Memphis Grizzlies: Shooting guard trade scenarios

The NBA trade deadline is less than a month away. Let’s see what moves the Memphis Grizzlies could make at each position, with this post focusing on shooting guards.

Injuries and Marc Gasol‘s beginning decline both have a hand in the Memphis Grizzlies‘ struggles so far this season. However, the lack of production at the shooting guard position has certainly been part of the problem too.

Tyreke Evans has been a godsend for Memphis, and his production is not the reason the shooting guard play seems bad. In fact, Evans has been playing some point guard and small forward because the Grizzlies want his talents on the court as much as possible. The problem at the 2-guard has been everyone who plays there besides Evans, specifically Ben McLemore and Wayne Selden.

McLemore missed some time due to injury, and the shots are just not falling for him. He’s shooting 41.1 percent from the field and 31.7 percent from deep. Selden, who showed some promise last year, has only played a total of 77 minutes and has become a non-factor for the team.

In a similar mold to the points guards, the Grizzlies have to decide what path they would like to go down; do they trade for a player who could help them at shooting guard next season (this season is already lost) or do they try to get whatever assets they can for their current guys? Let’s look at some trade options in each path.

Focus on next season

McLemore has a two-year deal, so Memphis is hopeful that he could be a useful player next season. However, he is now in year five of his career and has shown no signs of being anything more than an end-of-bench guy, so looking to upgrade over him for next season is something the Grizzlies could explore.

Selden and Evans are both on expiring contracts, so they are not part of the future, presumably. Let’s see what moves they could make to focus on next season at shooting guard.

A simple and easy swap. The Heat have an abundance of wings and two guards between Tyler Johnson, Rodney McGruder, Josh Richardson and Justice Winslow. Tyler Johnson’s salary balloons next year, so they will be happy to get out of his contract. They also need post help, which Brandan Wright could give them.

Johnson could help the Grizz both this year and beyond. He’s a skilled scorer and shooter and a decent defender, so he would fit perfectly alongside Mike Conley. The ballooning salary would be a concern, but it wouldn’t be hard to squeeze in TJ and stay under the tax.

Jeremy Lamb has had somewhat of a resurgence in Charlotte this season, he has been playing well alongside Kemba Walker. However, like the Memphis Grizzlies, the Hornets are struggling and have an expensive team. If they could get out of Lamb’s contract and only have to send out a second-rounder to do it, they will be happy, and they also get a decent contributor in Ennis and a big improvement at backup point guard with Mario Chalmers.

It would be unfortunate to lose Ennis, but to get a shooting guard for next season and a pick could be useful for Memphis.

Trades that focus on the future

If the Grizzlies decide to play the long game, they could try to acquire assets for their shooting guards in the form of young players or draft picks. Selden probably has no value, so if Chris Wallace can get literally anything of value for him he should take it. Evans and McLemore are a little bit of a different story.

The Timberwolves are just one game out of the 3-seed in the west, and Evans would help their bench tremendously. If they feel they could make a push deep into the playoffs, they may try to upgrade their talent in the form of Evans.

The Grizzlies will be happy to get a first round pick for their expiring contract. It would be great to get such a good asset for a player they just signed this offseason, so if a trade like this is available to them, they should go for it. Nemanja Bjelica is for balancing salaries.

There’s a lot of layers to make the salaries match here, but this one is actually pretty easy to explain. The Blazers need some salary relief for Meyers Leonard, so they will happily give up some assets to get off his money. Getting decent wings like McLemore and Ennis would be great value for this deal and Ivan Rabb and Deyonta Davis aren’t terrible throw-ins.

The Grizzlies trade three players who are non-factors in their rotation for three big men who could have an immediate impact and could all be a part of their future. I really like this deal.

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Before the Memphis Grizzlies can pull the trigger on any trade, they need to decide the direction of the franchise. Once they know if they are going to compete next year or in the future, they should explore some of these trades.