The Memphis Grizzlies made a gutsy decision in keeping Tyreke Evans, even though he can walk this summer. If he leaves, should Chris Wallace get the boot?
Everyone and their mothers thought the Memphis Grizzlies were going to trade Tyreke Evans. Instead, the Grizzlies kept him with the intentions of keeping him this summer.
However, there’s always a possibility he could walk. If that happens, should Chris Wallace be let go?
In theory, yes. In reality, no
This answer should be pretty cut and dry, but has several layers to it:
The first is obviously that Wallace severely played himself leading up to the trade deadline, failing to reap the return for Tyreke Evans at the absolute peak of his value. Half the NBA were reportedly making calls; trading Tyreke seemed like a no-brainer foregone conclusion. And nothing happened.
Next is that Evans is likely a goner this summer. Most of the teams that wanted him at the deadline will still need his services in July. He’s going to have a number of suitors with better situations than the Grizzlies’ pseudo-rebuild. And – market corrections notwithstanding – he’s liable to get better money than the mid-level exception Memphis naively hopes to deploy.
This should, really, be the final nail in a coffin Wallace has slowly built himself over the Robert Pera tenure. He’s screwed up draft picks in perpetuity, set many barrels of money on fire, consequently forced the Grizz into an unexpected rebuild, and failed to act with urgency when the franchise needs it most.
But if none of his many, many past transgressions have been enough to seal his fate, it’s hard to imagine the Tyreke blunder tipping the scales. No matter how dubious his maneuvers, Wallace has remained impervious to any in-house fallout, sticking around through several blitzkriegs of Memphis’ front office and coaching staff. Talk about ‘Life After Death’.
The basic- but completely unsubstantiated – assertion would be that Wallace has some kind of clout with Pera. As the man chiefly responsible for the Grizzlies’ predicament, one would expect him to have fallen on his sword by now.
Next: Grizzlies chances of keeping Tyreke Evans?
A firing may be unlikely as long as Memphis’ ugly ownership situation continues to loom above the franchise. Should Pera be forced to sell, Wallace could be axed, but likely for a rap sheet extending far beyond the past several weeks.