DALLAS -- OJ Mayo is looking at his first trip to Memphis since the Grizzlies decided they didn't want him any more as strictly a business trip.
Mayo was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft and spent his first four seasons with the Grizzlies. The USC product started the first two seasons for the Grizzlies, then came off the bench the last two seasons before the Grizzlies refused to pick up Mayo's $7.3 million qualifying offer this past summer.
That bold move by the Grizzlies -- or lack thereof -- effectively dumped Mayo on the free agent market. That's where the Dallas Mavericks found Mayo and signed the shooting guard to a contract that pays him $4.02 million this season with a player option for the 2013-'14 season that pays him $4,200,900.
Whether Mayo has a chip on his shoulders about the way the Grizzlies gave him the cold shoulder, he didn't give any hint after the Mavs dropped a 115-90 decision to the defending NBA champion Miami Heat on Thursday. But he certainly has only one mission when the Mavs (12-14) play the Grizzlies (17-6) at 7 Friday night at the FexEd Forum.
“I just want to go win the game,'' Mayo said. "They made the decision they made and they’re a heck of a team.
"They’re playing well right now, so I just want to go in there and compete hard and play well.”
-- Dwain Price
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