Memphis Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley is not happy.

	Williams is putting up numbers, but he's also running his mouth.

Not happy at all.

And the man who is the target of his ire is the team's president of basketball operations, Dick Versace.

This past Sunday, the Grizzlies lost to the Seattle SuperSonics, a game in which point guard Jason Williams, he of the brand-spanking new $42 million contract, was absolutely horrid.

Williams missed 15 of 23 shots -- many of them jumpers with about 20 seconds left on the shot clock -- and turned over the ball six times, one a behind-the-back pass on a fast break that landed right in the hands of Sonics coach Nate McMillan, standing on the sidelines, wondering whether Williams wanted him to drive to the basket and throw down a dunk.

Afterwards, Williams lambasted his teammates.

"We suck," Williams said. "We suck. We're the worst team in the league. You can print that."

So, of course, everybody did, which led to Heisley, Versace and Chuck Daly, the team's special consultant, meeting in a downtown hotel for breakfast and Heisley telling Versace this:

"We suck. We suck. We're the worst team in the league. Do something about it."

OK, perhaps Heisley didn't use those exact words. What he did tell Versace, according to a source, is that Versace has been doing a terrible job with the roster.

He told Versace that he has made a bunch of deals that seemingly have served only to bolster the bench, but have left the starting lineup with a dearth of talent.

Williams is probably the worst example of that. He clearly is having a difficult time running the team, his shot selection is awful, his turnovers are often and horrendous and, now, he is alienating teammates by publicly ripping them -- the reason that Versace emerged from the meeting determined to fine Williams for his statements. Hey, somebody had to pay for Versace getting chewed out.

Meanwhile, in Sacramento, Mike Bibby is a steady performer on a team that is challenging the Lakers for the best record in the NBA, taking the Kings to the next level.

	Anderson

	Bibby

Heisley also cannot be happy with Versace's acquisition of Ike Austin, for Cherokee Parks, Obinna Ekezie, Dennis Scott and Felipe Lopez. Not that those players are doing anything noteworthy in their final destinations, but Austin's weight has ballooned back up and he is once again a financial albatross, taking in close to $6 million this year.

Same for Nick Anderson, who came over in the Bibby-Williams deal. He gets $5.4 mil this year, $6.1 mil next season, and the dude never even gets off the bench.

Brevin Knight is going to get $14 million over these three seasons, and, suffice it to say, there is a reason that Atlanta got rid of him even though they do not have a point guard.

"I want marquee guys," Heisley told Versace. "I'm tired of paying a lot of money to a bunch of second-rate players."

Along those same lines, Heisley told Versace he does not want another young guy acquired for the team's trade exception.

With Bryant Reeves' bad back likely forcing him to retire, the Grizzlies got a $4.5 million trade exception that they have to use before the end of this month.

Of course, rumors have the Grizz very interested in Golden State's Marc Jackson, a big man who has had about a half season of good play, or any NBA play at all. He's not exactly a veteran (other than those years in Turkey or wherever). This goes against the current thinking that the Grizz will pursue him.

They have four rookies -- Shane Battier, Pau Gasol, Will Solomon and Antonis Fotsis -- on the roster, Stromile Swift, a second-year player, is getting minutes and Williams still is in the early stages of his career.

So Heisley instructed Versace to go out and get a veteran who can help guide this young team, who can show them how the game is played properly, who can direct them in the ways of the NBA.

After all, part of the reason Williams went off on his team after Sunday's loss is because Gasol and Swift still do not know the plays, and Williams felt that since they were not running the plays properly, he was free to jack shots whenever he wanted.

Keep in mind, this is almost 35 games into the season, and two of the key cogs in the team's makeup do not yet know the plays, which is why some of Williams' teammates backed him.

"I think everyone on the team knows Jason and his personality," Shane Battier said."The guys on the team liken him to an artist, where he can be brilliant, he can be elusive, he can be misunderstood sometimes. I think in the heat of the moment, he made some comments that he didn't mean to the extent in which they were taken by everyone in the lockerroom and the media, but we had a meeting and we're working to sort things out."

But, Heisley warned Versace, keep one thing in mind as he tries to sort out this 11-24 team:

"I don't want you to go out and make the same mistakes we made in the past." Sounds simple enough. Let's see what Versace does with that warning.

Around The League
Sonics majority owner Howard Schultz did not take long to ingratiate himself with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who was fined $500,000 by the league for criticizing the officiating.

"I think it's justified," said Schultz. "There's a better way to communicate frustrations, and it should be behind closed doors. He has to understand that his remarks are actually more divisive to him and the league. He should grow up."

Frank Hughes covers the NBA for the Tacoma (Wash.) News-Tribune. He is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.