Grizzlies rookie guard Juan Carlos Navarro will have to settle on playing for the rookie team in the Rookie Challenge, which is held during the NBA All-Star weekend.

The Grizzlies long distance bomber was hoping to participate in the Three-Point Shootout. But his name was not among the six participants chosen. The NBA announced the five players who will challenge defending champion Jason Kapono of Toronto. Among them are four of the top 3-point shooters in the league this year - Daniel Gibson of Cleveland, Steve Nash of Phoenix, Richard Hamilton of Detroit and 2002 and 2003 3-point champ Peja Stojakovic.

The surprise participant is Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant. While Navarro has seen his 3-point percentage dip to .391 recenttly, tying him for 38th in the league, that’s still a far cry from Bryant.

Bryant is the fifth-best 3-point shooter on his own team. He currently ranks 74th in the league, hitting on just 35.3 percent of his long range shots. He may repeat as the All-Star Game’s MVP, but I wouldn’t put my money on him winning the 3-point contest.

Looks like the Grizzlies trade of Pau Gasol to the Los Angeles Lakers has already had an effect on the Western Conference. The Phoenix Suns, owners of the best record in the West, are close to becoming the first team to react to Lakers acquiring Gasol. The Suns are currently deciding whether to pull the trigger on a trade with the Miami Heat that would sent aging center Shaquille O’Neal to Phoenix in exchange for forward Shawn Marion and point guard Marcus Banks.

The Suns believe the addition of Shaq will allow them to move Amare Stoudemire to his natural power forward position. They also believe that O’Neal will give them more of a defensive presence in the middle, which would keep the undersized Stoudemire out of foul trouble from having to guard centers much bigger than he is.

Two issues the Suns are contemplating, though, are Shaq’s health and his hefty contract of $20 million per season for the next two years. O’Neal, who turns 36 in March, has been plagued with a hip injury. That makes his acquisition a gamble for the Suns, who are looking to get over the hump that has prevented them from reaching the NBA Finals.

Apparently, both O’Neal and Marion are happy to be leaving their respective clubs. O’Neal has seen his relationship with Miami coach/president Pat Riley strained this season. And prior to the season, Marion requested a trade.

It will be interesting to see whether Shaq has anything left in the tank. If healthy, this could be the type of motivation he needs to lead his third team to a NBA title. But chances are Shaq is simply unable to keep up anymore with centers like Andrew Bynum, Tyson Chandler or even Tim Duncan.

Either way, the move makes the Western Conference that much more intriguing. Now let’s see if Dallas owner Mark Cuban has the guts to follow suit by pulling off a trade with New Jersey for Jason Kidd.

Stay tuned.

Just how much did the Grizzlies appreciate Pau Gasol’s more than six seasons in town? Well, if you’re heading over to FedExForum Tuesday night to watch the team take on Milwaukee, see what reminders of Gasol you find.

Apparently, out of sight, out of mind is the approach the Grizzlies have taken toward the franchise’s leader in 12 different categories and it’s only NBA All-Star. Since being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers last Friday, all things Pau have been removed. On the walls outside of the media room hang pictures of past and present Grizzlies.

Gasol had roughly 10 pictures hanging up, until Friday when they were all removed. But you can still find pictures of former players Dahntay Jones and Lawrence Roberts. Stromile Swift, who’s trade to New Jersey was completed today, even has his photo still hanging.

Word is his No. 16 jersey is no longer being sold in the team store, his picture has been removed from city buses, and his billboard has already been taken down.

Guess that means there’s no chance of a Gasol poster night when the Lakers come to town next year.

In need of some point guard help, the Golden State Warriors turned to the NBA Development League and nabbed former University of Tennessee star C.J. Watson on Tuesday, signing him to a 10-day contract. Watson becomes the 10th D-League player to be called up this season, and the 100th player since the league was formed in 2001.

The Warriors are hoping Watson will make as big an impact as Kelenna Azubuike, now a regular in coach Don Nelson’s rotation, did last season. The 23-year-old Watson, who wasn’t known for his scoring at Tennessee, is currently the third-leading scorer in the D-League.

In 16 games with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Watson was averaging 26.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.38 steals. He was shooting 50.6 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3-point range. Watson was named the D-League’s Player of the Month for December.

Watson went undrafted in 2006 and spent last year playing in Italy and Greece.

Perhaps those 1980s throwback shorts the Los Angeles Lakers wore in the first half of Sunday night’s game against the Boston Celtics were a tad bit too tight for forward Lamar Odom. How else can you explain why with just a couple of minutes left in the game, a blowout win by the Celtics, Odom decided to tackle Ray Allen. It was a nice hit, though, if he were playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

On Tuesday, the NBA suspended Odom for one game, meaning he will sit out Friday night’s game against Philadelphia. He will also be $120,441 lighter in the pocket come payday.

“I don’t know what Odom was thinking,” said Allen. “I got the rebound and he tackled me. I know this is Sunday, but this is the wrong field.”

Odom was apparantly upset over a no-call when he had his shot blocked by Kevin Garnett. So he went full steam ahead at Allen. Odom said he was going for the ball.

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The Grizzlies made their first player transaction of the season today, and what a strange one it was. The team decided to waive second-year guard Tarence Kinsey, who seldom saw the court this year after being one of the bright spots of last year’s miserable season.

The team is expected to announce the signing of a bigger, stronger guard/small forward later today. For a team that continues to struggle on defense and has no solid individual defensive players, it was odd that Kinsey, who was lauded for being the closest thing the team had to a defensive stopper last season, was never really given a chance to show the new coaching staff what he could do in game action.

Kinsey appeared in just 11 games this season, averaging 3.6 points and 1.1 rebound in 14 minutes. Last year, the undrafted rookie out of South Carolina exploded on the scene when interim coach Tony Barone, Sr. took over. In March, when Mike Miller became injured, Kinsey was inserted in the starting lineup. In 12 starts, he averaged 18.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.4 steals a game.

Kinsey scored 20 or more points in eight of those games and led the Grizzlies in steals 16 times last season. For whatever reason, coach Marc Iavaroni insisted on playing Casey Jacobsen over Kinsey. Jacobsen, who was brought in for his outside shooting, is shooting less than 30 percent from 3-point range (.285) and 36.4 percent from the field (20 for 55).

Meanwhile, Kinsey made 4 of his 7 3-point attempts (42.9 percent) and in 182 less minutes than Jacobsen, he made 16 of 38 shots (42.1 percent) from the floor.

For those who watched the Grizzlies’ improbable, 123-119, win at Orlando Saturday night, it should be blatantly obvious now who the team’s go-to player is. Second-year forward Rudy Gay put an emphatic stamp on this team with his career-high 32-point, seven rebound performance that helped the Grizzlies snap their six-game losing streak.

Playing without Pau Gasol, Gay took the game over in the second half when his team needed him the most. He scored 23 of his points after the break, 13 of those in the fourth quarter when the lead changed hands nine times. With Orlando’s All-Star center Dwight Howard busy putting up 31 points and 20 rebounds, Gay wanted to put the Grizzlies on his back.

And he did so without shooting a ton of 3’s. He was taking the ball to the hole every chance he got. Gay also wasn’t forcing up bad shots. His ability to make 13 of his 21 shots, helped open things up for his teammates as well. Rookie Juan Carlos Navarro pumped in 27 and Mike Miller added 19.

During the fourth quarter, Gay was often encouraging players like Andre Brown, who unexpectedly played 21 minutes and grabbed a career-high seven rebounds, and Navarro. He took a leadership role, along with Miller, realizing they needed to have big games in order for the Grizzlies to win.

Through the first two months of the season, Gay not only has made dramatic strides over last season with his on the court play, but he continues to become more of a leader. By the end of the season, look for him to be the unquestioned leader of this team. That’s not to de-emphasize Gasol’s importance to the Grizzlies. But Gay is not far off from being the superstar former team president Jerry West envisioned when he traded Shane Battier for his draft rights.