In the past two years the small market Memphis Grizzlies have let their popular coach walk (not renewing his contract) and pushed aside their front office guys to make room for more analytics-driven new front office guys, then fired a couple of those new guys and told the second coach he can go look for a new job in Minnesota (the Timberwolves will give up a second round pick to get the coach out of his contract, the deal is close to being done).
That’s a lot of change and instability. So who do they want now to provide that solid foundation now?
Jeff Van Gundy.
I want Kate Beckinsale to pull up in a Maserati Spyder for our date tonight. About the same odds of happening. But the Grizzlies are going to try to pull him out of the cushy broadcast booth gig to go to one of the NBA’s smallest markets, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.Sources told ESPN.com that the Grizzlies have serious interest in trying to convince Van Gundy to serve as coach and team president in a job structure modeled after the new dual role brother Stan Van Gundy has secured with the Detroit Pistons.
Jeff Van Gundy’s interest in that sort of undertaking -- or the Grizzlies specifically in the wake of all their recent turmoil -- is unclear, with the former New York Knicks and Houston Rockets coach and current ESPN analyst consistent in his reluctance to publicly discuss job openings.
I can think of eight to nine million reasons this is not going to work out.
Stan Van Gundy and Doc Rivers recently got the “president and coach” job gigs and both got $7 million a year. If you are going to pull Jeff Van Gundy out of a cushy television gig to do this your offer needs to start at $8 million a year for four or five years and be willing to go up from there. That’s a lot of money for a small market team to be spending on a coach. Too much if you care about the bottom line.
That doesn’t even begin to touch on the odds Jeff leaves the broadcast booth for the Grizzlies. I mean, great barbecue in Memphis and all, but it’s going to take a lot more than that. Would you want to work for a boss who has shifted front office personnel and priorities like that?
Memphis is a tempting job for some coaches because there is legit talent there, the problem is Zach Randolph is a free agent this summer and Marc Gasol next summer. There is a lot of risk there.
It’s just not a job Jeff Van Gundy would leave the booth for.