GM Wallace joins Grizzlies
He leaves Celtics to replace West
WALTHAM -- When called in Memphis yesterday, Chris Wallace picked up the phone and proudly announced, "This is Chris Wallace of your Memphis Grizzlies."
The Celtics lost their general manager over the weekend when he took the same position with the Grizzlies. Wallace, whose hiring was announced by the Grizzlies yesterday, will replace the retiring Jerry West as the final decision maker on basketball matters. Although West does not officially retire until June 30, Wallace is on the job now.
"I'm technically the guy at the top," said Wallace, who also holds the title of vice president of basketball operations. "Anybody who's been an assistant coach wants to be a head coach.
"I always felt no matter how long and successful my career in the NBA got to be, if I never got to be the guy heading up the basketball operations of a team, I would feel unfulfilled. So, I have my opportunity.
"I'm not a czar. It's a collaborative, cooperative process. But I am technically the lead basketball executive, a position I desired ever since the first moment I worked in the NBA.
"I'm coming back [to Boston] for a couple days to tidy things up, help with the transition, help with the draft. I don't want to abruptly leave. I want to do everything I can to help with the transition."
But Wallace taking over right away did raise some eyebrows, considering that Memphis holds the No. 4 pick and Boston the No. 5 pick in the June 28 draft. Wallace and Celtics executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge dismissed any notion of a conflict of interest. Neither team has made up its mind as to which player it will select.
"It may sound like there are secrets, but we're fishing out of the same pool," said Wallace. "Memphis is going to take who it's going to take whether I'm here or not. It's not like I have some Trojan horse hidden in Boston."
Said Ainge, "I don't think Chris is going to go in there with one week on the job and demand what they're doing. They have a great staff there. They've had 14 people full-time that have worked and prepared for this draft. And Chris and I have a trust and I think I know where I stand with Chris."
Ainge said he would make a decision about the structure of the basketball operations staff at some point in the future, but he doesn't foresee making a hire/promotion until August or September.
"Chris will be missed," said Ainge. "We'll have to rally internally. I don't know what I'm going to do with staffing, but I'm not going to do anything in a rush or anything in a panic. I don't think it's going to change anything with what we're doing. All the people that are on staff right now are going to have to pick up some of the responsibilities that Chris was doing."
While assistant executive director of basketball operations Leo Papile also was in the running for a job in Memphis, a league source said it is unlikely he is headed south. Wallace would not directly comment about Papile, saying only, "We haven't determined anything on staff yet."
The parade of draft prospects at the Celtics' practice facility continued yesterday with Kansas forward Julian Wright stopping in. Wright was joined by Holy Cross guard Keith Simmons and Chinese guard Sun Yue. Maryland forward Mike Jones had to cancel, according to Ainge, because he sustained a knee injury in a previous workout, supposedly late last week in Sacramento.
Unlike previous workouts, the entire session was closed to media members. Apparently, it was a compromise for Wright, who originally intended to have a noncompetition workout. With some competitive aspects of the workout involving Wright, the practice floor remained shielded. After the workout, Wright reported that all went well.
"It was a really good workout," he said. "I was just getting to know everyone. They have nice facilities. It was a good opportunity to get out here and get to know all the staff.
"I look at small things, the details, who they have, who they have that's a free agent, who's getting old, things like that. In terms of playing, I just try to be as coachable as possible wherever I go."
Ainge liked what he saw from Wright and the others.
"I like his versatility and I like his ball-handling abilities and his passing abilities," said Ainge. "He's got good length also. He's a 6-8 player, but he's very long for 6-8."
Wright has also visited Minnesota for a workout and will continue on to Milwaukee, Charlotte, and Sacramento.
The Celtics have Al Horford scheduled for Friday, while second-round candidates Coby Karl (Boise State), Torey Thomas (Holy Cross), Bobby Brown (Cal State-Fullerton), and Roderick Wilmont (Indiana) will work out today. Sun will be back today for a second workout . . . The early-entry withdrawal deadline passed yesterday, and it is worth noting that two players Ainge & Co. traveled to see -- Georgetown forward Jeff Green and Washington center Spencer Hawes -- remained in the draft. 