When MEM signed up the five headed center monster of Mitchell Robinson ($87), Myles Turner ($81), Steven Adams ($51), Willie Cauley-Stein ($24), and DeAndre Jordan ($19) as their highest paid players, everyone in the league was wondering how this big ball experiment would work. Having tried big ball myself in keeper leagues, I can attest to its strengths — and its weaknesses — and know that it takes dedication from the front office on down to make it successful. After six weeks, MEM is sitting at 35-19 and first place in the Southwest division, so we can say that MEM is off to a great start.
GM Josh has logged a league leading eleven trades (OKC has nine), a multitude of free agent signings, and swapped out half his roster while trading away all of his own future picks — they still retain two, both in 2020: a RD2 from DET and a RD2 from GSW. Let's take a look how this roster was constructed.
Post-Auction Roster
Aside from the aforementioned five centers, MEM drafted PJ Tucker, Paul Millsap, Jordan Poole, Justin Holiday, Shaquille Harrison, David Nwaba, TJ McConnell, and Ivan Rabb.
Free Agency
They’ve added the likes of Tim Frazier, Darius Miller, Semi Ojeleye, Terance Mann, Chris Silva (twice, for $4 and $5), Dewan Hernandez, and Kadeem Allen through free agency. MEM has $268 FAAB remaining.
The TradesJosh popped RDA’s trade cherry with a move on September 9th, sending out a future RD1 and Paul Millsap for Josh Okogie and a RD2. Three days later, MEM was at it again, moving Ivan Rabb and two future RD2 for DeAndre’ Bembry. I believe someone remarked about the high price paid for a backup Hawk — but Bembry has proved early on that he could pass some, shoot at a high FG%, and pick up 1.5 STL. That’s a win.
On the same day, MEM also finalized a Jordan Poole for Dwight Powell offer, one that included giving up a future RD1 and a RD2 acquired from OKC. Rookie gunner Poole never fit this build but Powell did, and while Powell's STL/BLK numbers have been middling this season, he was flipped a month later — along with Darius Miller — for Nerlens Noel, whose 2.7 combined STL/BLK are a dream for MEM. Is Noel the next Dikembe Mutombo? Let’s not rule out the possibility.
With future picks flying off the shelf, MEM definitely set the bar for trades — an important historical step for any league — and when our always magnanimous commissioner ruled that we could trade five year’s worth of future picks, MEM had his asset cache reloaded. For their fifth trade, MEM moved out Semi Ojeleye (who hasn’t bid on Semi and then dropped him this season?!) and two future RD1 for Kevon Looney. Fine on the surface, but we’ll get back to this one…
MEM and OKC then teamed up for a pair of trades, only four days apart, so we’ll look at those deals together. MEM received Jarrett Allen, the return of Paul Millsap, and three future RD2s. The cost of those guys was Myles Turner, Terance Mann, and two RD2. Recall that it was Millsap and a RD1 that was moved earlier for Okogie and a RD1. At the time, this was definitely the biggest exchange of assets in RDA history, as both Allen and Turner were young starters-ish with upside. Another badge of honor for Josh!
For those counting at home, we’re up to seven trades.
Mid-October, Josh was at it again, moving out Justin Holiday and a future RD2 for Kenrich Williams. The second Holiday had been on a heater with Victor Oladipo still injured and is averaging 1.1 STL and 0.7 BLK on the season. That’s about equal to the scrappy Kenrich William’s STL/BLK numbers, which could make it a wash, but Williams has the superior (albeit slight) advantage in FG%. We’ll call this even for now.
After taking the rest of the month off, Josh was back, moving out Kevon Looney and two future RD2 for Kent Bazemore. Looney has barely played this season while Bazemore has been doing his usual almost 1/1/1 thing, while shooting 33.1 FG%. That deal might seem okay on the surface but acquiring Looney cost MEM Semi Ojeleye and two future RD1, so tack on another two RD2 and Bazemore cost MEM a total of $6 FAAB, two RD1, and two RD2. We also have to take into account Bazemore’s age, thirty versus the twenty-three year old Looney’s. Regardless of fit, this chain of trades has to be MEM’s biggest regret. But Baze keep Bazing, and he’s a winner! I mean, I think. This had to be a locker room move at the very least. Kent has been a long time good chemistry guy and was once host of a podcast. That's worth something!
"Actually, calling Kent Bazemore a cheerleader isn’t quite right. Nothing against the Lyla Garritys of the world, but Bazed God is more than a cheerleader. He is a reservoir of quan.”Two weeks ago, MEM traded away Chris Silva in exchange for Kostas Antetokounmpo and a RD2. And then for a final salvo, MEM flipped two deep future RD2 for a RD2 from DET next year. That gives them two 2020 RD2... Does Josh have his eye on someone(s) special in the draft? Or will those picks be earmarked for trading?
The Triangle NBA All-Stars (2013)
In the end, MEM acquired Jarrett Allen, Josh Okogie, Paul Millsap, Kent Bazemore, DeAndre’ Bembry, Kenrich Williams, and Kostas Antetokounmpo. Note: While adding +$4 to their post-auction value, not that auction prices matter anymore. While some wondered "why so many centers?", we've seen Mitchell Robinson, Steven Adams, and Willie Cauley-Stein underperform yet MEM hasn't needed them to keep winning. You always need backups to the backups to the backups!
Possible Team Needs
Another point guard that isn’t TJ McConnell, whose only relevance to this team is his fine FG%. Rumors are that MEM is looking for some AST too, to compete more in that category. Armed with an overload in BLK — they have 204 through WK5, with no other team even hitting 150 BLK so far, it’s possible MEM could be willing to move a big men for other categories. Or will MEM just continue to grab more bigs!?!
The ResultsOn the season, MEM has the fifth best ODE rating — first in defense, eleventh in efficiency, eighteenth on offense — and are first in FG%, REB, STL, BLK. They are predictably terrible in FT% and 3PT, but are competitive in AST, TO, and PTS.
They have started the season off undefeated and taken two 5-4 victories (NOP, BOS), three 6-3 wins (SAS, HOU, DAL), and a 7-2 walloping (MIA). They seem to be winning more than just their main categories, clearly. Until someone can prove otherwise, MEM remains undefeated and a dangerous team to face for everyone.
Rumors are that Josh won another league playing big ball recently and we’re happy that grit and grind is here in RDA. [Edit: A correction from the man himself. The best Josh has done is fourth in a twelve team league.] Josh has been very active and a fantastic owner for the league -- if only he'd use Slack! -- and he's injected a ton of excitement in these early days. We only wish MEM had more assets to move around, as we’re fascinated by this franchise and have kept a careful watch on its progression.
With quite a few teams in clear tank mode, and some awful offensive teams, it looks like MEM can continue to ride a top defense and a smattering of other categories deep into the playoffs. We got a contender here people, long live big ball!