May 9, 2012; Memphis, TN, USA; Memphis Grizzlies shooting guard O.J. Mayo (32) shoots a free throw during the second half of game five in the Western Conference quarterfinals of the 2012 NBA Playoffs against the Los Angeles Clippers at FedEx Forum. The Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 92-80. Mandatory Credit: Spruce Derden-US PRESSWIRE
The Memphis Grizzlies have made qualifying offers to power forwards Marreese Speights and Darrell Arthur, as announced by GM and vice president of basketball operations Chris Wallace on Friday.
With that, Memphis can match any offer made towards the two as free agency hits soon. However, the big news with all of this is that guard OJ Mayo was not received a qualifying offer, which makes him an unrestricted free agent. With that, Memphis will not be able to match any offers towards him.
I guess this means that we've seen the last of Mayo now. Memphis doesn't have enough room to sign him, as he will likely be demanding a lot in which the Grizzlies won't even take a chance on. As for Speights and Arthur, both have been solid off the bench at power forward when filling in for Zach Randolph and stepped up when he was out.
Speights was traded back in January with the Philadelphia 76ers, in which he averaged about nine points and six rebounds per game. Arthur was impressive in the 2010-11 season, posting nine points per game, but was out for the whole season with a torn Achilles in 2012.
Arthur is expected to much of the same off the bench like he did in 2011 as the Grizzlies' frontcourt looks like they're pretty good to go.
However, the loss of Mayo does hurt. Memphis does need some scoring off the bench, and hopefully Tony Wroten can fill the role when coming off the bench next season. The Grizzlies could get Brandon Roy, but I don't see it happening. Josh Selby can hopefully step it up next season, too.
As free agency approaches, I expect Memphis to look at some guys who can provide some immediate scoring off the bench then with Mayo gone. A good backup to Rudy Gay and maybe a guard can definitely help there. We'll see what happens as we approach free agency.


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