Gorgui Dieng’s large contract could cause large problems for the Memphis Grizzlies in the near future.
During the 2019-20 NBA season, the Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves and Miami Heat completed a three-team trade.
This trade would allow the Grizzlies to acquire swingman Justice Winslow and shooting guard Dion Waters from the Heat and big man Gorgui Dieng from the Timberwolves. The Grizzlies gave up forwards Andre Iguodala, Jae Crowder and Solomon Hill to the Heat.
The addition of Winslow — whose injuries kept him from playing for the Grizzlies after the trade — is good to help take some of the load off Memphis in the playmaking and scoring categories. Waiters was waived by the Grizzlies and became a free agent; he eventually signed with the Los Angeles Lakers and picked up a championship. Dieng is a big defensive presence in the paint as well as being adequate at spreading the floor and also scoring in pick-and-roll situations.
Memphis seemed to take a win in this trade, with the exception of Dieng’s contract.
When he was with the Timberwolves, Dieng signed a $64 million, 4-year contract extension in 2017. Up until Karl-Anthony Towns received his big contract extension in Sept. 2018, Gorgui was the highest-paid player on the Timberwolves while being far from the best.
With the addition of Dieng on this Grizzlies team, it’s the same story, just in a different jersey.
Dieng going into the 2020-21 season still has one year left on his contract with a salary of $17.2 million next season. The big question for the Grizzlies is… What to do with the solid but unspectacular big man?
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Memphis could re-sign Dieng in 2021
There is no way that the Grizzlies would be able to re-sign Dieng in 2021 unless he took a significant pay cut.
Seeing as Dieng only got to play 17 games for the Grizzlies last season, he has yet to get the opportunity to really showcase what he brings to the table on this young Grizzlies squad.
Does the front office look to implement him into the starting line up with Jaren Jackson Jr. still being injured to see how Dieng produces? Or do they look to have him be on the secondary lineup and see how much of an impact he makes there?
In his final full season with the Timberwolves, Dieng played in 76 games and averaged 6.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 0.9 assists in 16.9 minutes per game while shooting 50.1 percent from the field.
What should the Grizzlie do with Dieng?
The best bet for the Grizzlies is to showcase Dieng and his talent in the first half of the season and strive to trade the center by the 2021 deadline — unless Dieng proves to play a major role in a playoff push for the Grizzlies.
This would be the only option besides waiting out the contract and re-signing for a much lower salary if he would be willing to.
With his production currently, the Louisville product wouldn’t be worth another large contract. If the Grizzlies keep Dieng through next season, they should know if he would be open to a pay cut come 2021.