Memphis Grizzlies Win Rights to Defensive Specialist Forward
The San Antonio Spurs have decided to decline matching the Memphis Grizzlies’ offer sheet on small forward Kyle Anderson, a Restricted Free Agent.
For those paying special attention to the Memphis Grizzlies’ efforts to swipe a young defensive talent away from their archenemy — the San Antonio Spurs — it has been a long 48 hours.
Unlike the Chicago Bulls, the Spurs took their time mulling over the signed offer sheet that landed on the Front Office’s desk on Friday evening. After all, it is always tough letting go of a successful four-year developmental project. This San Antonio gem is none other than Kyle Anderson, a 6’9,” 230-pound multi-positional defenseman.
ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the news regarding the San Antonio Spurs’ final decision. Hint: It favors our beloved Memphis Grizzlies.
Spurs are declining to match Kyle Anderson’s four-year, $37M offer sheet with Memphis, league sources tell ESPN. Anderson will likely become Grizzlies starting small forward.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 9, 2018
Memphis has snagged Anderson for just over $9 million per season. If you take a look at Kyle’s defensive statistics, you immediately see that the Grizzlies are getting one of the best defenders in the game. This deal is really a lot of bang per buck for Memphis. This Front Office is going all-in with their game plan of keeping defense their top priority.
There are serious concerns for the Grizzlies offensively. Where will points be generated? Yes, they will play stifling defense with almost any combination of five-man units they could possibly create. However, now is the time to start thinking about the “O.”
Regardless, the roster provides much versatility that the coaching staff can customize by opponent. Kyle Anderson can play multiple positions. Now, Memphis can think about playing Dillon Brooks at shooting guard. Jarell Martin can focus on playing all his minutes at the four rather than spot minutes as a small forward. The possibilities seem endless.
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For the San Antonio Spurs, it has been a tough offseason. Not only is their franchise superstar the center of top headlines of the league, but one of their franchise legends switched teams after 17 seasons spent in only a Spurs uniform. To make matters worse in the Alamo City, the Memphis Grizzlies have stolen one of the Spurs’ key counterparts.
There is a lot of history between the Spurs and Grizzlies. It is not bad blood, but rather some hard-fought playoff series. Though San Antonio has earned bragging rights through the 2017-18 season, Memphis hits the Spurs with a gut punch with this move. It will be interesting to see if the Grizz unleash any offensive skills hidden within Kyle Anderson, or if he remains a defense-only guy. If the latter, think of a Tony Allen-esque specimen.
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Go Grizz!