The Memphis Grizzlies Officially Smash The Rebuild Button And Send Jaren Jackson Jr To The Jazz In A Surprise Blockbuster Trade
Alex Goodlett. Getty Images.After the James Harden trade request news dropped late last night, today has mostly been a day where everyone is just waiting for the official trade announcement to drop. There are only so many "updates" to the "updates" one can handle, as the only new tidbits we were getting were that talks were "advancing".
OK, whatever. Just tell us when it gets done.
Meanwhile, the beauty of the NBA trade deadline is that while we're all focused on one big trade, here comes another big trade out of nowhere that I felt like had almost zero reporting around it.
WOAH.
Obviously, there were reports around Ja Morant and the Grizzlies entertaining the idea of a trade, and while that may still happen, the Grizzlies have officially smashed the rebuild button by pulling the trigger on a JJJ deal. At this point, that type of decision makes it pretty obvious that a full rebuild is on the way, which naturally leads you to Ja's situation as the next domino to fall. In order to fully rebuild, the Grizzlies had to clear their big money contracts for assets, and in return they now get 3 1sts and some decent young talent. Is that a good enough return for a franchise building block? Eh. Maybe Walter Clayton Jr pans out, but to me, this is more about cleaning up their books and getting some 1sts for a potential rebuild. Add in to what the Grizzlies might also get for Ja, and I guess that's a decent place to start.
On the Jazz side, this makes me wonder about a few things
1. Maybe the Jazz aren't all that confident in a potential Walker Kessler extension or think JJJ/Kessler is the frontcourt of the future since it would allow JJJ to play the 4
2. Does this mean a Lauri Markkanen trade is up next, as a way to retool the picks they just dealt
3. Danny Ainge better be right
One thing we do know about Ainge is that he's not afraid to take a swing on a big deal if he thinks it makes sense, and should they also hold onto Lauri, I am intrigued with a Lauri/JJJ/Keyonte George trio. Will it matter in the uber-competitive West? Maybe not right away, but that's a solid foundation to build on.
It's also notable that the Jazz didn't have to unload any of George/Ace Bailey/Filipowski etc, which means that if they want to make some additional moves this summer, they have some good pieces to try and flip if the right deal presents itself.
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The Grizzlies get the cap relief and picks to jumpstart their next era, and the Jazz get a player that fits right into the best players already on the team. Is this a rare win/win for all sides? I dunno if you can call it that, mostly because any time you trade one of your franchise pillars to begin a rebuild that's never really a "win", but at least the return wasn't terrible in terms of assets. You just now have to hope those picks pan out, which is a bit of a bummer for Grizzlies fans, but how things go in deals like this.
At some point the Jazz were going to have to make that "next step" in their rebuild, and to me that's what this is. Ainge identified his "all in" player and went out and got him. It doesn't mean they're done, but the Jazz are certainly better today than they were yesterday. At the very least, Ainge took a swing. His history is pretty good with big swings like this, so that should give Jazz fans confidence.
For Grizzlies fans, this sucks and is most likely getting worse once we get the Ja news, which you know is coming. Once upon a time in the not-so-distant past, the Grizzlies were one of the better teams in the West who were loaded with young talent. They looked poised to be a contender for the foreseeable future. It just goes to show that in the NBA, things can change in the blink of an eye. From a 2 seed to a full rebuild in just a few seasons with one and most likely both franchise players out the door? That's brutal.