Two seasons ago, the Memphis Grizzlies upset the Golden State Warriors in the 2021 play-in tournament, sparking one of the league’s most formidable rivalries. Last season, the Grizzlies shocked the world and reached the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference before losing to the Warriors, this time in the West Semis. This year, Ja Morant has continued his MVP-caliber play and catapulted Memphis to the top seed in the West.
The load has not been carried solely by Morant as Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. have been excellent complementary pieces, even that fantastic trio has played a total of zero seconds this season due to injury. Santi Aldama and John Konchar are two role players who sparingly received minutes last season, but have emerged as quality role players.
Despite Memphis’ continued success, the team could still seek additions via trade. Here are two possible deals for the Grizzlies as the February 9th trade deadline approaches.
Grizzlies trade Danny Green, protected first-round pick for upgrade
With the elite scouting and front office decisions of the Grizzlies management, they have selected several under-the-radar studs who have quickly thrived in the NBA. As a result, NBA fans may forget that Danny Green is on the Grizzlies roster because of the De’Anthony Melton trade, and his expiring deal is a perfect way to upgrade the roster without affecting the current rotation of head coach Taylor Jenkins.
Guys like Santi Aldama, John Konchar, and David Roddy may not be ready for postseason basketball, so Memphis could stand to add a veteran with playoff experience. Some players who fit the style of Morant and the Grizzlies are Terrence Ross and Malik Beasley, both of whom would provide Memphis with a long-range shooting threat and additional scoring punch off the bench.
Memphis mulls a Dillon Brooks trade
The Grizzlies need as much time and experience together as possible before reaching their championship potential under the postseason microscope. Morant isn’t going anywhere, while Jackson and Bane are essentially untouchable barring the likes of a superstar like Kevin Durant or Anthony Davis hitting the market. Most of the youngsters are still locked up for the foreseeable future, so Dillon Brooks—a free agent this summer—could be a potential trade target.
Brooks has struggled from two-point range this season, frustrating Grizzlies fans with his often questionable shot selection. He’s a very impactful one-on-one defender, but Memphis has several other quality wing defenders behind him. Brooks has been injury prone at times in his career, too.
It is rare in the modern NBA for a franchise to have a cornerstone like Morant surrounded by such a young, quality exciting supporting cast. Most organizations tend to focus on bolstering their roster through free agency or trades, but this Grizzlies squad is not imitating their opponents. Even though Memphis is a small-market franchise, its brilliant team construction may pique the interest of big-time free agents in the next several years.
This formula to build success in the NBA was last successful with the Golden State Warriors and even the Toronto Raptors. It is a given already with the Warriors roster, but for Toronto, their nucleus was developed internally before they added a stellar superstar in Kawhi Leonard. By mentioning that, the Grizzlies may wait for someone like Leonard to become available on the free agent market because they have a slew of young assets along with all their draft capital.
.