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O.J. Mayo

O.J. Mayo could never quite find the right role on the Memphis Grizzlies. With Rudy Gay and Zach Randolpheating up shot attempts and Mike Conley controlling the ball at the point, Mayo never had a true opportunity to showcase his skill set. The Boston Celtics, meanwhile, are in desperate need of bench scoring, and Mayo might just fit that role perfectly.

Here’s Pro Basketball Talk with more:

“Memphis made qualifying offers to Marreese Speights and Darrell Arthur — they can now match any offers other teams make to those two — but chose not to make a similar offer to Mayo, tweets the Commercial Appeal.

That makes the four-year veteran an unrestricted free agent. Any team can bid on his service and the Grizzlies have no right to match.

Already Mayo is drawing interest from the Boston Celtics, reports A. Sherrod Blakey at CSNNE.com. The Celtics tried to get him at the trade deadline, they will make a run at him again.”

The Celtics are actively attempting to fill immediate holes this offseason, which makes me think that they’re reloading, and not rebuilding. So, at this point, I’d bet on both Allen and Garnett re-upping with the Celtics for another title run. Jared Sullinger will take pressure off of Garnett to play big minutes, and O.J. Mayo can handle the scoring burden while Pierce takes a break.

The Grizzlies also had to take into consideration the financial hit that Mayo would have entailed. If Speights and Arthur accept the Memphis offer, the team will have to pay minor luxury taxes. But if Mayo were on-board as well, Memphis would be knee deep in luxury taxes – something they’ve consistently stayed away from over the years.