Thunder has been awesome, and Oklahoma City is only slightly bigger than Memphis as a media market.

• Why don’t the Grizzlies trade Mike Conley Jr. to upgrade at point guard?

It’s a good idea in theory, but the biggest problem is that Conley is pretty overpaid by any standard imaginable.

Conley is a good floor general, and one of the better point guard defenders in the NBA. That said, he still struggles with his jumper, which would be fine if this were his second or third season in the league, but he’s just finished his fifth season. If you’re ever going to fix a broken jumper, it would likely have happened in his first three seasons.

However, he played only one year in college, so it’s not out of the question that he could have a later peak than a lot of guys who played two or three seasons in the NCAA. Sure, he went in the same draft as Kevin Durant, and is actually a year older than Derrick Rose, and Russell Westbrook, but Conley isn’t even remotely the same caliber athlete of those guys. That’s not even a knock on Conley, but there’s a reason that those guys are three of the top 15 players in the game.

Conley’s contract is absurd though. It wasn’t as bad under the old CBA when the luxury tax wasn’t as much of a hindrance, but in the new one it’s a quasi-albatross. That isn’t Conley’s fault, the Grizzlies are the ones that offered the deal, but any trade to upgrade Conley’s spot will have to involve him. With him making over $30 million over the course of the next four seasons for a point guard that isn’t a great shooter, that complicates things.

Even if Brooklyn decided to trade Deron Williams, that would require a complicated sign-and-trade and would the Nets even be interested in Conley and Gay for Williams and cap fodder? Probably not. If the Grizzlies threw in their first-rounder, would the 25th pick really appeal to the Nets for their only All-Star caliber player (and best chance at getting Dwight Howard to play for them?) Doubtful, right?

Let’s strike that one then. What about Steve Nash? He’s available and the Grizzlies should have their full mid-level exception available this summer. You don’t even have to dump Conley, just talk to him about his new role of leading the second unit and he becomes your de facto replacement for O.J. Mayo off of the bench.

You have to admit, that’s a pretty decent idea, but would Nash want to come to Memphis? If he’s chasing a ring, Chicago and Miami will both be looking for a point guard upgrade next season. Even Toronto makes more sense for Canada’s finest import since Wayne Gretzky. I do think it’s doubtful that Nash stays in Phoenix if he wants to win before his career is over. They were in the lottery again this year and it’s not like they’re getting better. They’re saddled with too many bad contracts and no impact players outside of Nash. They will get a good rookie in the draft as this is a very deep class, but what will that really do for Phoenix? It’s not like teams are falling off out west. They’re actually getting better.

The Grizzlies could always seek out a similar package to what they want for Rudy Gay and trade Conley for a cheaper point guard and maybe another asset but as we’ve discussed already, nobody wants him at what he’s making now. It’s a vicious cycle to say the least.

Take this trade, for example: the Grizzlies do it because they get a cheaper option at point guard who’s proven he can get to the rim and they can always sign him to an extension when that time comes, and probably at a cheaper rate. But if you’re Indiana, do you even answer that phone call? Isn’t Collison equal to Conley right now? Even if Conley’s a little better, Indiana is a small market and can’t go throwing around extra money for the slightest upgrade, especially with Roy Hibbert due for an extension.

Conley is one of the best 13 or 14 point guards in the game. In the salary cap era, you aren’t going to be able to have a top 8 player at every position. Even the Heat have major deficiencies at point guard and center, as do the Thunder. You can win if Conley is your fourth or fifth best player and the Grizzlies have.

If Conley were locked in at around $6 million per year, that’s not bad business either and that is what he should be making anyway. His contract and slightly above-average point guard status make a deal involving him a little difficult.

That’s been your GRIZZBAG!!!! for the week ending June 15. As always, I’ll see you next week and thanks for reading.