Memphis Grizzilies GM Chris Wallace: "We have every intention of re-signing Marc Gasol."
The Memphis Grizzlies have been a perennial playoff team, and contender the last four years. This week on Celtics Beat Larry H. Russell gets a chance to talk to Memphis Grizzlies General Manager Chris Wallace about his days in Boston and how he built the Memphis Grizzlies.
Is there any specific way to build a team? “Well, I think you take what’s given as sort of a sports cliche ... we’d love to have a star too that’s a top 3 player in the league. But we can’t stop operations waiting for that Messiah to arrive.” Memphis certainly isn’t a historical franchise like the Lakers or Celtics, and isn’t a free agent destination like Los Angeles or Miami, but they’ve done things right through free agency. the draft, and trades.
The famous trade during the tenure of Chris Wallace in Memphis is the one that swapped the Gasol brothers, and brought Marc over to Memphis for brother Pau. “We had to do what was right for this franchise and it worked out.”
“Sometimes when you move a major player, it’s not the old Mickey Mantle for Hank Aaron type things where we flip baseball cards. Sometimes you have to get a variety of assets and that’s what we did. Draft picks, the rights to Marc Gasol, and cap room.” That was a rare trade that worked for both teams. The Lakers won two championships, and the Grizzlies have been an elite team.
http://clnsradio.com/boston-celtics-news/item/11010-memphis-grizzilies-gm-chris-wallace-we-have-every-intention-of-re-signing-marc-gasol