“Definitely keep an eye on” OJ Mayo

This tweet from CSNNE's A. Sherrod Blakely caught my attention this morning. Sherrod was doing one of his random respond-to-every-tweet binges and turning people away from the usual suggestions of Nene and Dwight Howard and other unrealistic things.

But OJ Mayo is an interesting case. In this third year, at age 23, his scoring dropped by six points a game last year. Other than steals, everything else dropped, as the Grizzlies played him off the bench — and 12 fewer minutes a game — onto their surprise playoff run.

This could mean one of two things. 1) The guy's a headcase and Memphis benefited from addition by subtraction or 2) He just doesn't fit into what they're doing. Actually, I guess there's a third alternative: He's just not very good.

I don't buy that, though. He was a top pick, and clearly has plenty of talent. He probably needs a change of scenery. Could it be Boston? I wouldn't count on Sherrod's tweet as indicating that to be the case, merely just that he's a possibility. He's under contract this year for a little over $5 million and due to be a restricted free agent next year, per HoopsHype. Obviously, the way to land him would be a trade, and we've discussed ad nauseum how few trade chips Danny Ainge has. There would have to be some sort of Jermaine + picks deal, or the usual suggestion of a sign-and-trade involving Big Baby (or, I suppose, Jeff Green). None of these seem particularly likely. 

But he'd be an interesting addition. He would be all kinds of scoring off the bench, and if he works out, could slide right into the starting 2 spot once Ray is gone. Of course, the scoring-off-the-bench issue could easily be disputed — his productivity and shooting percentages dropped playing more of a supplemental role in Memphis last year. He wouldn't play any more here, barring injury.

From a future standpoint, is Mayo a piece you could build around? No one can say for sure for now, but he's certainly got the potential, and shouldn't be viewed as a lost cause. For now, he's just pure speculative fodder.

Via KWAPT, a Mayo highlight mix: