Offseason Preview: Salaries

Before getting into some of the ways that the Grizzlies can improve this offseason, it's good to take a look at what the Grizz are dealing with and the kind of flexibility they will have during these next two offseasons which will shape the team for the forseeable future. In order to delve into this, first we will look at the salary situation for the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 seasons and see what we have to work with. All salary information comes from Hoops Hype.

2009-2010 Season  

1. Darko Milicic    $ 7,500,000
   
2. Marko Jaric     $ 7,100,000
   
3. OJ Mayo          $ 4,165,560
   
4. Greg Buckner    $ 4, 018,518
   
5. Mike Conley      $ 3,883,800
   
6. Rudy Gay          $ 3,280,996
   
7. Marc Gasol         $ 3,240,000
   
8. Hakim Warrick $ 3,021,838 (Qualifying Offer)
   
9. Darrell Arthur    $ 1,050,480
   

Total $ 37,261,192

Notes: The Grizzlies are locked into 9 players for next year, barring trades, which amount to an approximated total of $37,261,192. This is subject to change, depending on two main things: whether Hakim Warrick gets the qualifying offer or gets an extension, and whether Rudy Gay signs a long-term extension this offseason. Gay could shoot up to somewhere in the vicinity of $10 mil for next year. Adding in the three draft picks (6ish, 27, 35), which should add up to something around $4,500,000, and the salary for these 12 players could be something like 51 or 52 million. With a cap which should come down to around 57.3 million, that leaves around 5 or 6 million for 2 more roster spots, which hopefully could be filled by productive veteran/leader-types if possible. 

For the 2010-2011 season, Darko comes off the books, and potentially Warrick as well, but otherwise the contract situation looks very similar. Given an extension for Gay and possible extensions for Warrick and/or Conley and most likely another fairly high draft pick, the Grizz could be a good amount below the cap during that offseason, although this number will depend on potential signings this offseason.

A core group of Gay/Mayo/Gasol/Conley/top 5 pick in '09/top 10 pick in'10 with bench options like Warrick and Arthur and #18 pick in '09 is a fairly exciting young group to build around. With some smart drafting the next couple drafts and a couple solid veteran signings during the next two offseasons, this team could absolutely be a playoff team in a couple years, and hopefully a rising playoff team. In some later posts we'll take a look at how to potentially accomplish these goals of smart drafting/smart signings and take this team to a playoff level sooner rather than later.