The season for NBA trades officially began on Monday when the New Orleans Pelicans and Memphis Grizzlies made a pre-NBA draft deal, kicking off the transaction frenzy we’ve all been impatiently waiting for.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski was the first to report the deal that sends Eric Bledsoe and Steven Adams to the Grizzlies in exchange for Jonas Valanciunas, with a number of draft picks changing hands in the process.
The New Orleans Pelicans open the offseason by making a pre-NBA draft trade with the Memphis Grizzlies. Here’s how we see it in the immediate aftermath.
The trade looks like this:
According to Woj, that 2022 Lakers pick that heads to Memphis will be top-10 protected, and that pick is part of the haul that the Pelicans received in exchange for Anthony Davis.
The Grizzlies have been a feisty, overachieving team the last couple of seasons with rising young star Ja Morant, making each of the past two play-in tournaments. The Pelicans have been a talented team with the highest of hopes thanks to Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram.
How did these teams fare in the first transaction since the NBA playoffs came to an end? Note: The OKC Thunder and Boston Celtics made a trade during the second round of the playoffs. Did one of them come out of this deal in better shape than the other? Let’s take a look at what changes for both teams, starting with the Memphis Grizzlies.
NBA trade takeaways for the Memphis Grizzlies
The Memphis Grizzlies find themselves with added depth in the backcourt thanks to the addition of Eric Bledsoe. He could either play alongside Morant at the two, or he could back Morant up at point guard. Most likely, he’ll end up doing some of both as a combo guard.
They also swap centers, trading Valanciunas for Adams. At this point, this swap is likely a minus move for the Grizzlies as Adams’ best days are likely behind him. The Grizzlies took on a heap of salary in this deal, adding $21 million to their books, essentially making this their free agency haul in its entirety.
These roster moves aren’t great, especially with the hefty price tag, but they did manage to move up seven spots in Thursday’s NBA draft; from 17th all the way up to 10th. This is wildly favorable for the Grizzlies because almost nobody drafts better than they do. With this boost, they may have a better chance to pick somebody under the radar whom they expect to be a star.
Maybe this is a quick stop for Bledsoe before getting shipped on somewhere else, or maybe the Grizzlies want to see how he plays with Morant. However, if all of this was just to move up in the draft, it’s an odd deal for Memphis.
NBA trade takeaways for the New Orleans Pelicans
This trade provides the New Orleans Pelicans with a nearly clean slate. They wipe away the sins of extending Steven Adams and do so while also ridding themselves of Eric Bledsoe’s contract.
To top it off, they saved $21 million in cap space, and they probably came away with the best player of the trio involved in the deal in Valanciunas. They downgrade their draft stock a bit, swapping the 10th and 40th picks for the 17th and 51st picks, but they’ve got a lot of draft assets and the team they put on the floor next season absolutely must compete for at least a playoff spot.
According to Spotrac’s Keith Smith, this deal could allow them to open up as much as $36.6 million in cap space with likely space coming in around $26.3 million. They have the ability to pay up to retain Lonzo Ball in restricted free agency, if they choose, or to move him via sign-and-trade if that possibility opens up.
The Pelicans had been hamstrung by the mistakes of the past, but this deal gives them a new lease on life without causing much pain at all to either the present or the future.