Memphis Grizzlies: 3 trade possibilities for Marc Gasol

2. Charlotte Hornets

The Charlotte Hornets have been mentioned numerous times as a target for Marc Gasol. They are desperate to make the playoffs this year, especially in the last year of Kemba Walker‘s contract. A playoff berth would show fans and Walker alike that the team is making strides, even though they may be small.

Trading with Charlotte is difficult, because its roster is overstuffed with bad contracts. Nicolas Batum, Bismack Biyombo, Marvin Williams and Cody Zeller are all making top dollar and owner Michael Jordan would love to get any one of them off his books.

You would have a better chance surviving jumping into piranha-infested waters dressed as a meatloaf than you would of moving Biyombo or Batum.

The Grizzlies will have to take back one of those high-priced contracts, and Zeller is still young enough to pique their interest. He’ll be making $15.4 million at 29, the last year of his deal in the 2020-21 season. Zeller has never proven to be anything more than a serviceable backup center, but provides depth at the position provided he stays healthy.

Frank Kaminsky is an NBA player that receives money from an NBA team. He is  a throw-in here for salary-matching purposes. There’s really not much else to say about Frank the Tank, but his heart is in the right place.

The real haul here would be Malik Monk and the first round pick. Charlotte would undoubtedly try to put some kind of protection on the pick and the Grizzlies would be wise to let them get no further than a top-6, top-8 protection.

Monk has definitely struggled since coming to Charlotte as the 11th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. He played 63 games in his rookie campaign and only played 13.5 minutes a game, never getting an opportunity to truly show his potential.

He’s averaging just under 20 minutes a game this year and has had some scoring outbursts, going for double digits in 10 of his first 12 games of the year. His shooting will need to improve, however, as Monk has hovered under 40 percent from the field throughout his career.

A fresh start could be what the former Wildcat needs as he will get a lot of playing time in Memphis.

The only thing this trade doesn’t net Memphis is cap relief. Zeller would be on the books for an additional two years and Monk is still on his rookie deal. Kaminsky will be a restricted free agent at the end of the year, so the Grizzlies could just let him go.