Upheaval in Memphis: Jason Levien resigns as CEO, Dave Joerger opts to stay

Man about Memphis Chris Herrington of the Commercial-Appeal joins us on the Drive & Kick to make sense of all this.

The rundown:

As it turns out, Pera wanted to replace Joerger five games into his first season as a head coach, and Pera had some truly strange ideas as to how the team would move forward after hypothetically firing a coach with a 2-3 career record.

After the first five games of the season, Pera flew to Memphis and held individual meetings with players. In those meetings, he began offering a handful of suggestions, according to Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix, one of which was that Joerger should be fired as coach and replaced by player-coach Mike Miller.

Pera, the 36-year-old owner, has been at the center of it all. He took to his Twitter account on Sunday to take questions. Joerger’s return was among the topics, but it was only the tip of the iceberg. Here are a few highlights.

First, let’s clear the air about Joerger. Did he really only return because the Grizzlies and Timberwolves couldn’t agree on compensation?

According to Marc Stein of ESPN, Minnesota and Memphis hit an “impasse” in compensation talks and with Joerger unable to get out of his contract, he opted to return to the Grizzlies. Memphis owner Robert Pera also played a role in Joerger’s return. The two reportedly talked on Saturday night and Pera convinced Joerger he wanted him to remain the Grizzlies head coach, according to Aldridge.

Joerger’s decision to remain in Memphis ends a lengthy courtship with the Timberwolves. The Minnesota native met with the Timberwolves after Memphis was eliminated from the playoffs. Many expected him to take the job, especially with rumors the Grizzlies were considering firing him. There were even rumors the Grizzlies planned to target Jeff Van Gundy to replace Joerger once he left.

The Grizzlies’ window to win with their current core -- Conley, Gasol and Randolph -- is quickly closing. Randolph is 32 and will either pick up his player option and make $16.5 million next season or become an unrestricted free agent. Gasol will be a free agent after next season at age 30.

It would be quite an undertaking for Van Gundy to hop on board and immediately assume executive responsibilities in what will be a crucial offseason for Memphis. He has no front office experience and it’s unclear, as Stein reported, if he has any desire to work in that capacity.

According to Wojnarowski, Grizzlies and Timberwolves officials have begun discussing compensation to let Joerger, a Minnesota native, out of his contract in Memphis.

The Timberwolves have the longest active playoff drought, having not qualified for the postseason since 2004.

In his first year as an NBA coach, Joerger led Memphis to 50 wins and the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. In the first round of the playoffs, the Grizzlies took heavily-favored Oklahoma City to seven games, continuing a trend of strong play that began during the team’s dominant second half.

However, that didn’t stop Memphis from granting Joerger permission to interview once the Timberwolves came calling. According to Wojnarowski, Saunders “has been a long-time admirer of Joerger’s climb through the minor leagues to the NBA.”

The Memphis Grizzlies appear to be cleaning house, leaving the organization in disarray and the team possibly without a coach. Only one man can bring them back to the Western Conference finals as a player/manager. That man: the immortal Mike Miller.

1. LIKES A CHALLENGE. Mike Miller once owned a monkey and took good care of it. Do you know how hard it is to take care of a monkey and what a management triumph primate ownership is even for something as small as a capuchin monkey? Were you aware that monkey biscuits are real and required because you cannot feed your monkey pizza and beer? Even though this would be hilarious? And that Mike Miller’s monkey once escaped and rode his Great Dane down the street of his neighborhood? Mike Miller was committed and organized enough to do this until he had a child, after which he “got rid” of the monkey.

Joerger and the T-Wolves could meet by the end of the week.

Memphis owner Robert Pera clashed with CEO Jason Levien and developed a rift with the coaching staff and the front office by becoming more involved in the basketball operations side of the franchise.

Despite completing another strong season, the Memphis Grizzlies may have a new coach and front office. A clash between owner Robert Pera and management has already caused team CEO Jason Levien to resign, according to a team release.

Senior front office executive John Hollinger and coach Dave Joerger may also be involved.