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As owner of the Memphis Grizzlies, Robert Pera was already celebrating his team’s romp through the NBA playoffs. Now he can add another milestone — he’s back to being one of the youngest billionaires in the world, less than a year after falling out of the ranks of the wealthiest last June. Forbes.com

Memphis Grizzlies, Owners, Robert Pera 

Robert Pera @Tony Allen: KD is going to be bringing everything he's got for the showdown in OKC. All eyes on Glove 2.0! Twitter

Memphis Grizzlies, Oklahoma City Thunder, Kevin Durant, Tony Allen, Robert Pera 

The Nets get their first look at the revamped Grizzlies Sunday in Brooklyn. By sending Gay to Toronto and off-loading Marreese Speights to Cleveland, it's all about shedding salaries and avoiding taxes for the new ownership group, headed by Robert Pera. Those weren't basketball-driven decisions, but had everything to do with the new bosses' demands to save money. As one team official put it, "They put a gun to our head." New York Daily News

Cleveland Cavaliers, Memphis Grizzlies, Toronto Raptors, Trade, Marreese Speights, Robert Pera 

Randolph was asked if he agreed with team chairman Robert Pera, who this week said his new-look Grizzlies are better equipped for playoff success after a trade that sent Rudy Gay to Toronto. "I definitely do," Randolph said during a media session in a ballroom at the posh Hilton Americas hotel here. "I think once we get our identity together and continue to play, get some more games under our belt as a unit and come together, I think we can surprise a lot of people." Memphis Commercial Appeal

Memphis Grizzlies, Trade, Zach Randolph, Robert Pera 

Robert Pera on Hollins' contract situation: “I think all that for now is confidential. The final decision will come down to Jason and I’ll approve whichever direction he wants to go." Memphis Commercial Appeal

Memphis Grizzlies, Coaching, Lionel Hollins, Robert Pera 

When John Hollinger was hired, that was a signal to many people that the Grizzlies are going to rely on analytics and advanced stats. How much do you rely on those types of things? Pera: Well, we like the movie "Moneyball." They use a lot of advanced statistics for the Oakland A's teams. But the difference between baseball and basketball, is (in) baseball, you have individual players, they each have an on-base percentage and a batting average, defensive capabilities. All these parts added together equals the strength of the team, right? But in basketball it's completely different. A player can be immensely valuable in one system and maybe not as valuable in another system. I think it's the combination of pieces in basketball. Analytics are a great tool but you also have to look at the individual player analytics in the context of the system you're running. Q: Did you read a lot of Hollinger before you hired him? Pera: Sure, sure, of course. The Player Efficiency Rating, it's officially adopted by ESPN, so it's a great metric. Memphis Commercial Appeal

Memphis Grizzlies, Robert Pera 

Pera: I think what I was trying to say is like OK, I don't want to profit off this team at all. I'm not running it as necessarily a business. Definitely I'm prepared to write a check (to cover franchise losses), and I will write a check at the end of the year. And whether I'm worth a billion dollars or 10 billion dollars, I believe creating a great franchise isn't about throwing money. You've got to carefully assemble the right parts and have the right chemistry. And then what I wanted to say, not only are we not thrifty, but we've inherited financial obligations from the previous ownership for moving the team to Memphis, which we're paying, and the FedEx sponsorship, naming rights, that's all front-loaded from (previous owner Michael) Heisley's time. We're perfectly OK with those economic burdens. I just used a bad choice of words. I wanted to illustrate that we're financially committed. Memphis Commercial Appeal

Memphis Grizzlies, Robert Pera 

Still, Pera does follow and did recently chime into his team’s official message board. And when he plopped down for a visit last week, no Grizzlies fan believed him. From a Grizzlies.com thread entitled “Do You Guys Think The Front Office Get Ideas From Us,” started on Feb. 4: Yahoo! Sports

Memphis Grizzlies, Robert Pera 

More (rightfully) dismissive replies followed before ‘BeBoutBidness’ and ‘LilFrontOffice’ pointed out that Pera was awarded “All-Star” status (usually given to a poster with a massive amount of posts) after just one message on the board – a sign that this might not be some joker that was quick to grab the “Robert Pera” handle. And then, in his first meeting with local media in three months on Tuesday, Pera admitted to following the team’s message board. If not grabbing ideas from it as the thread he replied to posited. Rightfully, the thread was bumped up almost immediately. Yahoo! Sports

Memphis Grizzlies, Robert Pera 

John Hollinger: Inside report from Grizzlies' practice court: @RobertPera got some serious game. #torched Twitter @johnhollinger

Memphis Grizzlies, Robert Pera, John Hollinger 

The Grizzlies' new owner is defending the trade of his team's leading scorer and other moves to dump salary, saying he believes they can do some ''serious damage'' in the playoffs with the changes. Robert Pera took part in a web chat Friday with Memphis' season ticket holders along with chief executive officer Jason Levien, and Pera's first question was about whether the new ownership group has the financial ability to run the team. ''This team was built for playoff basketball,'' Pera wrote. ''In playoff basketball, getting defensive stops and creating high percentage scoring opportunities under pressure becomes much more important. ... And that is what this team can do best.'' Yahoo! Sports

Memphis Grizzlies, Jason Levien, Robert Pera 

'We made the second trade because we feel it allows us to put a more competitive product on the floor this season and in future seasons,'' Levien wrote. ''We got better. We also picked up a valuable draft pick as well as trade exceptions that will allow us to be opportunistic in going on the offensive moving forward.'' Pera wrote that NBA teams have won titles with superstars and without, and he believes the Grizzlies as they are now built potentially can become the next example. ''Between Tayshuan's winning pedigree, the league's best perimeter defense, and Mark/Zbo returning back to the focal point of the offense; I believe we are a far more dangerous playoff team today,'' Pera wrote of Marc Gasol and All-Star forward Zach Randolph. Yahoo! Sports

Memphis Grizzlies, Jason Levien, Robert Pera 

With more than three months on the job, Levien has begun to transform the Grizzlies with some unexpected additions to his front office staff, tapping long-time business associate Stu Lash to oversee player personnel and long-time sports reporter and advanced analytics guru John Hollinger, formerly from ESPN, as his vice president of basketball operations. "Both guys needed to be recruited a little bit," Levien told USA Today Sports. "I put my agent hat on, but I think both guys were excited." USA Today Sports

Memphis Grizzlies, Jason Levien, Chris Wallace, Robert Pera, John Hollinger 

Hiring Lash seemed almost inevitable, as he and Levien have a long history together. However, hiring Hollinger away from ESPN was something of a surprise. "I always read his stuff so I sort of knew him from reading his stuff and saying, 'This guy is smart and he writes really well,'" Levien said. "We spent time at the Sloan Conference together (an annual sports analytics conference held by MIT in Boston), and I liked him even more. "I leaned on John when I was an agent a few times to give me advice on how I can use analytics in promoting my clients through negotiation and even in the draft. I understood what he was looking at and what he saw and how that equated to what I was looking at and what I saw. And I said, 'This guy really gets it, he's really sharp.'" USA Today Sports

Memphis Grizzlies, Jason Levien, Chris Wallace, Robert Pera, John Hollinger, Stu Lash 

"If you look at the dynamic of our group, with Jason making the final decision," Lash says, "Chris brings a tremendous amount of experience and he's been here, he's done a great job with the foundation and the core of what this team is. John and myself, having different backgrounds and the transition early on was not very difficult. Chris was very open on how he got to this point with this team and it's been good." It's this kind of synergy of information that Levien envisioned when he brought together his front office. "We definitely have a plan and vision for what the future here looks like," Hollinger said. "I'm sure you want me to share all of it, but unfortunately I can't really disclose USA Today Sports

Memphis Grizzlies, Jason Levien, Chris Wallace, Robert Pera, John Hollinger, Stu Lash 

However, it is important to the Grizzlies because it saves them roughly $6.2 million in salary, getting them below the $70.3 million luxury tax threshold and helping them avoid tax payments after the season. The Grizzlies, recently purchased by Robert Pera, who has restructured the front office, had been shopping forward Rudy Gay in an effort to trim salary. This might be a sign that Memphis is willing to keep Gay and see how the season plays out. USA Today Sports

Cleveland Cavaliers, Memphis Grizzlies, Draft, Trade, Rudy Gay, Wayne Ellington, Marreese Speights, Jon Leuer, Josh Selby, Robert Pera 

Chris Herrington: I don't know exactly what was said at meeting between Pera & Gasol/Conley, tho I heard they asked to keep core together this season. Twitter

Memphis Grizzlies, Trade, Rudy Gay, Mike Conley, Robert Pera 

Sources with knowledge of the Grizzlies' thinking insist that this week's hires of ESPN's John Hollinger and veteran agent Stu Lash don't change the status of Grizz general manager Chris Wallace. All three will report to Grizz CEO/managing partner Jason Levien, who has the final say on basketball matters in Memphis under new controlling owner Robert Pera. Yet sources likewise insist that Hollinger will indeed have a prominent voice in personnel matters beyond merely supplying statistical analysis to support decisions. ESPN.com

Memphis Grizzlies, Jason Levien, Chris Wallace, Robert Pera, John Hollinger 

Memphis Grizzlies owner Robert Perra hopped a plane from Taiwan to watch Dongguan Leopard practice on Tuesday. The 34-year-old computer billionaire wasn't in town to soak up the ambience at Dalang Stadium. He was there to check out 20-year-old Li Muhao, the 2.16 meter, 20-year-old who already has the attention of NBA teams despite the marginal impact he made in his CBA debut last season. "Last year, he scored 20 points for the whole year," said Leopard coach Brian Goorjian. "So he suited up and didn't play, so this year is like his first. "He has a bit of an ankle (injury) right now, but he's really springy, really athletic." China Daily

Memphis Grizzlies, China, Robert Pera 

To some, the $175 million in debt that Robert Pera's ownership group took on to help its purchase of the Memphis Grizzlies may be eye-opening. But not in the world of the NBA, one of its executives said Wednesday. "There is nothing unusual about the financing to acquire the Grizzlies," said Rob Friedrich, a vice president of the NBA and the league's general counsel. "It is standard in the context of team acquisitions and fully compliant with the NBA's debt policies. The financial wherewithal of Robert Pera and this ownership group is very strong and the team remains on a very solid financial footing." Memphis Commercial Appeal

Memphis Grizzlies, Michael Heisley, Robert Pera