Grizzlies: This Dillon Brooks trade to LA would be terrible for both sides

The Memphis Grizzlies, after an action-packed offseason, saw things settle down as the 2021-22 season approached. The Grizzlies are facing a few outcomes, but that could be changed by a last-second trade.

Would the Grizzlies even be open to a trade at this point, you ask? Probably not, but that’s not really the purpose of this article.

At the very least, it’s worth exploring, which is exactly what Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley did for every NBA team. The popular sports outlet created one unique last-minute trade for each team to bolster their roster ahead of the 2021-22 season.

Bleacher Report’s trade hypothetical has Grizzlies wing Dillon Brooks going to the Los Angeles Lakers for a large bundle

Technically speaking, this trade was created to benefit the Los Angeles Lakers in the immediate future. You’ll see when looking at the deal that it’s more of a jumping-off point for the other team involved. Here’s the trade hypothetical.

Value-wise, this isn’t the worst deal in the world for the Grizzlies. They’d be getting a player in Talen Horton-Tucker who is improving at a faster rate than anybody in the league. With a significant increase in minutes in his sophomore season, Horton-Tucker saw drastic increases in points, assists, and rebounds. His shooting splits virtually stayed the same.

But he’d be a distinct downgrade from Dillon Brooks.

Even though he may have a higher ceiling than Brooks, Horton-Tucker wouldn’t reach his peak for another half-decade at least. The Grizzlies are building for the future, but they’ve already got a pair of experiments running in Ziaire Williams and Jarrett Culver.

Then you have the dilemma of bringing Trevor Ariza aboard for salary purposes. This trade can’t happen without Ariza, but he doesn’t necessarily have a spot on the team. The role that Ariza has carved out for himself in the league is already filled by the Grizzlies’ Kyle Anderson.

A Los Angeles Lakers team that plays with three basketballs would be perfect for Dillon Brooks

The primary issue with Dillon Brooks on the Los Angeles Lakers is that there’s only one basketball. The team in LA will already have LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, and Anthony Davis fighting to put up shots — Brooks’ scoring average would likely drop by double-digits on that team.

One basketball is simply not enough for a team with three ball-dominant players already on the roster.

In the end, this deal creates a fun hypothetical, but would likely cause both teams to regress in the end. Hard to blame an outlet that was simply trying to create fun preseason trades.