Most Memphians, even those who don’t cheer for the University of Memphis, remember Chris Douglas-Roberts. He was an important part of the Tigers team that had basically won, and then tragically lost, the 2008 NCAA National Championship. Although multiple things went wrong at the end of that game, Douglas-Roberts’ 3-missed free throws and questionable play carried much of the blame. Roberts went on to the NBA Draft, where the New Jersey Nets took him with the 40th pick.
Despite being chosen fairly early in the draft, and averaging 7.7 points and 2.2 rebounds over the course of his career, Douglas-Roberts has not had a successful NBA career. He has played on 5 different teams since going pro (3 NBA, 1 Italian, 1 D-League) and is now an unsigned free agent after being waived by the Dallas Mavericks. This development has led to many Memphians clamoring for the Grizzlies to pick up Douglas-Roberts and sign him to at least a 10-day contract.
While it seems unlikely that Memphis would pick him up, it could actually be a not-so-old Memphis connection that led to Douglas-Roberts being waived: O.J. Mayo. With the Mavs offseason pickup of Mayo, they are now spending over $8 million on shooting guards. Why invest more money into a position you already have three contract players slotted for? Douglas-Roberts simply doesn’t fit in with the team. Mark Cuban is doing some serious examination of his roster right now, and surely he saw that his team needed to slim down on non-long term contract players. Although I wish Douglas-Roberts the best, I dearly hope that he doesn’t come to Memphis. The Rudy Gay trade talk will start heating up soon, and we need as little drama as possible.
