Oh, you thought the Memphis Grizzlies were done after trading Jonas Valanciunas for Steven Adams and a couple of upgraded picks? You were wrong.
The Memphis Grizzlies have big plans this offseason and the blockbuster trade from Monday afternoon was only the start. According to Kevin O’Connor, the Grizzlies are still planning on trading even further up in this year’s NBA Draft. Here’s what his tweet said.
"Sources: The Grizzlies are interested in moving up again after acquiring the 10th pick from the Pelicans.Jonathan Kuminga or James Bouknight are potential targets for Memphis with another trade-up."
This is big news, as many fans believed that Memphis was going to pick Josh Giddey with the 10th-overall pick. Giddey is an intriguing prospect with a playstyle that is most similar to Justise Winslow, who is now in a stickier situation than he already was. With Giddey, the Grizzlies would hope that the big man ball-handler role would work.
The Memphis Grizzlies may look to target a pair of highly-touted prospects if they move up
If the Memphis Grizzlies move up even further, they would have to be in range to draft either Jonathan Kuminga or James Bouknight, two players who fit the mold of the team that Memphis is trying to build.
Bouknight would fill the role of a relatively large guard who can play strong defense and score the ball at will. While Memphis may have gotten a slight defensive upgrade at the center position in Steven Adams, they lost nearly 10 points of offensive production by sending Jonas Valanciunas to New Orleans.
Bouknight could become a go-to scorer right away, though he won’t help the Grizzlies 3-point shooting woes.
Kuminga, on the other hand, is a larger small forward who would be more of a defensive presence than Bouknight. At 6-7, the Congo forward has a 6-11 wingspan, making him difficult to get past and shoot over.
At just 18 years old, Kuminga has a lot of polishing off to do. Offensively, he doesn’t shoot the ball very efficiently and turns the ball over a lot. That said, none of this is unexpected from an 18-year old playing with grown men.
Even so, Memphis would be getting top-5 value out of Kuminga, as that’s where he was originally projected to go. If the Grizz were able to move up and pick him up, he could turn into the third star that this team has been looking for.