Grade the Trade: Grizzlies swap Ziaire Williams for Nets center in new proposal

Three seasons may be all Ziaire Williams will end up spending out in Grind City, as recent rumblings have revealed that the Memphis Grizzlies are seriously considering the idea of moving on from their former lottery pick.

Per a recent report by The Athletic's Shams Charania, the ball club is actively "discussing deals" to move on from the 22-year-old wing following a rather underwhelming 2023-24 season plagued by injuries and on-court inconsistencies.

Memphis Grizzlies are 'discussing deals' to move Ziaire Williams

Since being selected 10 overall back in the 2021 NBA Draft, Williams has regularly failed to live up to expectations that come with being such a high-end pick.

Despite showing flashes at times throughout his tenure, from his sporadic jumper to the team's win-now mentality that, frankly, pushed developing the former Stanford standout toward the back burner, through this point in his career the once highly-touted talent has found his evolution as a baller plateau.

Should he remain in tow alongside fellow young wing/ forwards such as GG Jackson, Vince Williams Jr., Jaylen Wells, and Santi Aldama who are all pushing for playing time next season down in the frontcourt, his career trajectory is only bound to remain stagnant, or quite possibly even begin to plummet toward the dreaded irrelevancy status.

Fortunately for him, however, it appears the Grizzlies are interested in moving him before the start of 2023-24, which, in turn, could provide Williams with a fresh new start to show his worth.

Of the many teams who should be viewed as interesting fits for the soon-to-be fourth-year pro's services, the Brooklyn Nets are one that not only could help provide Williams with the minutes necessary for him to help him reach his full potential, but, also, construct a straightforward yet beneficial trade package that just might be enough to convince Zach Kleiman and co. to pull the trigger on their first meaningful transaction of the summer.

Laying out the trade

Though things have been rough for Williams from a consistent production standpoint since making his way into the association a few years back, with his impressive build (6-foot-9 with a nearly 7-foot wingspan) and ripe young age of 22, there's still plenty of intrigue in the potential that has yet to be unlocked within the forward's game.

Because of this, a rebuilding team like the Nets, who just recently offloaded their best player of a similar build and position in Mikal Bridges for ample draft compensation, could easily be willing to take a swing on the upside the former lottery pick possesses, and, in doing so, they could quite simply swap out one of their own interesting, albeit unproven former first-round picks, Day'Ron Sharpe, in exchange.

As suggested from their last rebuild back in 2017, Sean Marks and company have a proven affinity for taking a gamble on underperforming former top-10 draft picks in the hopes of striking gold in a non-risky manner (a prime example being D'Angelo Russell).

Noted earlier, Williams has shown flashes of being a quality contributor in the association, as he's frequently given off signs that he could develop into a solid 3-and-D tweener forward should he ever find stability in his long-range shooting stroke and, considering he sports a career 80.3 free throw shooting clip, there's hope yet for such growth.

This allure coupled with his highly underrated athleticism could entice the Nets to agree to terms on the hypothetical transaction proposed above, but would the Grizzlies be interested in such a move themselves?

Grading the Trade: Should the Grizzlies say yes?

This summer, the Grizzlies went about and drafted Purdue star Zach Edey with the ninth overall selection in an attempt to address their extremely barren center depth.

While it's evident with their draft day decision and, fortunately, with the rookie's play in Summer League thus far that there is growing confidence that the 22-year-old has the ability to man the pivot for the franchise moving forward, to say they are 100 percent positive he'll live up to expectations at this point may be a bit of a stretch.

Because of this, it may still be wise of the franchise to try and add at least one more competent big man to their arsenal before October's tip-off, and, being they're already reported to be interested in moving Ziaire Williams, why not do so in exchange for an established center in the process?

Day'Ron Sharpe may not be a household name league-wide, but he boasts a skill set that could be highly beneficial to a Taylor Jenkins-run scheme.

Since being selected 29 overall in the 2021 NBA Draft, Sharpe has served as a shot-swatting, board-gobbling low-post presence who has managed to post solid averages of 6.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, and half a block in just 13.2 minutes a night while shooting 56.5 percent from the floor and a 36.4 percent from deep.

Though on the surface, such numbers may not be all that impressive, when converted to per 100 metrics, his average production skyrockets to a whopping 16.2 points, 14.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.8 blocks all while registering a respectable 111 defensive rating.

On top of this, he also sports Steven Adams-esque advanced stats when it comes to crashing the glass, as he boasts a 20.1 offensive rebound percentage and a 22.1 total rebounding percentage -- to put this into perspective, Adams' career numbers are 14.8 and 25.3, respectively.

Adding someone of Sharpe's ilk to this Grizzlies rotation as a third big behind Jaren Jackson Jr. and Edey could be a highly strategic move for this front office to make, and, with the fact that they already seem interested in moving on from him anyway, swapping out Ziaire Williams for his services could be a perfect method of making such an acquisition become a reality.

Grade: A