It is the much anticipated first day of the NBA free agency period; so of course I’m going to write a piece about whom LeBron James and Dwayne Wade are meeting with and what rumors are being thrown around. Well instead I’m going to write about a move that was made today by the Memphis Grizzlies that will be vital to making them a legitimate playoff contender in the Western Conference.

Sources close to the contract negotiations between Rudy Gay and the Grizzlies have told ESPN.com that Memphis has offered Gay a 5 year 80 million dollar contract offer and that he has verbally accepted the offer.

"It's as close as you could get," one source said. "The deal will be consummated."

The contract can’t be officially signed by Gay until July 8th but sources say Rudy Gay and the Grizzlies agreed to the deal within the first twelve hours of the free agency period.

Memphis has been far from a legitimate championship contender during the last couple of seasons. In fact between the three seasons spanning between 06-07 and 08-09 the Grizzlies posted a record of 68-178. It was only during last season that Memphis made a serious improvement. The Grizzlies finished 40-42, a 16 win improvement from the previous season.

Memphis has the young talent on their squad to continue to build with players such as O.J. Mayo and Marc Gasol (the younger brother of the Lakers Pau Gasol). Zach Randolph is also key cog in the Grizzlies attack, the former Michigan State Spartan averaged 20.8 points and 11.7 rebounds last season for Memphis. Make no mistake about it though; to carry over the positive momentum Memphis generated last season into the 2010-2011 campaign the team needed Rudy Gay.

Gay averaged 19.6 points and 5.9 rebounds last year, and was regarded as a highly sought after free agent. The Minnesota Timberwolves and New Jersey Nets were two teams in particular that were very interested in signing Rudy.
With Rudy Gay back in the fold this Grizzlies squad should be one to watch next year. Gay, Randolph, and Mayo will be the first players looked upon when examining the Memphis roster. A name to look out for though is the aforementioned Marc Gasol; Gasol averaged 14.6 points and 9.3 rebounds last year. He should fit in nicely in the frontcourt next year for Memphis.

The two questions are will Hasheem Thabeet end up being an NBA caliber center and is Mike Conley good enough to get the job done at point guard? Thabeet (the 2nd pick in the 2009 NBA draft) only averaged 3.1 points and 3.6 rebounds last year and spent some time in the NBA Development League last season. Conley is solid but there are questions regarding whether Memphis will need to make an upgrade at point to continue to make positive strides in the West.

For now though the verbally accepted offer of Rudy Gay is reason for fans in Memphis to rejoice.