Drew Hill: Grizz GM Zach Kleiman said rookie of the year finalists should have been @Ja Morant No. 1 and @Brandon Clarke No. 2. “I’m still at a loss figuring out how Brandon slipped to No. 21.”
Tag: Zach Kleiman
Drew Hill: Zach Kleiman said he doesn’t …
The Grizzlies have never revealed the …
The Grizzlies have never revealed the full extent of the special program they put Jackson through, but executive vice president of basketball operations Zach Kleiman said part of it involved extra shooting sessions at night. Outside of being late for a team meeting that led to a two-game suspension, Jackson did everything that was asked of him, Kleiman said. “Josh had his own program and we wanted to see if he was going to be able to hold up and deal with the rigors of what we’re throwing at him,” Kleiman said. “As we got to know Josh more and more, one, he did literally everything that we asked of him and he did it happily. Josh has bought in and Josh has been excited to grow with the group. He did a great job forming bonds with guys on the Hustle. We’d always hoped that that would get to a point where we would end up calling up Josh to the Grizzlies. We’re happy that he’s with the Grizzlies now.”
What’s your overall perspective on the …
What’s your overall perspective on the trade deadline? Grizzlies GM Zach Kleiman: “We were pleased with what we were able to do at the deadline. With the Andre Iguodala situation, which was obviously going to come to a head at some point, there were several options that were on the table at the end of the day. For us to be able to go out and bring in a player in Justise Winslow, who we feel like is a very strong fit on the court and off the court, a player that I think really embodies a lot of the things that we’ve talked about from Day 1 in terms of having an incredible work ethic, basketball IQ, (is) nasty defensively and has a low ego. He’s a really unselfish guy as well. We felt like he could be a really strong long-term fit on the court and off the court. We’re well aware we leveraged our cap space. We pulled ourselves out of the free agency market (this summer). There’s an opportunity cost to doing so. None of that’s lost on us. For us to be able to add one player who we believe in as a key piece, as a fit to what we’re building going forward, that was Plan A. That was the deal that we were hoping to get done.”
Specifically with that, to clarify the …
Specifically with that, to clarify the Iguodala stuff, there’s been some talk about the agreement you guys had come to. Can you speak to your side of it? Zach Kleiman: All I’ll say there is the entire time we were in communication with Andre’s camp. Those communications were fine. We were on the same page throughout. At the end of the day, we’re very happy Andre’s in a situation where he has an opportunity to compete this year. We’re happy for him. It’s a loss, losing Solomon Hill and Jae Crowder in connection with the deal. Both of them were fantastic in our locker room, and I think they made a significant impact on the court as well. It stings to lose them, and that’s not necessarily something we wanted to do, per se. But we’re happy they’re also in a situation where they’re joining a team that has a chance to compete this year along with Andre. At the end of the day, all parties came out ok.