A Memphis company seeking to install the Grizzlies' practice court at FedExForum says it was snubbed despite having a lower bid and superior product.

Bruce Gleneck, owner of Sports Floors Inc., says the combination of price and quality should have made for a local job at the publicly financed, $250 million arena. Instead, because the Grizzlies chose another brand of court, installation will be by Covington Flooring Co. of Birmingham for $128,997.

"The Grizzlies have a say-so in what they want," Gleneck said. "But you know what the bottom line is? This is our (public) money we're spending."

The Grizzlies and the New Memphis Arena Public Building Authority said the Sports Floors bid was slightly higher - $134,587, which Gleneck said was the high end of a range of court and price options.

More than price, though, Mike Golub, Grizzlies senior vice president of business operations, said the team chose "the product we think is best for our players."

He said the team's basketball officials preferred a court from Robbins Sports Surfaces, for which Covington Flooring is a Southeastern U.S. dealer.

The Grizzlies have decided to take their FedExForum naming-rights revenue overnight, rather than over time.

The franchise was to receive $90 million over 20 years of the FedEx Corp. naming-rights deal for the arena, which opens in 2004. But the team opted for immediate - albeit less - cash from lenders to cope with heavy financial losses at The Pyramid and the high cost of building a winning franchise.

A series of transactions has given the Grizzlies $32.5 million, in addition to $20 million that FedEx already had paid the franchise, according to a report in Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal. For the Grizzlies, that means $52.5 million, rather than $90 million over time. Payments by FedEx now go to the lenders who made the deal with the Grizzlies.

"This really makes the team a solid proposition," said Stan Meadows, the team's senior corporate counsel. "It doesn't have to be fed by the owners right now. We can get into the new arena and get everything in line."

The financing deal, which Meadows called "very unusual," provides immediate relief for a team with annual losses of $10 million-plus at The Pyramid. But it also removed a long-term revenue source.

"It is a risk, if the team can't generate sufficient revenue. With sports teams, that's always a big if," said Julia Heath, University of Memphis Economics Department chairman.

It's all Griz, all the time. Well, almost all the time.

The Grizzlies announced on Wednesday a 69-game television schedule for the upcoming season, and 40 of those games will be replayed at 2 a.m.

WMC-TV (Channel 5) will replay all 10 of the games it will show live as well as 30 games that are originally aired on PAX (Channel 50).

"There's a lot of people who don't get to see our live telecasts," Grizzlies vice president of business Mike Golub said. "There's a lot of restaurant workers, there's a lot of people who work late shifts like at the FedEx hub.

"We don't expect a huge audience out of this. It's a nice experiment to try and reach more fans."

Golub said there are some major league baseball teams and NBA teams who re-broadcast edited games that last about an hour. But he's not aware of any franchise re-broadcasting entire games.

Grizzlies President Jerry West introduced his latest acquisition Wednesday, with his mind fixated on the next.

In his vaunting introduction of swingman James Posey, West all but guaranteed that the Griz would make a deal for a brawny center sooner rather than later.

"Our roster isn't going to look like it looks right now," West said, suggesting that he would likely end summer dealings with a bang before the team's training camp opens in October.

The Griz hope they've filled a defensive need in the backcourt with Posey. Their most glaring need is a beefy, defensive-minded, rebounding center.

"If we're able to do one more thing, I think we'll have two or three players at every position," West said after returning from vacation.

It is believed the Griz are working toward a deal that would net either Atlanta's Nazr Mohammed or Golden State's Adonal Foyle or Erick Dampier.

Also, Seattle reportedly is willing to part with Jerome James or Vitaly Potapenko.

Conventional wisdom suggests that Griz guards Brevin Knight and Wesley Person are valuable trade bait because their contracts end after the 2003-04 season.

West offered no specifics.

"We're looking at one more move," West said. ". . . There's going to be other things done here."

The Griz have from Aug. 1 until before the start of the regular season to extend the rookie contracts of Mike Miller and Stromile Swift. West traded for Miller before the February deadline and considers the swingman a major cog.

Miller and Swift already are under contract for the 2003-04 season - their fourth. But West, who has said he wants to secure Miller long term, is in no hurry to consummate a deal for either player.

On Miller, West said: "I've told Arn Tellem (Miller's agent) that I don't want to address that until we get our (offseason) business done."

Reportedly, guard Michael Dickerson is running, jumping and dunking again. However, West told a press conference that Posey would be the starting shooting guard. The Grizzlies' planning is understandable given Dickerson's on-again-off-again status the past two seasons.

"He's been doing really well," West said of Dickerson. "But (Posey) gives us another shooter, another defender, another tough guy."

Mike Batiste will miss the Grizzlies' trip to France and Spain this fall.

Instead, the forward is headed to Greece.

Batiste, a restricted free agent, recently signed a contract to play for Panathinaikos during the 2003-04 season, the Grizzlies confirmed Monday.

The Griz tendered Batiste a qualifying offer after the 2002-03 season. They could have matched other NBA offers within 15 days. That non-binding agreement essentially required Batiste to earn a roster spot by opening day.

However, Batiste would have been waived because of the Grizzlies' intent to keep summer-league standout forward Theron Smith.

Batiste, overweight most of last season, had a sub-par summer league.

"The emergence of Theron Smith and his signing to a contract was a major plus for us," Griz coach Hubie Brown said, referring to Smith's two-year deal. "He has excellent talent, can play two positions - the small forward or power forward - he shot (approximately) 60 percent from the field, and he handles the ball well. We like his total game and his ability to defend the entire floor."

The Grizzlies' ongoing search for a beefy center could take on the characteristics of an Energizer Bunny.

This is a process that may keep going and going and, well, you get the picture. Despite Griz president Jerry West's diligence in trying to acquire a defensive-minded center through free agent and trade routes, the reality is this:

No deal appeared imminent as of last Friday.

Sure, the Griz could suddenly pull off a trade Monday or next week. Or the Grizzlies' attempts at bolstering an otherwise frail front line could carry over into their October training camp or linger at the league's February trade deadline.

"That's correct," Griz coach Hubie Brown said after pointing out that, "Management has been consistent in working on this. We're still in the mix."

That the Grizzlies are not alone presents one obstacle. Most notably the Dallas Mavericks are actively pursuing a trade for a center and have many more assets than the Griz to offer.

The Rockets let the clock run out on their option to keep small forward James Posey on Friday, choosing to let him jump to the Grizzlies rather than match Memphis' four-year, $24 million offer.

No announcements were made. But the Rockets allowed Friday's 5 p.m. deadline to pass without matching the offer sheet.

The Rockets signed small forward Adrian Griffin on Thursday and guard/small forward Eric Piatkowski less than a week after Posey, a restricted free agent, signed his offer sheet.

Posey, 26, averaged 9.3 points and 4.8 rebounds in 58 games with the Rockets last season, hitting 43.9 percent of his field-goal attempts.

The addition of Griffin and Piatkowski to forwards Glen Rice and Bostjan Nachbar left little incentive for the Rockets to retain Posey at that price, particularly with the Rockets' payroll next season expected to trigger a luxury tax.

Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson said he considered Griffin and Piatkowski valuable additions to the Rockets' roster, rather than replacements for Posey, but said he was happy with the changes.

The deal was done, the contract signed. It was too late to haggle when Adrian Griffin found out just how much the Rockets thought of him.

Griffin had signed Thursday to help fill the Rockets' expected opening at small forward and was sitting in the passenger seat of Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson's Jeep when Dawson described the qualities that led him to Griffin.

"He's a very versatile player," Dawson said. "He plays the two and three (shooting guard and small forward). He's very solid. Low turnovers. Does everything well. He'll make everyone better. He's one of those players coaches love to have. He's good in the locker room, good on the court, good off the court. A quality person."

Asked if Griffin was blushing, Dawson joked, "He thinks I'm talking about someone else."

But by then, Dawson had signed Griffin, a free agent after two seasons with the Mavericks, to a two-year contract worth, according to sources with knowledge of the deal, roughly $1.5 million, the minimum for a player heading into his fifth NBA season.

In addition to Dawson's long list, Griffin could help make James Posey expendable.

Facing today's 5 p.m. deadline to match the offer to keep Posey, the Rockets' starting small forward last season, or lose him to the Memphis Grizzlies, Griffin could serve as a similarly defensive-minded small forward who can also work in at shooting guard.

Dawson said he would not announce a decision on matching the four-year, $24 million offer sheet until today. But the Rockets signed shooting guard/small forward Eric Piatkowski less than a week after Posey, a restricted free agent, signed his offer sheet. The addition of Griffin to Piatkowski, and forwards Glen Rice and Bostjan Nachbar would seem to make it even more likely the Rockets will let Posey go, especially at that price, with the Rockets' payroll next season expected to trigger a luxury tax.