To the NBA trade-rumor mobile!
Not two weeks ago, yours truly talked extensively about which teams would be the most aggressive buyers ahead of the Association’s Feb. 19 trade deadline. They were not excluded because I expected them to be sellers. No, no, no. It’s just that, since the Rudy Gay trade, they’ve prioritized stability over everything else. Mid-end moves have been their ceiling, even during the offseason. They swap out Mike Miller with Vince Carter, or they trade for Kosta Koufos. They are not the splash-seeking team that will chase All-Stars or former All-Stars or those considered to be a tier below those types of players.
Important: It seems I was wrong.
According to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein, the Grizzlies are actively seeking a splashy splash this trade season, targeting the Heat’s Luol Deng and the Celtics’ Jeff Green:
The Memphis Grizzlies, looking to bolster their scoring options on the wing in the ever-competitive Western Conference, are actively trying to obtain Miami’s Luol Deng or Boston’s Jeff Green ahead of the Feb. 19 trade deadline, according to league sources.
No deal is imminent, sources said, but it has become clear the Grizzlies are intent on upgrading their wing rotation. The teams behind third-place Memphis (25-10) in the Western Conference standings already have made notable in-season additions — such as Dallas (Rajon Rondo) and Houston (Corey Brewer and Josh Smith) — and Oklahoma City has yet to move into playoff position.
It is not immediately known how willing Miami would be to trade Deng, who is not even halfway through his first season of the two-year, $19.9 million contract he received from the Heat in the wake of LeBron James’ return to Cleveland via free agency.
Miami, though, already is five games below .500 at 15-20 as it begins a challenging five-game road trip out west, leading some around the league to wonder whether Heat officials would indeed be open to moving Deng to start trying to acquire future draft picks or other trade assets, since they currently possess so few.
Green, meanwhile, is widely believed to be available leading into the deadline in the wake of Boston’s deal to send Rondo to Dallas last month. However, Green told local reporters last week on the eve of Rondo’s first game at TD Garden as a visiting player that he doesn’t “want to know how that feels because I don’t want to be traded.”
Any Grizzlies offer for Deng or Green is likely to feature the $7.7 million expiring contract of Tayshaun Prince as well as the promise of future draft compensation.
Apologies for showing the entire post, but it’s all pertinent, and while I love you all—even you, Trolly McTrollerson,—you cannot be trusted to click the link and read it all on your own. So, you’re welcome/I’m sorry again.
Anyhow, the initial reaction is that Green is more available than Deng. The Heat aren’t a top-four Eastern Conference team, but at this point they appear playoff-bound. If Pat Riley is going to move Deng, it will be during the 11th hour, after the Heat have dropped out of the postseason picture. That’s the only way he can truly justify a move like this with win-now veterans Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade on the roster—unless, you know, he’s scheming ways to create serious cap space this summer (unlikely).
Deep into an extensive rebuild, the Celtics figure to be the more willing trade partner, given the assets Memphis can sling. Green has been readily available since the day he signed his current contract (I jest/exaggerate), and Danny Ainge would likely welcome the salary-cap plasticity that moving Green’s $9.2 million hit for 2015-16 creates.
Still, a deal with the Grizzlies, for both the Heat and Celtics, feels incredibly unlikely. The Grizzlies don’t have a first-round pick to offer until 2017, since they traded away their 2015 selection. But even that’s misleading. Given the protection placed upon the pick now owned by Denver (via Cleveland), they won’t convey it to the Nuggets until 2017.
Unless the Grizzlies find a third team to send over a more imminent pick or absorb one of Miami’s and Boston’s unwanted contracts, acquiring either Deng or Green is a long shot. Plus, those aren’t even the right targets. The Grizzlies’ defense hasn’t been as good this season, and they would embrace the perimeter sagacity of both targets. But they really need a three-and-D performer. Neither Green nor Deng qualifies. The former is shooting 30.5 percent from deep, while the latter is burying 36-plus percent for the first time since 2011.
Someone like Wilson Chandler would make more sense for the Grizzlies. Yet even he might be out of reach, because, you know, assets. The best the Grizzlies can hope for at this point is a chance to capitalize on some team’s fire sale. As for which team that might be, there’s no telling.
Just know the Grizzlies, while smart to sniff out impact moves that let them keep pace with the West’s bloodbath, are reaching high and far and beyond their means in pursuing Green and Deng.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
