Memphis Grizzlies star Rudy Gay’s partially separated shoulder injury has not gotten any better after a fierce rehabilitation attempt, and will require season ending surgery, according to Yahoo! Sports.

With only 11 games remaining in the regular season, the Grizzlies hold a slim 2-game lead over the surging Kyle Lowry and the Houston Rockets. Phoenix trails by 2.5 games, while Utah is currently 3 games behind.

Steve Nash might be able to get his team into the playoffs on his will alone, so do not bet against the Suns trying to squeak in right at season’s end.

Rudy Gay is the marquee player for the Memphis Grizzlies. He is unquestionably the franchise player with a knack for being the Grizzlies go to man in clutch situations. The cool and collected killer who nails impossible clutch shots for his team has a max deal worth $82 million over 5 years. Basically, the man is hard to replace, anyway you slice and dice it.

His 19-plus points per game will be sorely missed as bodies grow more tired, and games have more importance over the next 11 games.

Now that Gay is officially ruled out for the season, we must wonder if the Grizzlies will continue to play strong to finish off the season,  or instead falter into the offseason knowing they have no chance of Gay returning to the court if in fact the do hold on to the 8th playoff seed in the Western Conference.

Sure the Grizzlies did good in adding Shane Battier, Leon Powe, and Darrell Arthur has emerging as a solid bench player. They are not close to supplanting Rudy Gay even though they do provide toughness, rebounding scoring, and three point shooting. Could it be enough?

WIth Kyle Lowry playing basketball like he has just escaped from the NBA Jam video game, collecting triple-doubles, and shooting the rock as flames come off the ball, it might be very difficult for the Grizzlies to hang on to their 8th seed without Gay in the lineup.

The Rockets have won their last 4 games in a row, and their next game is against the Golden State Warriors at home, then they hit the road to battle the Miami Heat, New Jersey Nets, and close the month out in Philadelphia. The way Houston is playing, it is hard to imagine them not finishing their next 4 games going 3-1.

Things do get a bit more rough for the Rockets in April, facing the San Antonio Spurs, Atlanta Hawks, New Orleans Hornets, and Dallas Mavericks.

However, with coaches like Gregg Popovich and Rick Carlisle probably planning to rest their stars in preparation for the playoffs, the Rockets might pull off some more victories against these top level squads.

The Grizzlies are 6-4 in their last 10 games, and have won their last 2, but they head to Boston on Wednesday, and follow that up in Chicago against the Bulls on Friday. Memphis will close the week out at home against San Antonio.

The Tim Duncan-less Spurs seems will put international stud Tiago Splitter in the middle to combat Gasol, so this is no easy win for the Grizzlies either. The Grizzlies face the Warriors to close out their March schedule. so at worst, they could finish off 2-2, or 1-3. It is too hard to imagine the Grizzlies taking down the Celtics or the Bulls on the road.

April seems much lighter for the Grizzlies as they will face off against the New Orleans Hornets and Los Angeles Clippers twice. They also face Minnesota Timberwolves and Sacramento Kings at home, and head to Portland to play the Trailblazers.

The Grizzlies look good in April as they have 5 games against teams with losing records, opposed to 3 against playoff contenders. If any team is a candidate to play the spoiler for the Grizzlies look for Sacramento and the Clippers led by Blake Griffin to do just that.

Upon discovering that former All Star center Yao Ming will miss the rest of the season with yet another injury, the Houston Rockets have officially closed the book on the Yao Ming Era and have begun shopping his expiring contract around the league.

This move all comes in light of the fact that the Rockets have played well without Yao. With Yao and Aaron Brooks both sidelined, the Rockets still managed to succeed and win with a surprise breakout year from Kyle Lowry, whom played nothing less than brilliant as the starting point guard, leading Houston to a respectable 15-15 record.

It seems like the Rockets’ roster is packed with players whom can step it up on any given night. Shane Battier is always good for back breaking threes, but on certain nights you will get a gem performance from the likes of Chuck Hayes, Chase Budinger, or old man Brad Miller will put his savvy veteran game on display.

If the Rockets can dispose of Yao’s contract and get something, say another center, or better yet someone young and talented, in return the Rockets should dump Yao as soon as possible.

In Houston it is clearly time to end the old, and replenish the roster with more young talent.

At this point, Yao is on the outside looking in, looking for some hope.

The Rockets have been rumored to be in discussions with Sacramento, but that is bunk because Daryl Morey asked for DeMarcus Cousins in the swap, which has proven to be an automatic deal breaker.

Perhaps if Houston includes Aaron Brooks in the deal they could sway Sacramento into a deal. Brooks is undersized but  a valued shooter who can put up huge offensive lines in addition to provide deep threat scoring.

Kyle Lowry has proven to Houston he can indeed shoot during games and is a stronger defender than Brooks. Lowry has more size than Brooks, and he strengthens the Rockets defensive presence because he can defend the leagues bigger point guards,whereas Brooks clearly weakens the team. Selling Brooks high is not a bad idea since Lowry has proven his worth.

Regardless of where Yao is traded, the odds are he will never play again in the NBA. Yao is a proud man and will do everything to prepare himself for a comeback, wherever that might be, but in reality he possesses peanut brittle for bones and there’s just no way he can come back without being another year slower and removed from the game.

This past Thursday, Trevor Ariza verbally committed to a 5-year, mid-level exception deal good for $33 million with the Houston Rockets–a much more lucrative deal than the Los Angeles Lakers, his former team could offer. As irony would have it, he joins Houston hours after former Rocket Ron Artest agreed to a 3-year, $18 million deal with the world champs.

Ariza reportedly decided to make the move to Houston after L.A. declined to make an immediate offer once the July 1st free agent market officially commenced. Ariza should become an immediate contributor with Artest leaving, and Yao Ming out indefinitely. Tracy McGrady is also reportedly on his way out via the trade market.

Ariza was the glue for the 2008-09 Lakers team. (Credit: nydailynews)

With the Houston youth movement unexpectedly beginning because of the injury to Yao, the Rockets essentially are planning for Ariza to be one of the focal points of the offense. Aaron Brooks, Kyle Lowry, Carl Landry, Luis Scola, and Ariza represent a solid nucleus for years to come.

The Rockets will further alter the landscape of their roster by moving McGrady, although his value can’t be that high because of injury issues and the fact he’s never been on the roster of team that advanced out of the first round of the playoffs. New York seems interested in McGrady and has young players they could include in a deal.

Ariza and Kobe's friendship will have to be maintaind on the phone or via twitter now (Credit: ABC)

Ariza took the riches over a chance to win another title, and who could blame him. He capitalized on his maximum NBA free agent value after being one of the key guys on a team that won the NBA Championship. The Lakers obviously had a backup plan knowing they could sign enforcer Artest for less than Ariza.

The former UCLA Bruin was the “glue” guy for the champs. He did all the intangible dirty work, the stuff that doesn’t necessarily show up in the box score. He didn’t need the ball in his hands to be effective.

Trevor Ariza is a tenacious and active defender showing no signs of mental instability (Credit: lakers.topbuzz.com)

Ariza earned himself a nice paycheck and he will see the floor a lot more in Houston. At this point, he has more upside than Artest, but the question is how effective–without Kobe–can he be as a “go-to” guy.

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