NBA Trade Grades: Grizzlies Acquire Jeff Green

Welcome to the Western Conference, where the fight to become one of eight playoff teams is reminiscent of the opening 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan.

Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski dropped not one, but two Woj bombs on Twitter Friday afternoon, first reporting that the Phoenix Suns had acquired backup big Brandan Wright from the Boston Celtics in exchange for a future first round draft pick (which will likely turn into two second-rounders).

But we’re not here to talk about that. Instead, let’s focus on the second trade Boston made within the hour, working out the framework for sending veteran small forward Jeff Green to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Tayshaun Prince and a future first round draft pick, which likely won’t be available until 2018 or 2019:

ESPN’s Marc Stein reports the third team needed to facilitate the deal is the New Orleans Pelicans, who will acquire Quincy Pondexter in the three-team trade. The Celtics will acquire Austin Rivers from New Orleans.

I can’t able to remember the last time so many significant trades were made this far in advance of the February trade deadline, but in order to keep things in perspective, let’s hand out some trade grades for the Jeff Green deal as it is currently set up.

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