Grizzlies nab former Heat fan favorite Mario Chalmers with 1-year contract

Memphis Grizzlies press release on their signing of Mario Chalmers reads,

Memphis Grizzlies General Manager Chris Wallace today announced that the team signed guard Mario Chalmers. Per team policy, terms of the deal are not disclosed.

Chalmers (6-2, 190) has appeared in 580 games (390 starts) and averaged 9.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.50 steals in 27.3 minutes over his eight-year NBA career with the Miami Heat and Memphis Grizzlies. The 31-year-old was the starting point guard for back-to-back NBA Championship teams in Miami, where he played for current Grizzlies head coach David Fizdale who was then an assistant coach for the Heat.

The Anchorage, Alaska native last played during the 2015-16 season, appearing in 55 games (seven starts) and averaging 10.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.45 steals in 22.8 minutes for the Grizzlies before sustaining a ruptured right Achilles tendon on March 7, 2016.

Chalmers was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round (34th overall) of the 2008 NBA Draft following his junior season at the University of Kansas where he led the Jayhawks to the 2008 NCAA Championship and was named the 2008 NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player. He is one of 44 players who have won both an NCAA Championship and an NBA title.

The Commercial Appeal comments on the problems the team faces with a 19-man roster in Memphis,

The Grizzlies acquired their 19th player Tuesday night, when they signed Mario Chalmers to a partially-guaranteed one-year deal.

You remember Chalmers, of course. He’s the guy who broke a million Memphis hearts by hitting that 3-pointer as a Kansas Jayhawk but then quickly became a fan favorite when the Grizzlies acquired him in November of 2015.

Grizzly Bear Blues notes,

What Chalmers is able to do at this stage of his career is uncertain - the partial guarantee on the one-year deal is evidence of that. Memphis could still theoretically waive Mario before the season begins if he is unable to perform.

“Super” Mario reunites again with former Heat assistant coach Fizdale, now Grizzlies head coach, in Memphis to form a winning combination in the tough Western Conference.

He’ll wear his original #6 in Memphis, because he switched to #15 when LeBron James came to Miami. When the Heat hang #6 in the rafters, should it have James or Chalmers name on it?

Good luck Mario, and we’ll meet you in the NBA Finals.