A bizarre story out of Oregon…

A man who went to the Oregon home of Memphis Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph to sell marijuana said he was beaten with a pool cue in a dispute over the price of pot.

The man told sheriff’s deputies at least three men assaulted him but Randolph was not among them. No arrests have been made, and authorities said none were expected on Monday.

Clackamas County Sheriff’s Sgt. James Rhodes said Randolph was in his home outside Portland when the beating occurred early Saturday. The victim was treated for head and face injuries and released from a hospital later that afternoon, when he called police, Rhodes said.

Officers served a search warrant early Sunday. They spoke with 10 people in the home at the time and recovered pool cues and blood evidence. They did not find drugs in the home.

Randolph just signed a mega-extension from the Grizzlies and has been a pretty good citizen while in Memphis. Yet here’s a guy who just got his ass whooped in Randolph’s home and the victim alleges it was over the price of pot.

Perhaps Randolph is looking to moonlight while the NBA lockout is in effect.

This Memphis team deserves a lot of credit. The Grizzlies are playing some very good basketball right now on both ends of the court. In Sunday’s Game 1, they allowed Kevin Durant (33 points) and Russell Westbrook (29 points) to get theirs, but they turned the Thunder over 18 times, which led to a +11 margin in shot attempts, and that turned out to be the difference in the game.

I’ve been harping on Russell Westbrook for a while, but the more I see him play, the more I realize that he’s simply not a point guard. He should play off guard a la Dwyane Wade. That way, he’d still be able to be a big part of the offense, but he wouldn’t be responsible for handling the ball all the time and setting his teammates up, two things that he struggles with. He had seven turnovers and 14 missed shots, so there’s 21 possessions where the Thunder didn’t score. He also gets stuck defensively on ball screens, and if he was playing more off guard, he’d be chasing screens off the ball, an area at which he excels. That said, the Thunder passed on Ricky Rubio and Stephen Curry in the ’09 draft and they don’t seem poised to move Westbrook off the ball anytime soon.

But back to the Grizzlies. Zach Randolph may be playing the best basketball in the playoffs right now. He scored 34 points and snagged 10 rebounds, while Marc Gasol went for 20-13 on 9-of-11 shooting. What’s interesting about this pair is that they wouldn’t be in Memphis if not for owner Michael Heisley’s decision to trade Pau Gasol to the Lakers a few years ago. Marc Gasol came over in the trade, but no one thought he would develop into the all-around big man that he has become. The Grizzlies were able to afford the trade for Randolph since they had the cap space left by the Pau Gasol trade.

At the time, the acquisition of Randolph didn’t look very promising considering he was overpaid and underachieving. But he has settled in nicely in Memphis and the duo have formed one of the best one-two frontcourt punches in the league. The Pau Gasol trade was still terrible on paper, but it has since worked out for both teams (albeit more so for the Lakers).

Game 2 of the series is on Tuesday night on TNT.

Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley is a character. He appeared on the Chris Vernon Show recently and got into a…um…spirited debate over whether or not the Grizzlies should exercise a little-known clause in the collective bargaining agreement that allows for teams to negotiate a performance incentive into rookie contracts.

Xavier Henry is still unsigned due to Heisley’s insistence on this performance incentive. Rookie contracts are generally ‘rubber stamp’ type deals where the player gets the max (120% of the rookie scale) and he signs immediately. Heisley claims that the Grizzlies are not the only team to use this strategy, but he was unwilling to name any names and I certainly haven’t heard of any other teams doing so.

On the show, Heisley is passive-aggressive, condescending and entertaining, and in addition to the Henry negotiations, he defends the Pau Gasol trade, the Zach Randolph acquisition, and his decision to draft Hasheem Thabeet over Ricky Rubio.

Matt Moore of CBSSports called the interview an ‘abject trainwreck,‘ while Chris Harrington of the Memphis Flyer called it ‘borderline-embarrassing.’

An informant has told police that Zach Randolph is a major marijuana supplier in Indianapolis. 6News has the story, but thanks to Black Sports Online for the find.

According to a probable cause affidavit, a trusted police informant identified Memphis Grizzlies player Zach Randolph as a major marijuana supplier in Indianapolis, 6News’ Jack Rinehart reported.

Narcotics officers were staking out a suspected drug house on Indianapolis’ north side two weeks ago when they pulled over Arthur Boyd, 32, soon after he left the residence, near 75th Street and Binford Avenue, police said.

According to the affidavit, the Cadillac Escalade that Boyd was driving was registered to Randolph, and police found marijuana and ammunition stowed inside.

“One of his vehicles had what we call hidden compartments that contained suspected narcotics, that being marijuana,” said Lt. Jeff Duhamell.

Based on information found in the Escalade, police later raided a northeast side storage facility, where they said Randolph rents four lockers.

According to the affidavit, a police K-9 alerted to controlled substances in two of the four units, and police found more cars with secret compartments inside.

At this point, it appears that the police have some circumstantial evidence and the word of an informant. While it is troubling that vehicles and lockers owned by Randolph contained illegal substances, it is possible that he wasn’t aware of what’s going on. It’s not likely, but it’s possible.

Either way, it’s a dumb thing to do. If you’re going to buy one of your buddies a gift, just give it to him — don’t keep ownership of the vehicle. And why does Randolph rent four lockers in Indianapolis? And if he was aware of what was going on, or is/was involved in a drug ring, what is he thinking? He’s a professional basketball player and makes millions and millions of dollars every season. Why would he moonlight as a drug dealer?

Randolph’s attorney says that his client isn’t involved in any drug ring and is very upset about this news because he has worked hard to repair his image. Aside from a drunk driving arrest in 2009, Randolph has cleaned up his act in recent years after a long history of trouble with the law:

Randolph has a long criminal history. He was convicted of battery and sentenced to house arrest in 1997, and spent time in a juvenile detention center in 1999 for selling a stolen gun.

Three years later, he was arrested on charges of underage drinking, and faced charges in Portland after police said they could smell marijuana coming from his car.

A few weeks ago, Randolph insisted that he deserved Pau Gasol-type money, and this latest stint of trouble is obviously going to make that kind of extension a long shot at best.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

When handicapping the NBA MIP award, I always like to look at the player’s original draft position. Here’s a table with the last 20 winners of the MIP award. Take a look:

Notice anything? Only one MIP winner in the last 16 years (Tracy McGrady) was drafted in the first 12 picks.

It appears that the voters don’t just look at overall improvement, they also take into account unexpected improvement.

Looking at TrueHoop’s list of MIP candidates that received more than one vote from a panel of voters, here are draft positions for each player: Kevin Durant (2), Andrew Bogut (1), Corey Brewer (7), Joakim Noah (9), Josh Smith (17), Russell Westbrook (4), Aaron Brooks (26), Anderson Varejao (30), Channing Frye (8), Al Horford (3), Andray Blatche (49) and Zach Randolph (19).

Can we safely cross Durant, Bogut, Noah, Westbrook, Frye and Horford off the list?

Actually, I’m not sure. I don’t remember a year when there were so many top candidates drafted in the first ten picks. The top non-lottery pick is Josh Smith, and he averaged more points and almost as many rebounds two seasons ago. I don’t think the writers are going to look at his career stats and think improvement even though he played much headier ball this season (as evidenced by his improved shot selection and increased assists).

Of all the non-lottery candidates, Aaron Brooks best fits the MIP profile. Here are his numbers year over year:

2008-09: 11.2 ppg, 3.0 apg, 2.0 rpg, 40% FG%, 37% 3PT
2009-10: 19.6 ppg, 5.3 apg, 2.7 rpg, 43% FG%, 40% 3PT

I think he’s going to win the award, but a case could be made for the first four players on the list:

1. Kevin Durant was supposed to get better, but I don’t think that there were too many pundits predicting a 30-8-3 season and 50 wins for the Thunder. He averaged 25-7-3 the year before, so his stats don’t really reflect his improvement. I think this will hurt him in the MIP race. (It also doesn’t help that he’s also on the short list for MVP.)

2. Andrew Bogut might be the darkhorse. Yes, he’s a former #1 overall pick, but he’s been around just long enough for people to give up on him. A little more than a year ago, a buddy of mine said he was a bust. I know he was trying to tweak me — I’m a sometimes-proud Bucks fan — but still, since he was the top overall pick, we’re expecting more than the 12-10 that Bogut posted in 2008-09. We were expecting a star, and that’s exactly what Bogut became this season. He averaged 16-10, and was second in the league in blocks (2.5) and fourth in charges drawn per game. In fact, he was second in the league in HoopData’s stat “DEF” which tallies the total number of blocks, steals and charges. (It should be noted that Josh Smith was the player ahead of him, though I don’t know that too many MIP voters dig this deep into statistics.) In the end, the Bucks’ emergence as a playoff team, Bogut’s improvement on both ends of the court, and his season-ending arm injury might produce a groundswell of support in terms of winning the MIP.

3. Corey Brewer averaged 6-3-2 last season and 13-3-2 this season. That’s a nice jump in scoring, but Brooks’ improvement was more impressive.

4. Joakim Noah averaged 7-8 last season and posted 11-11 this year. That’s also an impressive improvement, but we saw it coming, didn’t we? If Noah gets starters minutes, there’s a great chance that he’s going to post a d
ouble-double. It doesn’t fit the profile of unexpected improvement.

What about George Hill? He only got one vote from the TrueHoop panel, but the former 26th overall pick improved his numbers from 6-2-2 last season to 12-3-3 this season, and was a big reason why the Spurs stayed in the playoff picture even though they lost Tony Parker for part of the season.

So, in terms of the MIP profile — a big statistical jump from a non-lottery draft pick — I think Brooks is the frontrunner, but Bogut has an outside shot and Hill is the guy (almost) no one seems to be talking about.

But should anyone even want to win this award? In its history, no MIP winner has ever won a NBA championship. Strange, but true.

Photos from fOTOGLIF

And we’re not talking Marc Gasol. When FanHouse asked Zach Randoph about an extension, this is what he had to say…

“Me and Pau Gasol got signed to the same deal when he was in Memphis and I was in Portland,” said Randolph, whose contract actually is slightly less, with Randolph making $16 million this season and $17.33 million next season and the Lakers star earning $16.45 million and $17.82 million in those seasons. “We got the same contract, and it got extended. … I hope (to get the extension done this summer). I’d definitely like to get it done.”

So is Randolph worth $57 million over three years?

Not in my book.

While Randolph’s numbers this season — 21-12, 49% shooting — compare favorably to Gasol’s (18-11, 53%), the former plays on a mediocre team that was eliminated from the playoff race a while ago. The latter plays on the world champion Lakers and takes 3.5 fewer shots per game. Gasol is a seven-footer who can play both power forward and center, while Randolph is too small to play center full time. True centers are a rare breed and teams have to pay a premium. Power forwards are a lot easier to find.

Want to go deeper? Randolph’s net impact on the Grizzlies eFG% and eFG% allowed is -0.8%, while Gasol’s is -0.3%. Gasol’s PER (22.71) is better than Randolph’s (21.25).

And then there’s the dependability factor. Randolph is on his fourth team and was traded away three times because he wasn’t wanted. Gasol was traded because the Grizzlies weren’t going anywhere and wanted to cut salary. While it seems like Randolph has matured in his stint with Memphis, his reputation still lingers.

This kind of extension talk is a perfect example. If Randolph really wanted to get an deal done, he’d do it quietly. Instead, on the heels of yet another playoff whiff, he’s giving interviews telling people how he’s worth as much as Pau Gasol, which forces the Grizzlies’ owner, Michael Heisley, to field questions about it.

In short, just because a guy is (probably) the best player that a franchise has, it does not make him a “franchise” player.

Given all the factors, if I were in Heisley’s shoes, I’d pay him $12 million per season, max. And I’d wait until the very last minute to do so. It’s not like his stock is going to get any higher, and besides, players always perform better when they’re hungry.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

When asked about potentially re-signing Rudy Gay, Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley made a bold statement:

Q. Will you re-sign Rudy Gay, who is a restricted free agent this summer?

A. I feel we’re going to sign him. I don’t know what else you want me to say. Rudy is an outstanding player. He fits our team well. We’ve got the best front line in basketball.

The Grizzlies’ front line consists of Rudy Gay (20-6-2), Zach Randolph (21-12-2) and Marc Gasol (15-9-2). Good? Absolutely. The best in basketball? I don’t know.

Let’s see…

Cavs? (LeBron, Jamison, Shaq)
Celtics? (Pierce, KG, Perkins)
Hawks? (J. Johnson, J. Smith, Horford)
Lakers? (Artest, Gasol, Bynum…Odom)

Would you take the Grizzlies over any of those other front lines? I’m not a big believer in Randolph, so I might be a little biased. The Cavs and C’s are older, but I’d certainly take those front lines over the Grizzlies’ for one or two seasons. And as far as young front lines go, I think the Hawks have the best in the league.