In the interest of following up a Daily Babble from earlier in the off-season, let's go with a quick note on former Clippers swingman Quinton Ross, who was most recently fighting for a roster spot in Memphis off of a non-guaranteed contract.
As reported by Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal:
Ross, 27, will be on the Grizzlies' opening-night roster Wednesday when they tip off the season at Houston.
Teams aren't required to submit official rosters to the NBA until Monday evening. But Ross, the only player remaining with a nonguaranteed deal, received a commitment Friday from the Griz.
"I thought Quinton was productive and proved to be a real asset," Griz general manager Chris Wallace said. "He's a steady, mature player. He doesn't turn the ball over. He shot the 3-ball better than his career averages while playing a great deal at small forward. It's not his natural position but he filled in ably. He's certainly a versatile defender that will help us."
Not much of a shock here that he made the team. Still some surprise that this is the team that signed him.
Ross isn't a talented offensive player, and many have made the case that he is a liability at that end of the floor. But the fact remains that the guy is a stout defender at the swing spots, and he has value as a shutdown defender to have on the roster for the veteran's minimum.
As it is, Tillery reports that the Grizz have until December to decide if they even want to guarantee Ross' contract through the duration of the season after that, so they've really got him on the cheap thus far. No matter how poor of an offensive player this guy is, that no team with a better shot at contending this year made a harder run to nab Ross' lock-down skills for the back of the bench is befuddling.