| Grizzlies Sign Tony Allen |
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| Written by Chip Crain |
| Monday, 12 July 2010 07:30 |
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In a move rumored over the weekend the Memphis Grizzlies signed former Celtics G/F Tony Allen to a 3 year contract valued at $9.7 million dollars according to ESPN reports. Allen was a vital player off the bench for the Celtics and his signing with Memphis comes as a surprise as it had been reported earlier that Allen was going to resign with the Celtics. This move is seen as strengthening the Grizzlies bench which was a major weakness on last season's team. This move by the Grizzlies also will likely mean the Grizzlies will not be resigning former Arkansas Razorback Ronnie Brewer. The Grizzlies traded a future first round draft pick to the Utah Jazz in February for Brewer in an attempt to strengthen the bench for a playoff run. Brewer was unable to perform in that role after injuring his hamstring in his first game with the Grizzlies and ended the season on the inactive list. The signing of Allen does raise a few questions about the Grizzlies roster makeup. Does this mean the Grizzlies anticipate O J Mayo being able to play significant minutes as the backup PG? Does this move portend more moves by the Grizzlies front office as there appears to be a logjam for minutes at the SG position with O J Mayo, Xavier Henry, Sam Young and Tony Allen all fighting for minutes at that position. Even if Henry and or Young as seen as small forwards there is still a finite number of minutes available for all the players. Last summer majority owner Michael Heisley made it clear that the team wanted to improve defense by drafting Hasheem Thabeet with the 2nd pick in the draft but Thabeet wasn't ready to contribute right away and the team's defense remained a problem finishing 24th in the league in points against. Allen is seen as a lockdown defender who performed well in that role with the Celtics in last year's playoffs. 3 Shades of Blue has been unable to confirm these reports or get a comment from the Grizzlies at this time as the team is preparing for the summer league in Las Vegas. The Grizzlies open play tonight. |
Comments
His offense might well improve if he simply can play an entire season without injury, luck he did not have here. I don't think too many people here thought of him offensively as a point guard, but his defense was so good it made up for any shortcomings.
He was also good for occasional highlight reel dunks, even to his own detriment.
But in the final analysis, he did whatever the team asked, with 110% effort and unselfishness, and contributed to one and almost two championships. A good guy!!