Xavier Henry has twice been committed to a Memphis basketball team.
He has yet to put on a jersey representing either of those teams.
Henry originally committed to play for coach John Calipari at Memphis before decommitting and joining the Kansas basketball team. After a year with the Jayhawks, Henry was selected 12th in the NBA Draft by none other than the Memphis Grizzlies.
But the Grizzlies are asking Henry to base an uncommonly large portion of his salary in performance benefits — incentives based on his play — so the 19-year-old has yet to sign. And once again, he’s traded in Memphis for Lawrence, arriving in town Monday night to work out with the team and revisit the scene of his one year in college.
“I’ve missed this place a lot,” Henry said. “So first chance I got since this busy summer, I got to hang out with Elijah (Johnson, sophomore guard) now and I spent a lot of time with him. It’s been fun for me so far and I’m getting workouts in while I’m doing it.”
The NBA has a rookie pay scale that bases the salary a player can receive on where he was selected in the draft, offering a salary that the team selecting the player can pay anywhere from 80 to 120 percent of. That number at the No. 12 draft slot is $1,683,500. Whereas nearly all teams offer the rookie the full 120 percent, the Grizzlies are offering Henry 80 percent of that number, with performance benefits enabling him to get to the full number — roughly $700,000 more.
It’s not rare for rookies to have performance benefits in their contracts to reach that maximum number, but those are usually limited to making a certain amount of public appearances or other off-the-court requirements. The Grizzlies, though, are insisting that Henry either a) play 15 minutes in at least 70 of 82 games, b) be named to the NBA All-Rookie team, or c) make the Rookie Showcase team over All-Star weekend at midseason.
Henry insists it’s out of his control and that his agent Arn Tellem, a powerhouse in the NBA world, is handling the negotiations.
“He knows what he’s doing way more than I would know,” Henry said, “so I’m letting him handle it.”
Henry, who said he loves Kansas and the warm reception from the fans, said he hopes Memphis basketball fans understand his predicament.
“I would hope that they don’t think it’s me trying to hold out to play like I’m a stingy person,” Henry said. “The basic principle is, if everybody gets what they’re supposed to get then there’s no problem. They’re trying to change it up a little this year and I respect that, so I’m going to do what I have to do and me and my agent are going to take care of it.”
Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley told The Commercial Appeal, the newspaper in Memphis, he is still hopeful that a deal will get done, despite having multiple trade offers for Henry on the table.
“I’m not angry with him,” Heisley said. “I expect him to play. He’s going to have an opportunity to play a lot, and we need him. So my reaction to this is I’m expecting we’ll get something done and he’ll play for us this season.”