Report: Grizzlies agree to 3-year, $18-million deal with Brandan Wright
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The Memphis Grizzlies have added a dynamic big to their already potent frontcourt, signing free-agent center Brandan Wright to a three-year, $18-million deal, the full mid-level exception, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
Playing behind the bruising big-man tandem of Zach Randolph and (once he re-signs, as expected) Marc Gasol, Wright will offer the Grizzlies a much different look off the bench.
While Memphis' frontcourt tandem - and last season's first big off the bench in Kosta Koufos - play methodically, physically, and below the rim, Wright is a springy and fleet-footed athlete who darts into open space and gets up and down the floor in a hurry.
Rather than eat up touches on the block, he'll act almost exclusively as a pick-and-roll dive man and finisher. It's a role he plays as well as almost anyone in the NBA, and though his skill set is otherwise fairly limited, he'll bring a much-needed jolt of offense to a fairly staid, old-fashioned Grizzlies attack.
Wright stands just 6-foot-9, but with a wingspan that measures 7-foot-4, he can play the bulk of his minutes at center without sacrificing much in the way of rim protection. His man-to-man defense may not be up to the standards the Grizzlies' old-school behemoths have set, but the jarring change of pace he can affect at the other end of the floor should make the signing worth their while.
Perhaps the most promising sign from last season - in which Wright averaged 7.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game between the Dallas Mavericks, Boston Celtics, and Phoenix Suns - is that the 27-year-old played a career-high 75 games, avoiding the chronic shoulder problems that plagued him in the past.
He finished the year with a true shooting percentage of 66 and a PER of 20.4, the fourth consecutive season in which his true shooting has been above 60 and his PER above 20.
Meanwhile, Koufos is an unrestricted free agent, and this signing casts his return to Memphis into serious doubt.