Grizzlies reporter drops truth bomb on NBA Draft following recent trade rumors

The Memphis Grizzlies and their loyal followers were quite underwhelmed with how the ping-pong balls bounced during this year's draft lottery, as they wound up landing the ninth overall selection despite finishing with the seventh-worst record (27-55) in the entire association.

In a relatively weak class such as this, the consensus belief is that those with rights outside of the top five have rather low odds of securing a competent player at the next level, and Zach Kleiman and company seem well aware of such sentiment as recent rumors indicate that they're looking to make some moves to better their standing to snag a difference-maker come June 26.

Per The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor, while discussing the upcoming NBA Draft in a June 3 episode of The Ringer's NBA Show the seasoned analyst revealed that the Grizzlies have already engaged division rival, the Houston Rockets, in trade talks revolving around the idea of acquiring the organization's rights to the third overall selection.

With this news, many are now of the belief that Memphis is eyeing highly-touted prospect Donovan Clingan with the top-three pick to serve as the successor to the departed Steven Adams down at the five.

However, despite the intrigue and excitement that comes with this type of chatter, during a recent episode of Locked on Grizzlies, host and beat reporter Damichael Cole dropped his take on the concept of the franchise going after pick number three, saying that while a guy like Clingan is a solid talent, though he feels no one in this class is truly worth moving up the draft board for.

Damichael Cole drops truth bomb on recent Grizzlies trade idea

"Outside of maybe a couple of guys, and even those guys at the top I don't think there's a clear All-Star... there's not someone you look at and say 'He's going to be a top-two player on a championship-type team' in this draft... If you move up, you better be doggone sure that guy that we get, that is the piece we're missing. That is the guy who's going to be a sure-fire type player, and I don't trust that. I have guys that I like, but all of them come with certain concerns."

- Damichael Cole

Though guys like Clingan have been tabbed as a good fit for the Grizzlies in the event that he's selected, this is not to say that he's a sure-fire, can't-miss prospect.

Frankly, all of the players in the lottery (from Alex Sarr to Ron Holland) have serious concerns attached to them regarding skill-set and potential.

Compared to most recent classes, 2024 is widely regarded as one of the more lackluster from an overall upside perspective, so, to Cole, trading up for a player seems to be too risky as far as the likely reward value is concerned.

Though having the number nine pick is far from an ideal scenario for the title-hungry Grizzlies, even holding the top selection in this year's draft isn't being viewed as a great place to stand, as some have suggested that, compared to previous classes, the No. 1 pick feels to hold the same weight as a late-lottery selection.