Heat, Grizzlies reportedly discussing Mario Chalmers trade
By Tom West
The Miami Heat have reportedly discussed trading point guard Mario Chalmers to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Miami Heat point guard Mario Chalmers has had a somewhat turbulent career so far. He’s a two-time NBA champion with LeBron James’ Heat teams and had some productive three point shooting at times to help them in the playoffs. Back in 2012-13, he was at least an efficient player by making 40.9 percent of his threes, even if his role as a starter was incredibly small with Dwyane Wade and LeBron by his side.
Since then, he’s declined. Although, he may be in store for a change of scenery, as according to Marc Stein of ESPN, the Heat have been discussing a possible trade that would send Chalmers to the Memphis Grizzlies. What they would get in return, though, is not clear.
No trade imminent yet, I'm told, but sources say that the Grizzlies and Heat have discussed a potential Chalmers-to-Memphis swap
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) November 3, 2015
He started every game of the regular season for the Heat during their recent championship years of 2012 and 2013, yet he’s gradually declined and been moved to the bench since then. He did have the highest scoring output of his career last season with 10.2 points per game, but he did so on highly inefficient shooting. By making just 40.3 percent of his field goal attempts and going a mere 29.4 percent from beyond the arc, his value as a perimeter threat relatively disappeared. Plus, considering he’s a point guard who’s never truly been able to run an offense or operate as a dominant ball handler, Chalmers’ worth to the Heat has significantly declined.
They have Goran Dragic as their top option at point guard, Wade to run the offense at times as well, and even a second year guard Tyler Johnson who’s looked pretty solid at times this year, even if it’s only for 11.5 minutes per game.
The Heat have a loaded team compared to the general talent across the Eastern conference. From Dragic, Wade, Luol Deng, Gerald Green and Justise Winslow on the perimeter, to their imposing frontcourt of Chris Bosh and Hassan Whiteside, they don’t need a streaky shooter in Chalmers to produce for them.
The point guard is off to another shaky start this season by shooting just 20 percent from three and averaging 3.3 turnovers per 36 minutes. He simply isn’t that valuable. However, the Heat’s point guard spot still isn’t the deepest on their roster.
Who they’ll trade for is uncertain even if this move does materialize, but adding another combo guard (if possible) would make more sense than targeting a big man. Especially when behind Bosh, Whiteside, Josh McRoberts and Chris Anderson, there isn’t much playing time available.