The Grizzlies are signing Ryan Hollins.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.
Shams Charania of RealGM:
Memphis Grizzlies are waiving guard Russ Smith and signing free agent Ryan Hollins, league sources tell Yahoo. Smith had contract guarantee.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 29, 2015
Memphis waived Hollins to reach the regular-season roster limit, and he spent time with the Wizards, who waived him last week.
Hollins is a borderline NBA-quality center – which is just what the Grizzlies need.
They took a chance waiving Hollins before the season, leaving them with just two centers. But Brandan Wright’s knee injury made the position untenable. Even playing smaller more often, Memphis needed another center behind Marc Gasol.
It made some sense for the Grizzlies to hold the younger Russ Smith over Hollins before the season. Smith, the No. 47 pick in the 2014 draft, has shown flashes of potential in 131 NBA minutes. But he’s also been quite erratic. The longer the 24-year-old Smith goes with that style, the less patience teams will have for him.