There's always DraftExpress

Today the Memphis Commercial Appeal is reporting that the Grizzlies have laid off ALL of their amateur scouts. That means every guy who once watched college players for the Grizzlies to evaluate their merits as draft picks are now liquidated. But at least things will be more fun around the office, GM Chris Wallace noted: "I prefer a smaller group."

To be fair to Wallace, however, it's not like he's allowed to make any decisions. This was clearly a Michael Heisley cost-cutter. If Wallace called the shots I don't think we would be watching Hasheem Thabeet next season. And we definitely would still have Hakim Warrick, as the CA summarized best after the jump:

Hakim Warrick would still be on the team. Nobody on the basketball side endorsed Heisley's decision to let Warrick walk.

Heading into the offseason, Wallace described Warrick as "one of the most potent bench scorers in the league." At the press conference introducing Hasheem Thabeet, head coach Lionel Hollinssaid he'd be mixing up the names "Hasheem" and "Hakim" all year long.

Or, not, as it turns out. The Grizzlies pulled their offer to Warrick because they didn't want to give him $3 million a year, or exactly as much as the Milwaukee Bucks then agreed to pay the guy.

Never mind that the Grizzlies said they needed more scoring off the bench. Never mind that they said they needed more veteran leadership.

The Grizzlies' second unit now consists of three rookies (Thabeet, Sam Young and DeMarre Carroll), one second-year player (Darrell Arthur) and one free agent (Marcus Williams, though the signing isn't official yet) who wasn't able to stick with the Nets or the Warriors.

So how do you put a positive spin on that? If you're not Wallace, I mean?