Why decision for Grizzlies to release Mamadi Diakite is more complex than you think

The Memphis Grizzlies opted to trade their former lottery selection, Ziaire Williams to the Brooklyn Nets this past offseason in exchange for the rights to 2014 draft stash, Nemanja Dangubic and fourth-year tweener big, Mamadi Diakite.

From the jump, such a move seemed to be more geared toward being a salary dump situation for Grind City, as the exchange offloaded the $6.1 million guaranteed salary the wing would have been owed had he remained in tow for 2024-25, thus cutting down on the club's luxury-tax pushing payroll.

Now, with their recent follow-up act involving the likes of Diakite, it only strengthens this notion that finances heavily influenced the exchange as it has been reported that the franchise is releasing Diakite.

Memphis Grizzlies are releasing offseason acquisition, Mamadi Diakite

With this decision, the Grizzlies have cut their roster size down to just 13 players following Diakite's departure, and this coupled with the financial implications makes the move a bit confusing.

The 27-year-old would have been paid $2.27 million had he stayed on the roster heading into 2024-25. Not only would his presence in Memphis have allowed them to reach the 14-player minimum roster requirement, but it wouldn't have been all that much of a financial burden on the salary cap.

With his departure, however, GM Zach Kleiman still needs to try and find a way to bring on another player or two to round out the roster but will have approximately $1.39 million of Diakite's partially guaranteed salary already counting against their cap that's, now, likely just a signing away from entering the dreaded luxury threshold set at $170.81 million for this year.

What's interesting to note is that, just recently, Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors discussed this very same concept of parting ways with the big man, and suggested that while such an execution would leave Memphis with undesirable dead money, they could theoretically look to stretch out his guaranteed payments over the next several years, which would leave less of an impact on their financial situation for this coming year.

Make no mistake about it, the departure of Mamadi Diakite is by no means debilitating or, frankly, all that impactful for the organization in the long run. That said, it's a situation that's a bit more complicated than many may realize, especially with training camps just a mere weeks away from kicking off.