With the acquisitions of Justise Winslow and Gorgui Dieng at the trade deadline in February, the Memphis Grizzlies will figure to have a mostly quiet offseason when it comes to signing free agents that they can add to help the talented duo of Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr..
However, the Grizzlies have lured free agents in years past. Not all of these free agents have worked out as the team intended, such as in the case of Allen Iverson, Chandler Parsons, and Damon Stoudamire. However, some of these signings helped the team immensely, from guards who helped the team orchestrate their offense, shooters who can help space the floor, or lockdown defenders who eventually helped transform the team’s culture. Here are five of the biggest free agent signings in Memphis Grizzlies history:
5. Vince Carter (2014-2017)
The Grizzlies are no stranger to signing former All Stars who are in the twilight of their careers, such as when they signed Allen Iverson to a one-year, $3 million deal in 2009. But while Iverson played just three games for Memphis, they were able to get a solid contributor in Vince Carter, who inked a three-year, $12 million deal with the team as a free agent in 2014. At the time, Carter was far from the high-jumping athlete that could posterize opposing defenders whenever he attacked the basket. Instead had become a reliable shooter who could space the floor while also being a trusted locker room presence.
In his first season in Memphis, the eight-time All Star averaged just 5.8 points, at the time a career-low, while adding two rebounds, and 1.2 assists while shooting 33.3% from the field. The Grizzlies, however, still finished with a 55-27 record and the fifth seed, and was able to reach the Conference Semifinals. Carter’s third and final season with the Grizzlies was his best, as he averaged eight points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.8 assists, while shooting 39.4% from the field. He was far from the Half-Man, Half-Amazing athlete who routinely gave fans highlight plays, but he was able to help Memphis reach the playoffs for three straight seasons while also proving that the team is capable of attracting free agents.
4. Chucky Atkins (2006-2007)
Atkins played less than two seasons for the Grizzlies, but nevertheless still made a strong impact on a Memphis team with playoff aspirations. With point guard Damon Stoudamire going down with a right patellar tendon injury, the Grizzlies brought in Atkins to be his replacement, which he was able to do. In 118 games with the Grizzlies, he averaged 11.4 points, 1.7 rebounds, three assists, shooting 40.1% from the field and 35.2% from beyond the arc. Together with Pau Gasol and Sixth Man of the Year Mike Miller, Atkins helped the Grizzlies finish with a 49-33 record and the fifth seed in the Western Conference.
The following season, he would put up better numbers after the return of Stoudamire, averaging 13.2 points, 1.9 rebounds, 4.6 assists, while shooting 43.4% from the field and 37.9% from downtown. But the Grizzlies struggled, finishing with a 22-60 record. Nevertheless, the mid-season acquisition of Atkins the year before helped Memphis reach the playoffs and salvaged a season despite the absence of one of their best players due to injury.
3. Jerryd Bayless (2012-2014)
Bayless didn’t stay for long with the Grizzlies, playing just 111 games with the franchise. But it just so happened that he was a vital cog on the most successful Grizzlies team of all time, which made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals for the first and so far only time in franchise history. In 80 games in his only full season in Memphis, he averaged 8.7 points, 2.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists, while shooting 41.9% from the field and 35.3% from beyond the arc. In the middle of the season, the team traded Rudy Gay to the Toronto Raptors in a three-team deal in exchange for Ed Davis and Jose Calderon.
Bayless helped fill the void left by the high-scoring Gay, giving the Grizzlies some scoring punch off the bench. In the playoffs, Memphis defeated the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round, then stunned the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the Conference Semifinals to arrange a date with the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals. Though that team failed to reach the Finals, it was the most successful playoff run in the team’s history, with Bayless playing an important role for that team, which cements his place as one of their most important free agent acquisitions.
2. James Posey (2003-2005)
The first time the Grizzlies made the playoffs was in the 2003-2004 season, nine years after they joined the NBA as an expansion team. They would finish the season with a 50-32 record, which was a huge turnaround from a 28-54 record the year before. Because of their successful campaign, Grizzlies head coach Hubie Brown was named Coach of the Year, while Jerry West was named Executive of the Year for putting together the team. One of his moves during the offseason was signing small forward James Posey to a two-year, $10.4 million deal.
Posey played just two years in Memphis, but turned in his best season in the league for the Grizzlies. In his first season, he averaged a career-high 13.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.7 steals while shooting 47.8% from the field and 38.6% from beyond the arc. While Pau Gasol was still the team’s best player, Posey was the second leading scorer on a team that won 50 games and made the playoffs as the sixth seed. His numbers in his second year were not as impressive, but he was still able to help the Grizzlies reach the playoffs, this time as an eighth seed. Posey would later on win a championship with the Boston Celtics in 2008, but his numbers while he was in Memphis would remain his best and his contributions on two playoff teams make him one of their best free agent signings.
1. Tony Allen (2010-2017)
When Tony Allen signed a three-year, $9.7 million contract with the Grizzlies in the 2010 offseason, he joined a team that had not made the playoffs in four years. Their last appearance in the postseason came during the time of Pau Gasol, who has since joined and won a championship with the Los Angeles Lakers. But in signing Allen, Memphis had brought in a stout defender who had won a title and was coming off a Finals appearance with the Boston Celtics. By the time Allen’s time with the Grizzlies was done, he had not only established himself as one of the greatest defenders of his generation, but also transformed the team’s culture and helped ushered in the most successful stretch in franchise history.
In his first season with the Grizzlies, Allen averaged 8.9 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.8 steals, while shooting 51% from the field. Together with Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol, and Mike Conley, Allen helped Memphis finish with a 46-36 record and a return to the playoffs. In the postseason, he helped the eight-seeded Grizzlies stun the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs in the first round to advance to the Conference Semifinals for the first time in franchise history. At the end of the season, he was named to the All-Defensive Second Team.
But the Grizzlies were far from done, as this marked the beginning of the franchise’s Grit and Grind era, with Allen being fittingly called as the Grindfather. Two years later, Memphis would make the Conference Finals for the first time and would return to the Conference Semifinals in 2015.
During his time with the Grizzlies, the team would make the playoffs for seven straight seasons, and Allen was named to the All-Defensive First or Second Team six times. He may not have put up big numbers, but he helped set the tone for the team’s “All Heart, Grit, Grind” culture and embodied it, which transformed the Grizzlies into a perennial contender.
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