The Memphis Grizzlies have been in trade talks with the New Orleans Pelicans all week long, so it wasn’t a surprise to see the two teams come to some sort of agreement. That said, the agreement that they came to shocked just about everybody.
The original rumor was surrounding Eric Bledsoe and two draft picks. The teams would swap first-round picks and Memphis would receive Bledsoe. The trade that actually happened blew that one out of the water. Here’s what it looked like via Adrian Wojnarowski.
BREAKING: Memphis is finalizing a trade to send Jonas Valanciunas and 2021 Nos. 17 and 51 picks to New Orleans for Steven Adams, Eric Bledsoe, 2021 picks Nos. 10 and 40 and a protected 2022 first-round pick via the Lakers, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 26, 2021
This trade brings bittersweet emotions to Memphis Grizzlies fans
Had this trade come out of the blue, Grizzlies fans would have likely been extremely pleased with it. In fact, if you look at it from a distance, this works out extremely well for Memphis. Steven Adams might be a slight downgrade, but he brings the same physicality to the floor that JV does. The primary downside here is that he can’t shoot the 3-ball.
Eric Bledsoe doesn’t mean much for this trade, as Memphis will likely cut him and pay off the $3.9 million that is guaranteed on his contract.
The first-round pick swap is expected and a great move for the Grizzlies. Rather than finding an in-betweener player just outside of the lottery, they’ll be within range to draft a really impactful player with a higher ceiling. This takes them out of role-player range and puts them in future starter range if that makes much sense.
The kicker that will go over most fans’ heads in this trade is the second-round pick swap. With the downgrade that Memphis got by bringing Steven Adams to the Grizzlies, they will make up for it by having a much better pick in the second round this season.
To put this into perspective, the Grizzlies drafted Xavier Tillman with the 35th-overall pick last year. At 40, they can get a player who can have an instant impact, even if he’ll be harder to find in the second round.
All-in-all, this isn’t the trade that fans were hoping for, but it’s still a good one that pays off for both sides. Nobody “wins” this one, as both teams got what they were looking for. Memphis moved up and New Orleans was able to create enough cap space to sign a strong point guard for next season.