3-team trade proposal sees Grizzlies land $75 million in reinforcements

Memphis Grizzlies v Atlanta Hawks
Memphis Grizzlies v Atlanta Hawks | Paras Griffin/GettyImages

Through 11 games played, the Memphis Grizzlies have established themselves as the worst team in the association, boasting a putrid record of 2-9, and have endured numerous extensive losing streaks throughout.

While a slow start to the season was generally expected what with the key absences of Ja Morant (suspension), Steven Adams (knee), and Brandon Clarke (Achilles), seeing exactly how things have kicked off has been more troubling than one may have originally imagined.

Now, considering there are still 71 games remaining on the regular season docket coupled with the fact that Morant is slated to return come mid-December, hope of seeing things be turned around at some point in the near future is certainly not lost. However, for this to happen proper adjustments must be made, both from a schematic and perhaps even a talent perspective.

It's evident that this team, though talented, is far from solely needing the return of their franchise point guard to get back on the right track, as they have plenty of other deficiencies found on their roster.

In turn, while finding proper reinforcements may not be a cookie-cutter, black-and-white simplistic situation, recently Bluff City Media's Joe Mullinax constructed a multi-team trade idea on X (formerly Twitter) that he believes would fix the Grizzlies.

Memphis Grizzlies 'fixed' by recently proposed multi-team blockbuster

The proposed transaction reads as follows:

In this exchange, the Grizzlies find themselves coughing up two regularly utilized role players in former lottery selection Ziaire Williams and sharpshooter Luke Kennard, along with 2022 first-round pick Jake LaRavia and two future draft assets which, to some, may be a hefty hit.

However, considering how underwhelming all of these particular individuals have been thus far into the year along with where the team currently stands, it may be a worthwhile move for the front office to ponder on, especially when considering the two players they'd be receiving in return play positions and have skill sets that compliment this current core group.

Alec Burks is someone who's been openly viewed as an interesting trade option for Memphis to consider pursuing, as he's a proven 13-year journeyman who has established himself as a reliable three-and-D contributor in the association and can fill any position from the one down to the three.

Whilst predominantly logging minutes as a two guard this season, the 32-year-old finds himself posting impressive averages of 15.3 points, 3.0 assists, and 3.0 rebounds on 48.8 percent shooting from deep and, since 2019-20, has averaged 13.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.6 assists on 40.6 percent shooting from deep while boasting a +1.1 box plus-minus rating throughout.

As for the second talent acquired in this hypothetical exchange, Dorian Finney-Smith could serve as a highly valuable two-way contributor to help bolster the team's incredibly weak forward position

Now in his ninth season in the association, the 30-year-old is off to one of the hottest starts of his career as he's posting averages of 11.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and just shy of a block per game all while converting on 47.7 percent of his attempts from the field and 45.6 percent from deep.

Like Burks, Finney-Smith is multi-positional what with his skill set and size (6-foot-7 with a 6-foot-11 wingspan), allowing him to play both the three and four rather seamlessly. On top of this, both are rather reliable long-range shooters, which would only help improve upon the team's lowly rank of being the sixth-worst three-point shooting team in the entire league.

Though obviously the more coveted move would be for the Grizzlies to take a swing at a potential star talent on the trade market, should GM Zach Kleiman and company wish to simply better fill out their roster with players who can immedietly contribute in a positive manner, this proposal by Mullinax is one that should strongly be considered.

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