Mighty Mouse to sign with Memphis!!

[Wurider05]

There goes another guy that we could have used and he wouldn't cost that much. He will sign for 4 years for 17 million dollars.

[KB21]

How could we have used him?

I'm still trying to figure this out. He's simply a too small point guard whose best days are behind him, a defensive liability, and the complete opposite type of player than what the Hawks are looking for.

The only thing Atlanta would have done with Damon Stoudamire is waste a roster spot. There was no interest in Damon on Atlanta's part and for good reason.

[TheDude]

how is he too small to play point guard..i could be wrong but he's been playing that position for 10 years in the NBA now and been very effective..for that money, he's worth it..

[KB21]

For four years, that is a contract that pretty much means you won't be able to trade him.

[Spiral]

This makes me wonder if they've found a trading partner to take White Chocolate.

Memphis now has 6 point guards...

Troy Bell

Dahntay Jones

Jason Williams

Damon Stoudamire

Bobby Jackson

Raul Lopez

[cyman3]

$4.25 million is a great deal!

id take Stoudamire (average starting PG- esp at this this midpoint in his career) and bench Lue (avg backup PG).

[Gray Mule]

Six ? Wow!!

Knowing Hawks need one or two, could something be

in the wind???

Just wondeing.

[Diesel]

BK traded for him once...

Maybe Delk/Collier gets this deal done!

[KB21]

Actually, Troy Bell is not on Memphis's team any longer. He's a free agent that played this past season in Europe. Dahntay Jones also is not a point guard. He's a shooting guard/small forward. Raul Lopez will also play overseas next year.

Right now, they have Jason Williams, Bobby Jackson, and Damon Stoudamire.

[KB21]

According to Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal:

Quote:

---

Here's a word fans -- and some patently pedestrian trade experts -- should learn in these parts: Patience.

Impetuosity gets you what

d*ck

Versace

pulled off nearly five years ago: Mike Bibby for Jason Williams to the disbelief of nearly every competent basketball mind from here to Pluto.

---

Link

[Diesel]

Quote:

---

Published June 29, 2001

Point guard deal can benefit both Grizzlies, Kings

By Marlon W. Morgan

morgan@gomemphis.com

Grizzlies general manager Billy Knight

calls point guard Mike Bibby "an excellent player."

Sacramento Kings head coach Rick Adelman said of point guard Jason Williams, "I've watched him for three years, and I still think he has tremendous potential."

So why were both teams willing to trade their talented point guards? Both sides concurred that Williams was better suited for the new uptempo style the Grizzlies want to play, and that Bibby adds a better overall game to the position than Williams did.

The trade was first discussed between the two sides Wednesday morning and came to fruition late that night, after the NBA Draft was finished. In completing the deal, the Kings will get shooting guard Brent Price for shooting guard Nick Anderson.

"Trading a player as popular, and who has contributed as much as Jason did here, and also the professionalism of Nick, those can be really tough moments, even when you feel you are moving in another direction with the team," Kings vice president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie said.

Williams immediately gives the Grizzlies an exciting, flashy, marketable player, who can help boost ticket sales.

When Williams entered the league in 1998-99 as the seventh player taken overall by the Kings, he immediately became a star attraction with his deft no-look, behind-the-back passes and long-range bombs.

He averaged 12.8 points and six assists during his rookie year. His No. 55 jersey became one of the league's best sellers. He also earned a shoe contract from Nike.

But his numbers declined the next two seasons, dropping to 12.3 points in 1999-2000, and 9.4 last season. And his playing time was reduced to a career-low 29.7 minutes a game.

Williams also had problems away from basketball, beginning the year with a five-game suspension for failing to comply with the league's drug policy. He was also fined twice for verbal exchanges with fans.

Knight acknowledged

the Grizzlies are taking a calculated risk with the 25-year-old player, but they believe he is just what the team needs to be exciting.

"Jason's a high-energy player," Knight said. "He's going to provide a lot of excitement. He's someone that will push the ball up the floor with the guys that we have on this team.

"I know he's considered a flash-and-dash kind of player, and he can make some spectacular plays. But each year, we think he's gotten better with the controlled aggression, as it can sometimes be called. He's picking and choosing his spots more."

The Grizzlies weren't the only ones excited about the trade. The Kings believe they got a great deal in acquiring the 23-year-old Bibby, who has gone relatively unknown through three years in Vancouver.

Bibby, the No. 2 overall pick in the 1998 draft, was the Grizzlies third-leading scorer last year, averaging 15.9 points. He was fourth in the NBA in assists with 8.4 a game.

While not as flashy as Williams, Bibby gives the Kings a more consistent scorer. He shot 45 percent from the floor last year and 38 percent from three-point range. Williams shot a career-best 40.7 percent from the floor, but made just 31 percent of this threes.

"Mike Bibby is a young point guard with a well-rounded offensive game," Adelman said. "It was really a decision that we felt he could give us a dimension with the way he shoots the ball, his assists, the way he gets to the basket.

"We felt he adds something to the team, so from that standpoint, we thought it was the best thing for the team right now."

---

Link

[KB21]

Who is changing history?

Why would Ronald Tillery call the Jason Williams trade an empetuous move on d*ck Versace's part if Billy Knight is the one that made the trade?

[KB21]

Link

Quote:

---

The Kings traded Williams to the Grizzlies last June. Grizzlies general manager

d*ck

Versace said that Williams went unappreciated in Sacramento.

"Artists, in our culture, have always been treated differently. This was the common ground (with Jason). And I think he sensed that, and we had a good talk," Versace said upon acquiring him.

---

[Diesel]

BK traded Bibby for Williams on 6/21/2001.

A few days later 6/27/2001 he traded SAR to us for #3/Lo/Brevin..

Quote:

---

The 52-year-old Knight came to the Hawks after a successful stint as the General Manager of the Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies. His keen eye of basketball talent netted a number of key acquisitions in his two years with the Grizzlies, one of which ironically, involved the Hawks. On June 27, 2001, Knight - then with Memphis - sent Shareef Abdur-Rahim to Atlanta for Lorenzen Wright, Brevin Knight and the draft rights of Pau Gasol. Gasol's outstanding rookie season culminated in the first-year sensation winning the NBA's Rookie of the Year award. That same draft, the Grizzlies selected former Duke standout and National College Player of the Year Shane Battier with the sixth overall pick.

In his first season

in Vancouver (2000-01)

, the team recorded 23 victories, which at that time was the most in franchise history.

---

Link

Quote:

---

GM Billy Knight radically overhauled his roster, shipping out two of his three best players, Mike Bibby and Shareef Abdur-Rahim in exchange for Jason Williams, Lorenzen Wright, Brevin Knight and Pau Gasol. He also snagged ’00-01 college Player of the Year Shane Battier with the sixth pick in the Draft. He knew that committing to a youth movement meant the team would likely have to take a step backward in order to (hopefully) leap forward. He felt he had no choice.

---

Link2

Quote:

---

“We peaked last year by winning 23 games with Mike and Reef, and that’s not good enough,” says Billy Knight. “We had to take some chances and make some changes.”

---

I think this closes the case KB!

Stop using a forum as your source of factual information!

[Admin]

piecing together some facts, Knight was the one that traded for him.

The 52-year-old Knight came to the Hawks after a successful stint as the General Manager of the Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies. His keen eye of basketball talent netted a number of key acquisitions in his two years with the Grizzlies, one of which ironically, involved the Hawks. On June 27, 2001, Knight - then with Memphis - sent Shareef Abdur-Rahim to Atlanta for Lorenzen Wright, Brevin Knight and the draft rights of Pau Gasol. Gasol’s outstanding rookie season culminated in the first-year sensation winning the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award. That same draft, the Grizzlies selected former Duke standout and National College Player of the Year Shane Battier with the sixth overall pick.

In his first season in Vancouver (2000-01), the team recorded 23 victories, which at that time was the most in franchise history.

Link

In the 2000-01 season Mike Bibby was traded to the Sacramento Kings on June 27 2001, along with Brent Price for Jason Williams and Nick Anderson.

Link

[Diesel]

How do you get the boxes with your quotes??

[KB21]

So, why does Versace's name get mentioned if Billy is the one that made the deal?

Maybe you should e-mail Ronald Tillery and call him a liar.

[tmac13]

Versace was Director of Player Personnel until West came to Memphis, then he was made GM..Billy Knight was the General Manager when the Bibby for JWill trade was made.. This Tillery guy is just wrong...I find it amazing that when a writer says something that makes BK look bad, you immediately blast them as incompetent, but when a writer makes a mistake that makes a bad trade someone else's responsibility besides Bk, you defend him to the end..It was a bad trade, and it was BK's..Get over it.

[Admin]

I proved you were wrong by showing you the bio for both Bibby and Billy Knight and that the day Bibby was traded was the same day that Knight also traded Reef to us. I could care less about emailing some sports writer or whoever that guy is. Just be a man and admit you were mistaken. Its pretty damn hard for Versace to make a trade for the Grizzlies when he wasnt even their GM the day the trade was made, dont you think?

[Admin]

You have to use HTML code. I posted something for Lascar about it a week or so ago. Do a search on my posts within the last couple of weeks and it has all the instructions for it. Right now I am at my GFs house so I dont have the pre-formatted code to make it work.