3 realistic trade destinations for Grizzlies wing, Ziaire Williams

Since being selected 10 overall by the Memphis Grizzlies back in 2021, Ziaire Williams has continued to underwhelm and, ultimately, fall short of living up to draft day expectations.

While he has certainly shown flashes of becoming a high-upside, 3-and-D contributor, it has simply come at too sporadic of a rate for coach Taylor Jenkins to entrust him with the keys to the future of their wing position.

In fact, now in year three, we see him even falling behind the likes of initially lesser-regarded prospects in Vince Williams Jr. and GG Jackson on the depth chart, which has some believing that, come Thursday's deadline, GM Zach Kleiman could opt to shop Williams around on the trade block.

Realistic trade destinations for Memphis Grizzlies wing, Ziaire Williams

Despite his inconsistencies, Williams is still a 22-year-old, recently selected lottery pick who is attached to a rooke-scale contract through 2024-25.

Because of this, if he is shopped before February 8, there are likely to be several rival teams that will be interested in attaining his services, with a few, in particular, being viewed as more realistic landing spots than others.

3. San Antonio Spurs

When it comes to teams that may be willing to take a shot on the raw talents of Ziaire Williams, in all likelihood they'll be ones who find themselves amid a rebuilding phase and who have a primary focus on developing young ballers who possess at least some semblance of promise.

As far as the Western Conference picture is concerned, the club that personifies such a description is the 10-40 San Antonio Spurs.

Interestingly enough, when looking at their roster it's evident that they're a unit chock full of long and lengthy players with two-way potential.

Perhaps they'd be willing to take a flier on yet another individual with such a build and skill-set?

Measuring in at 6-foot-9 with a 6-foot-10 wingspan, Williams covers a ton of ground with his reach alone, while his underrated brand of athleticism provides him with serious potential to cover any position from the one down to the four.

Him thrust into a young core already consisting of Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan, and, of course, Victor Wembenyama could have the makings of becoming a lethally long and defensively stingy group, while having the great Gregg Popovich leading the charge on the sidelines could only stand to aid in the excitment of him reaching his full potential.

2. Portland Trail Blazers

Staying in the same conference as the Grizzlies and Spurs, the Portland Trail Blazers could also be a franchise willing to take on the likes of Williams for a multitude of reasons.

Aside from being a tanking team themselves, when looking at the current state of their rotation it's evident that while they have ample depth within their backcourt and at their big man positions, their wing arsenal is something that is sorely lacking in talent.

The idea here is quite simple -- Portland could be in an optimal position to take a gamble on Williams' upside while taking a primary focus on their youth movement.

Of course, we at BSB are not alone when talking about how the Grizzlies wing could be an interesting trade option for Portland ahead of this year's deadline, as Rip City Project's Andrew Hanlon has even gone on record to deem the youngster as an "ideal" target for the team.

"Despite being inefficient and averaging only 7.7 points, there are signs that point to growth in the 22-year-old's game. He's getting to the line more often and is shooting 83.1 percent from the stripe. He's averaging career highs in rebounds (3.4) and assists (1.5). Not eye-popping numbers, but still growth from a player who was exceedingly raw coming into the league.

Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe and Anfernee Simons have the Blazers set in the backcourt as Portland begins its rebuild, but the franchise doesn't have any high-upside prospects on the wing. Williams would be an ideal fit.

At the very least, he's a young, inexpensive lottery ticket who will get more opportunity to develop with the Blazers than he has with the Grizzlies."

Andrew Hanlon

His potential coupled with the allure of having lottery-selected players from three of the most recent drafts (already have Shaedon Sharpe and Scoot Henderson) all under the age of 25 on their roster may be appealing enough for GM Joe Cronin to make an offer.

1. Detroit Pistons

Recent rumblings suggest that the Memphis Grizzlies might actually be interested in bringing on some fresh new faces at this year's trade cut-off rather than simply parting ways with a few of their own players as they set aim on a high lottery selection.

In fact, per HoopsHype's Michael Scotto, the club has specifically shown an "interest" in pursuing Detroit Pistons guard, Killian Hayes, in the past several days.

With this in mind, perhaps a simple swap of underwhelming recent lottery picks could be on the table over the next 24 hours.

Like the Blazers, Detroit is flush with young backcourt talents but is seemingly void of any real long-term options at their wing spot. A better fit within coach Monty Williams' rebuilding rotation than the underutilized Hayes, in a move to the Motor City Williams would almost certainly be able to come across more consistent playing time than he currently is out in Memphis.

As for the Grizzlies, they bring back a 22-year-old guard with a table-setting mentality (averages 9.6 assists per 100 possessions for his career) while, perhaps most importantly, swapping Williams' $6.1 million salary in 2024-25 out for Hayes' expiring deal.

Though far from splashy, this scenario could prove to be a real win-win for both franchises.