3 Shades of Blue is going to be offline this weekend working on some technical issues and re-opening at http://3sob.com on Monday morning.

3 Shades of Bluehas had a wonderful year with Bloguin. As one of the founding blogs we couldn't have asked for better partners and highly recommend their site to anyone interested in serious blogging about all sports subjects. They are really incredible.

However an opportunity arose that may be better for our blog. We are going to miss Bloguin and the great group of people here. Derek and Ben have been great friends and we look forward to continuing that friendship despite the move.

So for now we will be off-line until Monday morning as we finish the last bit of work on the new site. We hope our dedicated readers and friends will continue reading us at http://3sob.com starting Monday morning.

Chip, Matt, Earl, Zack, Lee, Carl, Joe and our leader in abstinencia Josh.

"If we want (Rubio), we're going to take him," Wallace said Wednesday. "We wouldn't have taken a 10-hour flight to Spain if we didn't have interest in him."
Ron Tillery, Commercial Appeal

Wow. If the Grizzlies want Rubio they'll take him. What a gutsy statement.

I know that there are no guarantees in drafts. The Grizzlies possibly believe someone else is better to draft with the 2nd pick. I've heard rumors people are questioning if Rubio is actually 6-4 in shoes or barefoot. Let me be clear about this.

It doesn't matter if he is 6-4 in shoes or pantyhose. All that matters is the Grizzlies get the best player available with the 2nd pick. I think Wallace is doing the right thing (and many people including myself have said this from the beginning) in telling Rubio that he is in the draft and the team that drafts him will have his rights. If Rubio want to play in the NBA then he'll have to play by the rules.

Well Grizz fans if you have not heard yet, Ricky Rubio was in Sacramento yesterday to visit the Kings organization and staff.  It seems that Rubio's agent is doing his best job to steer him directly to Sacramento.  It started the night of the 2009 NBA Draft Lottery and there has been a steady stream of information coming from Camp (Dan) Fegan.  It is obvious that Rubio's agent prefers him in Sacramento first and anywhere else but Memphis second. Fegan is employed by Rubio, so the question really is: How does Ricky Rubio really feel about Memphis?  However, for the purpose of the 2009 NBA draft...it just doesn't matter.

First out of the gate: were I an international player of note, I do not know that Don Fegan would be my first choice of agent. The Yi issue turned into quite a bungle, and the strategy seemingly being employed by Fegan regarding Ricky Rubio doesn't seem to be working out so well.

So where are the latest rumored destinations for the much-heralded-but-only-18 point guard??

Pau Gasol has his NBA Finals Trophy. He joins Jason Williams (once) and James Posey (twice) as former Memphis Grizzlies who have hoisted the NBA trophy.

So how should Grizzlies fans feel about this? Should they be sad that the Grizzlies were never able to get a single playoff win with these three players? Should they be happy for the players success? Should they even care at all?

Well I suppose the fans can be sad that it never worked here for the team since Memphis is really needing something positive to happen after the troubles the Grizzlies have suffered lately and the problems the Tigers are facing right now. Something positive needs to happen for the city. I think the fans of the players are happy for their success but it really doesn't resonate here.

What difference does it make if the Lakers won the NBA Championship?

Thanks so much for the kind words of concern emailed to us about the 3 Shades of Blue staff. We seemed to have survived the sequel to Hurricane Elvis. I guess this storm should be called Tropical Storm Lisa Marie!

Anyway, power is back up and we will be back to writing very soon. Thank you for your patience while we get caught up.

In other news, today's workout scheduled at FedEx Forum was cancelled. The planned workout for today has been rescheduled for some point in the future. More news on workouts as they become available. 

The focus of the 2009 NBA draft for Memphis Grizzlies fans has been on what will Chris Wallace do with the #2 pick in the 2009 NBA draft.  It is just more sexy to talk about the the possibilities surrounding the second pick in the 2009 NBA draft.  In fact, I think that the Memphis Grizzlies will use these later pick to move up in the draft to target some higher level prospect in the late lottery or mid first round.  However, on the outside chance that the Chris Wallace does exercise the two late picks, here are five players I would like for him to target.

Our story so far: While some seem to think there's a legit case for Memphis to take Hasheem Thabeet over Ricky Rubio at No. 2, SI.com reports that Brandon Jennings says . . . . well . . .

"Yeah, I think I'm a better player than he is. I just shoot the ball better than he can. The only thing I've seen him do sometimes is when he has a home-run pass or something like that. I think the dude is just all hype. I can't even front. I'm just going to be real with you guys."

Yeah, that's Brandon Jennings guarding Ricky Rubio. "I can't wait to see him in summer camp," Jennings says.

Tune in next week, when  . . . well, who the heck knows what's going to happen on the next episode of . . .

Hey. We need a good name for this soap opera. Help me out here . . .

Days of Our Grizz
As the Bear Turns
The Bold And the Blue-tiful

The day is fast approaching. The balls finally came out of the machine in favor of the Grizzlies, and June 25 is right around the corner. The decisions made inside the Grizzlies' draft war room will, to a VERY large degree, determine the short-, medium-, and long-term direction and viability of the Grizzlies in Memphis in terms of the on-court implications as well as the all-important fanbase (miniscule though it may be).

So let's ponder how one might think that things might go, decisionmaking-wise, in that war room under various circumstances and with various players involved..and this could almost be titled "As the FedEx Forum Turns".

A new prediction for the Grizzlies #2 pick by Draft Express.

Updated with Chad Ford's (@ESPN) full first round picks.

More say the Grizzlies should take Thabeet than Rubio.  It's getting interesting.

Grizzlies 27th pick completely wide open, but three are predicting Gani Lawal.  Who and what is Gani Lawal?  Check below for more info on him.  (You can click on each name and it will take you to states for the player either at ESPN or Draft Express.