The Brooklyn Nets and Memphis Grizzlies are among the teams interested in signing Andray Blatche, who is a free agent now that the Xinjiang Guanghui Flying Tigers have been eliminated from the Chinese Basketball Association playoffs, per ESPN's Mike Mazzeo and Marc Stein:
Just filed to ESPN with @ESPNSteinLine: Sources say #Nets interested in a potential reunion with @drayblatche.
— Mike Mazzeo (@MazzESPN) February 2, 2015
#Nets on a list of Blatche suitors that also includes Grizzlies, sources say. Heat have also had past interest in Blatche as well.
— Mike Mazzeo (@MazzESPN) February 2, 2015
Initial reaction: Huh? The Nets never made much effort to bring Blatche back last offseason, and it seems odd that they'd want him now. Brooklyn does have a thin bench, but I'd argue it'd make more sense to try to add a stretch-4 or just try to develop Cory Jefferson. If the goal is to be the eighth-best team in the East this season, though, I guess this could help.
As for the Grizzlies: It's a bit strange that they'd want to mess with the good thing they have going. They don't really need another big man, but if all Blatche is doing is taking some minutes away from Jon Leuer and adding some bench scoring, it could potentially work.
In related news: It looks ilke Memphis is abandoning the Tyrus Thomas experiment, as Memphis has decided not to offer him another 10-day contract, per Yahoo Sports.