Trade proposal lands Grizzlies ‘three-level scoring’ wing
By Mark Nilon
The Memphis Grizzlies are a team looking to win now. If their already established collection of top-flight talents in Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Desmond Bane wasn’t enough of a sign, then their offseason acquisition of Marcus Smart certainly should be.
However, despite the enviable strength of their current roster construction, there still is at least one glaring weakness head coach Taylor Jenkins’ club possesses: a lack of wing depth.
Without question, GM Zach Kleiman’s decision to offload long-tenured small forward Dillon Brooks via sign-and-trade this summer seems to have been the right move made. That said, with said move, it simultaneously carved out a vacancy at the starting three position that, with nearly two months to go till the 2023-24 regular season tip-off, is still in need of filling.
Over the past several months there have been numerous conversations regarding how the Grizzlies should consider addressing this rotational need, with a slew of different options being tabbed as viable possibilities.
Recently, Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley went about and constructed his own hypothetical solution to this weakness in the Grizzlies’ rotation, as he proposed a trade involving the Detroit Pistons that would send a trusty veteran swingman out to Bluff City.
Grizzlies land Bojan Bogdanovic in recent trade proposal
Citing their lackluster offensive production over the last several seasons, Buckley suggests the Grizzlies should be highly interested in improving upon this area of the game should they try to bring in a fresh face to bolster their rotational wing depth.
With this in mind, Bojan Bogdanovic is viewed as an ideal target to pursue.
"“The 6’7” swingman offers three-level scoring, strong perimeter shooting and some ability to create for himself and his teammates. Since 2018-19, he’s become a nightly source of 18.8 points on 46.6/40.4/86.5 shooting, 2.5 threes and 2.0 assists.“His addition would substantially improve the Grizzlies’ offensive menu, particularly in the half-court. The threat of his three-ball alone would give this group some badly needed spacing. Memphis has finished each of the past two seasons ranked 22nd in half-court efficiency, per Cleaning the Glass. What’s worse is that’s actually the team’s highest ranking since 2014-15,” Buckley wrote."
Bojan Bogdanovic in the Pistons W:
— NBA (@NBA) December 7, 2022
31 PTS
3 REB
5 AST
3 STL
7 3PM pic.twitter.com/Uc85n3iNzn
Bogdanovic’s link to Memphis is certainly nothing new, at least not for us here at BSB as we have gone on record as tabbing the 34-year-old as someone who could make this team legitimate title favorites.
When considering the needs of the Grizzlies coupled with his specific skill set, it’s rather easy to see why this is.
Since 2018-19, the wing has posted impressive averages of 18.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game while shooting a highly efficient 46.6 percent from the field and 40.4 percent from deep.
Coming into the new campaign, Bogdanovic is fresh off arguably the best season of his nine-year NBA career, as he finished off 2022-23 with stellar averages of 21.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.6 assists while shooting 48.8 percent from the field and 41.1 percent from distance.
Frankly, be it as a starter (a role he has held on numerous playoff teams throughout his career) or whilst coming off the bench (Memphis’ second-unit ranked just 15 in both offensive rating (56.3) and points per game (34.8) last season), adding the wing to this Grizzlies team would have the potential to improve their production in a myriad of ways.
Even though losing the promise of former lottery pick Ziaire Williams, the beloved fan-favorite, two-way big man Brandon Clarke, and a future first in exchange may send a bit of a shockwave down the spines of some members of the fanbase, considering the former’s slow progressions to this point and the latter’s Achilles tear recovery timeline (Clarke could be out the entirety of this season), with their pursuit of claiming a title in mind, Buckley’s proposal makes a ton of sense.
