Why the Warriors are the perfect trade partner for the Grizzlies

It’s no secret — the Memphis Grizzlies are desperately scrambling for a trade that could move them up even further in the NBA Draft. After a huge trade that involved Jonas Valanciunas, Steven Adams, Eric Bledsoe, and a handful of picks, Memphis has made it clear that they’re not going to stop there.

With a somewhat limited group of potential trade partners that could send them even higher in the 2021 NBA Draft, the Grizzlies have to start narrowing in on certain teams. One of those teams should be the Golden State Warriors.

The Golden State Warriors seem like the obvious choice due to the fact that they have an aging roster, high draft picks, and a clear two-year window before things end for them. A top-10 pick could help them, but they’ll likely be in the business for instant success.

The Memphis Grizzlies have a handful of sharpshooters than the Warriors want to get their hands on

Even though the Grizzlies aren’t generally thought of as a strong 3-point shooting team, they have quite a few deep-range shooters on the squad. In fact, the Grizzlies have a lot of role players who can shoot the ball but outside of Jaren Jackson Jr., none of their starters are particularly great from deep.

Even more specifically, trading Jonas Valanciunas for Steven Adams was a distinct setback, even if JV only attempted one per game.

That said, this could set up to be a great situation for both sides if a trade was formulated. The Grizzlies could move up in the draft and pick a sharpshooter, while the Warriors could get the instant shooting satisfaction right now by grabbing Grayson Allen, Desmond Bane, or De’Anthony Melton in a trade.

Here’s what CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn said about potential trade packages between these two teams, mentioning the possibility of swapping role players.

"Golden State could demand some combination of Allen, Bane, Melton, Clarke and Tillman in exchange for swapping picks with the Grizzlies. Walking away with one of them would be a win for the desperately thin Warriors. Two would be a home run, and if the Warriors want to get off the $5.2 million owed to Kevon Looney through his player option, they could always include him in the deal as matching salary."

It’s not the blockbuster trade that the Grizzlies just made, but this could be an extremely impactful one. Memphis won’t want to give up any of their valuable pieces, so the apparent availability of the Grizzlies logjam at shooting guard could go a long way.

Hopefully, this is something that Zach Kleiman can make happen, as it would benefit both squads immensely.