It takes two to tango. And for the Memphis Grizzlies, who have alerted Woj and the league that they are willing to move on from franchise icons Marc Gasol and Mike Conley, it will take another team actually agreeing to an offer to see them change teams.
And that doesn’t seem incredibly likely.
Finding takers for Conley (31 years old, due to make $67 million the next two seasons), and Gasol (34 years old, with a $25.6 million player option) is tricky. The list of teams who can match their salaries and would attach a draft asset or young player slims down the number of suitors to just possibly two or three.
Another complicating factor from the Grizzlies’ perspective is their lottery position will largely be unaffected if they deal away the longest tenured teammates in the NBA or keep them. The bottom five teams in the tankathon race are nearly uncatchable, and Memphis may not be able to climb out of the bottom eight even if they want to, to assure they fulfill their draft pick obligation to Boston. If it doesn’t affect this year’s lottery selection, would they rather have Conley and Gasol back or theoretical late first round pick?
So on a new episode of Fastbreak Breakfast we spell out what needs to happen before next Thursday’s trade deadline even if a blockbuster deal for Conley or Gasol never materializes. Will the Grizzlies be able to move any of their expiring salaries? Which teams and players should they aggressively target to focus their rebuild around Jaren Jackson Jr.? And does any of it matter if they don’t shake up their front office?
Fastbreak Breakfast is a podcast for serious NBA fans that is incredibly not serious. All episodes are available on Apple Podcasts and Soundcloud or any other major podcast service.
Music provided courtesy of New Man and Codaphonic.
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