8 NBA Teams That Had a Horrible Summer

Memphis Grizzlies

Major Additions: Tyreke Evans (free agent) Ben McLemore (free agent), Ivan Raab (drafted)

Major Subtractions: Vince Carter (signed with Sacramento), Zach Randolph (signed with Sacramento)

Major Problems: The Grindhouse edition of the Memphis Grizzlies is dead, long live the grinders.

Knowing Zach Randolph won't be wearing a Grizz uniform this season is a bummer. Knowing Z-Bo will be wearing a Kings uniform is weird.

See? Weird.

Losing Randolph -- one of the most respected veterans in the league -- is a drag from a basketball perspective. Last season, his per-36-minute numbers were truly Z-Bo-esque -- we're talking 20.7 points and 12.1 boards. (That said, Randolph is 621 years old, and his days of seeing 36 minutes a night -- hell, his days of seeing 26 minutes a night -- are a distant memory. But still.)

Replacing Randolph in the locker room will be impossible. Replacing him at the four spot will be difficult.

As of this writing, the only power forward on the roster is the rookie Raab, with last year's primary starter, JaMychal Green, still mulling whether or not to sign Memphis' offer sheet.

Evans ($3.3 million/one year) and McLemore ($10.7 million/two years) were brought in on short, reasonable deals, and appear not to be part of the Grizz's long-term plans. Marc Gasol and Mike Conley, however, are The Men, and if they perform up to their All-Star standards, losing Randolph and replacing him with, um, not much might not be quite as painful.

Takeaway: Memphis, welcome to the treadmill of mediocrity. In the stacked Western Conference, the Grizz's uninspiring summer will likely leave them as either a lottery team, or a .500 squad who will have the opportunity to meet the Golden State Warriors or the Houston Rockets in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. And it probably won't go well.