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But it's distressing that, despite personally demanding the inclusion of the performance bonuses and despite giving several interviews on the subject, Heisley seems less aware of the status of the team's negotiations relative to the rest of the league than most fans. Yes, Mr. Heisley, it is true the Henry and Vasquez are the only domestic first-round picks still unsigned. "I will tell you point blank son, the press doesn't influence me one iota." One of my favorite one-liners of the interview. If you listen to the whole thing, you'll find that, on this issue, Heisley seems to protest too much, given how often he brings up the media. Memphis Flyer

Memphis Grizzlies, Draft, Xavier Henry, Michael Heisley 

The Memphis Grizzlies and guard Xavier Henry, the 12th pick in the June draft, still have not reached an agreement. The sides are at odds over a performance clause that would allow Henry to earn $336,700 more this season. Rookies are paid according to a scale, and the figure for a No. 12 pick is $1.685 million this season. However, teams can pay first-round picks 20% more or 20% less than the scale. Memphis wants Henry to earn the extra 20% through incentives such as being selected to play in the rookie/sophomore game, making the all-rookie team or averaging 15 minutes a game in 70 games. Owner Michael Heisley took an active role in negotiations. "I decided we should put in not difficult performance criteria but criteria which we consider reasonable that the person would be able to make," he said. "We're very happy we drafted him. We think he'll be a big part of our plans for this year." USA Today

Memphis Grizzlies, Draft, Xavier Henry, Michael Heisley 

In a live interview with Chris Vernon on 730 Fox Sports in Memphis, Heisley abrasively made the case for his decision to hold off on signing Henry unless the Kansas product agrees to fairly unprecedented performance-based incentives. When Vernon asked why Heisley is taking a stand with Henry's contract despite giving maximum rookie-scale contracts to 2009 draft picks Hasheem Thabeet and DeMarre Carroll, Heisley answered that he just found out about the rule allowing negotiation in rookie contracts this summer when employees in the Grizzlies' front office made him aware of it. "I've never seen the collective bargaining agreement," Heisley said. "Would you sit down and read it?" Vernon answered in the affirmative; I imagine many Grizzlies fans listening at home have indeed read the CBA. And they don't own $250-million NBA franchises. FanHouse.com

Memphis Grizzlies, Xavier Henry 

Heisley maintained that he hopes to bring Henry into the fold before training camp begins in five weeks. "I've got plenty of time to sign the rookies," Heisley said. "We're negotiating." The owner also defended the trade of Pau Gasol, the pick of Thabeet and the attempt to bring Allen Iverson into the program. To this listener, he came off incredibly defensive and juvenile, calling Vernon "son," "kid" and "partner." I can only imagine one other NBA owner speaking publicly like this, and, well, there we go with the Sterling comparisons again. FanHouse.com

Memphis Grizzlies, Xavier Henry 

NBASportsAgents: Xavier Henry's team trying to tie 20% of salary ($350K) to performance bonuses.120% of slotted $1.7 million salary. #NBA #Grizzlies Twitter

Memphis Grizzlies, Xavier Henry 

The Grizzlies have fielded several trade offers from teams looking to acquire the rights to unsigned rookie Xavier Henry — interest mostly derived from a contract stalemate between the team and the NBA's 12th overall draft pick. But Griz owner Michael Heisley insisted Wednesday that the team is only interested in signing Henry to a deal that will have him play in FedExForum this season. "I'm not looking to trade him just to trade him," Heisley said. "I'm not angry with him. 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." Memphis Commercial Appeal

Memphis Grizzlies, Draft, Trade, Xavier Henry, Michael Heisley 

The counter-argument Heisley makes is that he's working within the rules of the collective bargaining agreement negotiated by the league and its players' union that stipulates rookie bonuses are negotiable. "Isn't it reasonable to think that the 12th pick in the NBA draft can make the rookie team?" Heisley asked. "I think what we're asking for is reasonable." Memphis Commercial Appeal

Memphis Grizzlies, Draft, Trade, Xavier Henry, Michael Heisley 

An NBA executive said Wednesday that Memphis has exclusive rights to negotiate with Henry until 2013 if he doesn't play basketball this season. If Henry signs overseas or with any other league, the Grizzlies' rights continue in perpetuity provided that they tender Henry qualifying offers in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement. "I'm not trying to make an example of (Henry)," Heisley said. "I'm not trying to make an issue of this, either. We drafted him because we think he can help us. I'm expecting him to play." Memphis Commercial Appeal

Memphis Grizzlies, Draft, Trade, Xavier Henry, Michael Heisley 

So the swingman from Kansas remains unsigned, saying Tuesday he is working out, but otherwise just waiting for a call and isn’t sure what will happen. “I’m letting my agent take care of the contract situation so I’m just sitting here waiting for the word,” Henry said at the New York Knicks’ training facility, where he was photographed for his Panini trading card. “I talk to my agent all the time, he just calls and checks up on me, sees how I’m doing, and just says ‘we’re still working on it, we’re sending them letters, they’re talking to us, but nothing happening yet.’ So I’m not sure what’s going to happen.” Yahoo! Sports

Memphis Grizzlies, Draft, Xavier Henry 

The agent, Arn Tellem, said the Grizzlies are trying to make Henry meet performance bonuses, such as making the rookie challenge at All-Star weekend or being named to one of the all-rookie teams. He says only one player out of more than 450 since the rookie salary scale was instituted in 1995 has agreed to a performance bonus. “Basic fairness and equality are fundamental aspects of every positive organization-player relationship, and those concepts are totally absent from the Grizzlies’ current proposal to Xavier,” Tellem said. Yahoo! Sports

Memphis Grizzlies, Draft, Xavier Henry, Arn Tellem 

Henry has done nothing to deserve “disparate treatment” and that no player wants to be singled out. He merely wants Henry to be treated “in a manner commensurate with his peers and the value the Grizzlies associated him as the No. 12 pick. No better, no worse.” While Wallace and Tellem try to work it out, Henry continues to wait. And he seems to have no anger toward the Grizzlies organization. “Whatever team I go to, I’m going to try to bring my best,” he said. “If it is Memphis, I’m still going to try to bring my best even though this contract thing is going on, because I know the coaches have called me, they’re saying it’s just like the owner and the organization, so it’s not them saying we don’t want to pay you 120 percent. So I still know my coaches and my teammates want me there, so I’m going to give them my best effort.” Yahoo! Sports

Memphis Grizzlies, Draft, Xavier Henry 

Henry, the first-round pick out of Kansas, taken 12th overall by the Grizzlies, missed all of the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas because he hadn't yet signed his rookie deal, and still doesn't have his signature on a contract. And no one seems to know exactly when this is going to get done. The holdup concerns a little-known feature of first-round contracts; the 20 percent rule. After Glenn Robinson's $68 million rookie contract in 1994, owners got the Players' Association to agree to a rookie wage scale that severely cut back the amount of money new Draft picks could make. The new deal ended the astronomical salaries rookies were getting -- the very problem the NFL now faces -- and redistributed the money toward veterans, in the form of salary cap exceptions. One of the features of the new scale was a provision that allows teams to pay as much as 20 percent more or 20 percent less than the agreed-upon scale figure for the player in that Draft slot. If Player Jones is due $1 million next season, for example, his team could pay him as little as $800,000 or as much as $1.2 million. NBA.com

Memphis Grizzlies, Draft, Xavier Henry, Salary Cap, NBPA 

Most teams generally give the player the 20 percent as a sign of good faith, or at least make it easy for him to earn it through incentives like workout bonuses. But a few don't. Memphis has become one of those few. The Grizzlies are offering Henry the exact amount he's due under the CBA -- $1,683,500, according to the union's own numbers. And they're giving him a chance to earn the extra 20 percent --$333,700 -- by playing a certain number of minutes next season. NBA.com

Memphis Grizzlies, Draft, Xavier Henry, Salary Cap, NBPA 

That Henry's agent is the high-powered Arn Tellem only adds to the tension. Tellem is not one to be trifled with, and while the Grizzlies may win the battle by playing hardball, they risk losing much more by annoying one of the league's biggest players. NBA.com

Memphis Grizzlies, Draft, Xavier Henry, Salary Cap, NBPA, Arn Tellem 

Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace told FanHouse Sunday that the issue remains unresolved, but that Henry's camp has not requested a trade to a team who will pay him the $2 million guaranteed. Wallace declined to get into specifics regarding the proposed incentives, but noted that this is not unheard-of. FanHouse.com

Xavier Henry, the Grizzlies' lottery pick who sat out the entirety of the Las Vegas Summer League due to a contract dispute with Memphis, still hasn't signed his rookie deal. As noted previously on FanHouse, the Grizzlies have refused to offer Henry the maximum amount allowed under league rules, which equates to a 2010-11 salary of $2 million, without Henry agreeing to tie $300,000 of that to performance bonuses. That's where the dispute lies -- Henry (represented by powerful Arn Tellem) thinks the incentive clauses are out of line and won't sign, and the Grizzlies won't concede to get a potentially valuable young talent into the program. Specific details of what Henry would have to do to meet the bonuses remain unknown. FanHouse.com

Henry, on the command of his agent, Arn Tellem, decided to sit out summer league because he couldn't come to terms on a contract. NBA rookies are slotted into a salary -- a number that can be negotiated between 80 and 120 percent. The Griz are offering Henry 100 percent of the rookie salary and have proposed that the additional 20 percent be earned through bonuses. Griz brass contend the incentives are easily attainable. However, it has been customary for NBA lottery picks to receive 120 percent of the slotted salary without hurdles to leap. Memphis Commercial Appeal

Both parties are to blame. Griz owner Michael Heisley and Tellem seem to have engaged in a power struggle over relative chump change by NBA standards, and neither has Henry's best interest at heart. While it is standard for rookies drafted in the lottery to receive the maximum contract allowed, it is just as customary for rookies to play in summer league without a signed deal. Teams pay for insurance to cover the player's worth for that week. Memphis did just that so Vasquez could participate in summer league without a deal. Then, all parties go back to the negotiating table and get a contract done before training camp. Memphis Commercial Appeal

So the Grizzlies & Xavier Henry are haggling over $300,000, basically. Ron says sources expect this "negotiation" to be "long & contentious" Twitter

Memphis Grizzlies, Xavier Henry 

Grizzlies rookie Xavier Henry did not make his NBA summer league debut Monday night because of what appears to be a contract dispute with the team. “We have not come to contractual terms with him so my understanding is that his agent (Arn Tellem) decided not to let him play in the summer league until a contract is signed,” Griz owner Michael Heisley said while sitting courtside for his team’s game against Atlanta in UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center. Memphis Commercial Appeal

Memphis Grizzlies, Draft, Xavier Henry, Summer League