Culture Matters
But there is a wrong answer. To say that there is no value in overpaying to keep players like Mike Conley and Marc Gasol in the fold of your organization completely eschews culture as a component of team building. Grit and Grind is a thing, and it has meaning that resonates within the Memphis locker room.
With it, the Grizzlies are one of the few teams in the NBA that have an identity it can be proud of. Without it, they become one of a number of franchises that doesn’t know whether it is coming or going, searching blindly for something or someone that will differentiate it from the pack.
Finding that something or someone isn’t as easy as it might seem. For proof of this, look no further than the most public critic of Conley’s contract.