Memphis Grizzlies Rumors: Why A Trade For Dennis Smith Jr. Makes Sense

The Dennis Smith Jr. rumors continue to heat up but the Memphis Grizzlies aren’t listed as a possible landing spot. Here’s why a trade for Smith would make sense.

There’s no denying that Dennis Smith Jr. still has a lot of talent. The Memphis Grizzlies should see what it would take to acquire such a young and talented player.

This team is going to lose a first round pick at some point over the next couple of years to the Boston Celtics. That pick is top eight protected this season, top six protected next season, and then it becomes unprotected after that.

So they could be in a spot that they keep it those first two seasons but they would then lose it for the 2021 NBA Draft.

None of this will matter though until the Grizzlies decide they want to give up on this season, that’s the first step. They also have to decide who would be available in a trade.

Would they be interested in including either Mike Conley or Marc Gasol in a potential trade? Conley would be the one who Dallas could have interest in but if they trade one it’s very possible they look to trade the other.

The way the Grizzlies continue to lose games we have no reason to expect them to flip the switch and all of a sudden get back to their winning ways.

If the losing continues this team will have to at least consider trading away some key players. Without having many picks to offer the Dallas Mavericks in a potential deal it would be tough to offer what other teams could.

Bleacher Report suggested a potential deal that makes a lot of sense and could work for both teams. Conley would go to the Mavericks with Wesley Matthews, J.J. Barea, as well as Smith coming to Memphis.

Dallas even wanting to trade Smith is still very strange to me. He’s a very good player who is just a season and a half into his NBA career.

They seem to be going all in on Luka Doncic in the backcourt and they feel these two can’t coexist. If that’s how they feel then they should trade Smith but I don’t think they should settle for a bad deal.

He is a very good young player who has gotten off to a good start in his young career. Through his first 97 career games, he is averaging 14.4 points, 4.8 assists, and 3.4 rebounds per game.

His role in the offense was much larger during his rookie season but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t had an impact this season. He is taking 4.2 fewer shots per game but he has been more efficient increasing his field goal percentage from 40% up to 44%.

Conley in Dallas could be a good fit, especially while Doncic is still on his rookie deal. He won’t be a Maverick long-term but he would help this team be a playoff contender in the short term while they try to build a championship contender.

He is one of the better defending point guards in the league as well. His ability to score the ball offensively is very underrated as well.

He is a legit all-star type player despite not ever being named to one and it’s looking like he won’t be named one this season which may have been his last shot to do so.

Opposing teams still know how good he is and teams will value him as such in making a potential trade. His contract is something that will heavily lower his value though and some teams wouldn’t consider trading for him at all.

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Dallas would likely rather get a first round pick back for Smith rather than an older player but if they can’t get that then they’ll have to decide how much they feel the need to trade him.

If they decide to trade him no matter what then the Grizzlies could consider offering Conley. At the moment there’s almost no chance of that happening but maybe Memphis has a couple of other pieces they could offer in a deal for Smith.

The Grizzlies have a young big they can build around in Jaren Jackson Jr. and bringing Smith Jr. to Memphis would give them a point guard they can go with for the future.

It would give them a really good young duo they can build around while continuing to bring in young talent through the draft.

This team doesn’t have a lot of young pieces they can build around. If they have the opportunity to bring in Smith then they should consider doing so, no matter how much it takes.