Will free agency decisions make the Memphis Grizzlies move Zach Randolph?
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Over the past six seasons, the Memphis Grizzlies have been a force in the Western Conference. It started with dynamic defensive guard play from Tony Allen and Mike Conley at the guard spots all the way to the dominant duo of Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph up front.
With multiple trips to the playoffs, the Grizzlies have proven their style of basketball to be a success and while they haven’t won a championship with it, they have been one of the best teams in the league over the past six years.
Could there be a change on the horizon for the Grizzlies? The team added Chandler Parsons and brought back Mike Conley on huge deals. However, according to Marc Stein, they are trying to clear cap space to land free agent guard Eric Gordon.
Memphis, meanwhile, only has an $8+ million chunk of cap space left but I'm told they're trying to make sufficient room to land Eric Gordon
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 2, 2016
To get the cap space needed to sign Gordon, the Grizzlies would have to trade a substantial chunk out. Could that player be Randolph?
Heading into the final year of his deal, Randolph is set to make around $10 million and trading him would almost assuredly give the Grizzlies the money they need. Would trading Randolph be a real possibility however?
He will turn 35 years old in a couple of weeks and he’s on the decline as a player in this league. If the Grizzlies feel this is the final year of him in Memphis, then maybe they choose to cash in on him now to clear that cap space.
With the salary cap spike, his deal is more than reasonable and there should be a team willing to take him on. Still, it doesn’t feel right seeing a Grizzlies team without Randolph next to Gasol.
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