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**thaKEAF** · 04-20-2008, 11:47 AM

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Heisley says there's a plan, asks fans of downtrodden team to just bear with him

The last time paying customers had their say with Grizzlies brass, a lady wondered aloud why she should renew her season tickets. Someone else simply asked how long would it take for the franchise to re-emerge from the depths of despair.

Michael Heisley, the team's owner, indirectly lobbed similar questions last week at the NBA. How is a small-market franchise supposed to succeed on the current playing field?

Rudy Gay is the cornerstone of the Grizzlies' rebuilding, according to owner Michael Heisley, GM Chris Wallace and coach Marc Iavaroni. Veteran swingman Mike Miller agrees, saying, "It's his team. It's time for him to take over."

Rudy Gay is the cornerstone of the Grizzlies' rebuilding, according to owner Michael Heisley, GM Chris Wallace and coach Marc Iavaroni. Veteran swingman Mike Miller agrees, saying, "It's his team. It's time for him to take over."

Heisley, a surprise attendee last week at the league's board of governors meetings in New York, made revenue sharing his central issue. In a position normally occupied by Griz attorney Stan Meadows or former team president Jerry West, it was Heisley arguing that increased -- not proportional -- revenue sharing would help every team compete. That means that teams such as the Grizzlies would like to see a bigger share of NBA local television and overseas market revenue. Heisley's biggest beef is with a system that didn't allow him to collect one penny on any Pau Gasol jerseys sold overseas.

The league owners voted to increase the revenue sharing pool from $40 million to $49 million, but there is a long way to go.

So what does this have to do with the state of the Grizzlies, as they come off a 22-60 season?

Heisley says he is trying to find the right formula, within the system, to make Memphis' only major league professional franchise work.

"I'm not (complaining)," Heisley said. "But we do not have the financial base that the large-market teams have, and we have to be more cautious about how we spend our dollars. There's only two ways to build a team. You can go through free agency. But the free agents have got to want to come to your team. Some will not do that, especially with a small-market team. There are very few small-market teams that can build through free agency. San Antonio built their team through the draft. Now that they've won championships, people want to come.

"I'm trying to win. But you can't just buy your way to a championship. People ask me, will we use cap room? I'm not going to just use it to use it. We cannot afford to basically have one of the highest payrolls. We can't have $60 million in salary because we don't have the fan base to support it. But I'm going to do the best job I can."

Fiscal responsibility

The Griz hope to break even this season -- something the organization has not done since Chicago-based Heisley purchased the team in 2000. Otherwise, it's been an ownership era filled with exorbitant payrolls and modest results.

Even the playoff-era Grizzlies, who never won a postseason game, were constructed to pay the NBA's luxury tax and lose up to $40 million in a given season. Now, the mode of operation is simple: The Griz want to build from within as opposed to dealing with constant buyer's remorse.

"You look at Cleveland and New Orleans and how they've become successful through the draft," Heisley said. "It's awful hard to get there by paying large amounts of money for free agents who are toward the ends of their careers. We have decided that the way to get there is to build the nucleus. You can use free agents to fill a spot or two but not to create a superstar. ... The point is that the core of this team is made up of people we primarily picked up in the draft."

Griz general manager Chris Wallace is leading the change and has convinced Heisley that this is the direction to take the franchise.

"You're not ruling out the possibility of winning on a short-term basis, but you're building toward the future," Wallace said. "I don't think we're necessarily starting over as a team. We only moved one (major) player (Pau Gasol). It's going to be a couple of years before we reach our peak, but I expect us to get better and better in all phases of the organization over the next few years."

The notion that the Grizzlies are going to operate on the cheap is somewhat irksome to Wallace and Heisley. The franchise could have up to $12 million to spend on a free agent this summer. The Griz, though, don't believe it is an indictment on their commitment to winning if the money is saved for the 2009 off-season or used a different way.

"There's a misconception that cap room is just used to sign free agents," Wallace said. "You can trade into it as well, like Charlotte did on draft day with Jason Richardson (last year), so it can be used both ways."

Pecking order

So just who is ultimately in charge of making the biggest decisions this franchise has faced in some time?

Less than a year ago, it was coach Marc Iavaroni. But his decision-making is partly the reason that the rookie head coach has had to read about his job security over the past few months. Iavaroni is expected to have some input but not nearly the power he wielded walking in the door last May.

Look at Wallace as the director of this production. He puts together the script and oversees the actors and makes recommendations to producer Heisley -- the man with the final say.

"I'm personally approving the decisions," Heisley said. "I'm not going out and doing the work. Before, with Jerry (West), my position was that what Jerry wanted to do, Jerry did. I'm not making decisions now because of who the people are, but it's necessary that I get involved. I'll be involved with approving. I might just go along with what they want. I'm not going to just veto, but I'm going to have say.

"When Jerry retired, I had to make a decision about whether I was going to get more involved. I know it makes it sound like I'm the guy that's going to make all of the decisions. I'm just saying that I'm going to review the big-ticket items."

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, a Heisley confidant, said recently that he listened to his basketball people for far too long. Cuban said Heisley's taking more control was wise. Heisley, however, doesn't agree wholeheartedly with Cuban.

"It's not like I felt like I listened to my basketball people for far too long," Heisley said. "I'm more involved because the basketball people are more focused on the basketball team, and I'm focused on what's best for the franchise. In the past we got way out of kilter financially. We were spending more in salary than we could afford. When we were paying a luxury tax we should not have been paying."

Heisley said he's confident he's qualified.

"I've been here seven years," he said. "I basically talk to a lot of people around the league who are very competent and friends of mind. I talk to owners. I talk to people like Jerry West and Chuck Daly -- people who are extremely knowledgeable. I get input from my own people, and I process it. I'm going to bring another perspective, and that's the health of the franchise."

The Rudy Gay factor

Critics argue that the team is in no-man's land; that the Grizzlies lack a solid foundation. Heisley told the lady to buy season tickets because of second-year swingman Rudy Gay.

Wallace agreed, saying that filling pieces around Gay is the goal. Iavaroni tripled that sentiment, suggesting that his success is tied to the emerging star.

"He's a significant piece, no doubt about it," Iavaroni said about Gay. "He's shown the ability now to step up in big games. He's made clutch shots. He's a guy that when you go down the stretch, you're going to have to adjust to a Rudy Gay. You're going to have to double-team him or change your scheme. We're going to ride him as long as you let us. That's been a wonderful development from this."

The Grizzlies are trying desperately to move forward from the Gasol Era. Gasol is the franchise leader in several statistical categories and was the face of the franchise until falling out of favor the past two seasons.

Gay, however, represents hope and a renewed spirit for the future.

He's athletic.

He's explosive.

He's exciting.

Most of all, he's willing.

"Pau was here so long and he's what people knew in Memphis. Now, he's gone and the city has to turn to something else," Gay said. "Someone has to step up. I feel like I can because that's the person I am."

Unlike with Gasol, there is already a stronger belief in Gay's talent within the organization and community.

"It's his team," veteran swingman Mike Miller said. "It's time for him to take over. If he focuses in practice and in the offseason, you're going to see a special player. That's exciting.

"He has to work on (making people better), but at the same time he's 21 or 22 years old and he's been in the league two years. He'll figure it out because he's a smart basketball player."

Gay is the player Heisley hopes people will want to pay to see.

"Hopefully the fan base will buy into this and see what's happening," Heisley said. "There was a risk we took to bring Rudy Gay here, and that was trading Shane Battier. That was a tough decision to make. We've got tough decisions to make. We may not always be right, but we're trying to win."

Heisley vs. Memphis

The sincerity of Heisley's words and intent will always be in question since he tried to sell the team to a cash-strapped group led by Brian Davis. But the notion that Heisley is stripping down the franchise to run it cheaply, move it or sell it to the lowest bidder is a theory that belongs on Mars as far as he's concerned.

"I've never talked about moving. We have a long-term, contractual commitment to the city," Heisley said. "There is no way this team is going to move. I've never talked about moving. How am I going to move the team when I have a contract not to move the team?

"This is Memphis' team. The people in Memphis and surrounding communities own this team. If you love basketball, you're a fan of the team when it's winning and when it's rebuilding. You might not be a fan of Mike Heisley, but you're a fan of the team. Because it is your team, you can complain and suggest. A fan of the team doesn't just go when you win a championship.

"The Tribune Company made horrible mistakes over the years. But I'm still a Cubs fan. When they broke up the (Michael Jordan) Chicago Bulls, I didn't agree with it. I'm still a fan. I expect people to disagree. ... But I hope people don't think I'm the whole franchise. The team is made up of a lot of people.

"Like I've said before, this is the only way for us to get there -- through the draft. You can't get there by buying players. I'm not saying you don't get free agents. But the core of the team has to come through the draft. And I'm not saying that there isn't a lot of room for error. You get me the one or two pick, and I'll nail it. You get me the fourth, fifth or sixth pick and I may not nail it. It's not an exact science."

What is certain is that fan apathy has already set in.

The Grizzlies' attendance is among the worst five in the NBA.

Memphians appear to be down on the Grizzlies and their owner -- something Heisley must strive to reverse as much as the team's position in the standings.

"I didn't spend hundreds of millions of dollars to come to Memphis to get people (angry) at me," Heisley said. "I didn't lobby for and put up one of the best arenas in the NBA to get people (angry) at me. I might not have done everything right, but nobody can say I did it because I wanted to come there and give people crap. The mistakes were made because I tried to ascertain what the fans wanted and give them what they wanted."

If it's results fans want, Wallace advises them to stick around.

"I've been through three of these turnarounds before, in Miami and Boston, so I'm optimistic it can be done," Wallace said. "We've got the weapons at our disposal to have a fun future here in Memphis. ... Don't give up on the Grizzlies. Don't lose hope. Don't jump off the bandwagon. We're going to build a team here that people will be proud of."

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