Workout Report, Beasley Addendum, Other Notes
The Grizzlies held a rather low-key workout this morning at FedExForum, looking at a trio of power-forward prospects: Alabama’s Richard Hendrix, Louisville’s David Padgett, and Iowa State’s Jiri Hubalek.
Hendrix was the feature attraction, the only player of the group considered a viable option at #28. Hendrix has a sculpted body and showed good strength and a decent mid-range shot. He’s an under-sized power forward without great skill or explosiveness or quickness. He could be a decent power player off the bench, but I didn’t detect a lot of upside. I suspect Hendrix might actually be better served returning to school, playing more high-profile college basketball than he did on a mediocre Alabama team this season, and maybe taking a shot in what will be a weaker draft next season. If he does stay in, I don’t think he’s a strong contender for the Grizzlies at #28.
Padgett, who fought his way through multiple serious injuries during his college career, was more impressive than I anticipated. He’s got good size at 6’11”, shot the ball well, ran the floor well, and seemed to have a high hoops IQ. If he can stay healthy, he looks like someone who can make money playing basketball somewhere, likely overseas but perhaps at the very end of an NBA bench. Not a candidate for #28, but if he goes undrafted he might make an intriguing summer-league candidate or non-roster invitee to training camp.
Hubalek, whom I’d never heard of, shot the ball very well for his size but is several years older than Hendrix or Padgett and doesn’t seem to have the physicality for NBA-level post play.
Beasley Addendum: In yesterday’s post where I argued for a three-team deal between Miami, Minnesota, and Memphis, I wondered aloud about the potential for including free agent Juan Carlos Navarro in that deal — or any other deal involving players in this draft. After a little more research on that subject last night, I don’t think its feasible to factor Navarro into the assets the Grizzlies could use in draft-related trades.
Technically, Navarro could be dealt in a sign-and-trade for the rights to a player selected in this draft, provided that player hasn’t yet signed a contract. The hitch is that the inclusion of Navarro would, in most cases, need to be negotiated among the teams prior to the exercising of the picks while it would technically be illegal to negotiate with Navarro until the beginning of the free-agency period, which occurs after the draft. Including Navarro in any draft-related deal is probably too delicate of a prospect without subjecting the team to league penalty. So, I rescind any suggestion of Navarro being used in a deal that would target Beasley. That would be highly unlikely.
Barcelona rumor: A Spanish paper has reported that FC Barcelona may be targeting both Navarro and Marc Gasol this summer, a double-whammy for the Grizzlies. My reporting suggests that this is accurate and entirely expected by Grizzlies personnel. We’ll have to see how it plays out.
Ellis rumor: The latest Grizzlies internet rumor is that the team is targeting Monta Ellis in free agency. It wouldn’t surprise me if this ended up being accurate, but I don’t put much faith in this particular report.
