NBA teams can make trades before NBA Trade Deadline Week? Wait, do the other NBA GMs know this?
The Memphis Grizzlies and Cleveland Cavaliers completed a four-person trade that will be written off as a salary dump by Memphis. Cleveland will be applauded for making this trade, since they’re not going anywhere.
Who was involved in th deal?
Did a ‘Fathead’ change hands?
Will Zach Randolph have to slap Chris Wallace?
Cleveland will receive big man Marreese Speights, guards Wayne Ellington and Josh Selby and a protected 2015 first-round pick. A pretty nice haul for guard Jon Leuer, who is the only piece Memphis will receive in this deal.
Memphis will save around $6 million this season and will avoid $4 million in luxury tax. One could say Memphis is the big winner in this deal. By cut this money, they have a better shot at keeping Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph and Rudy Gay together long-term.
Cleveland’s motivation for making this deal was acquiring Speights and the first-round pick. Anderson Varejao is out for the season due to a blood clot and the front office believes they need frontcourt help. I personally disagree only because Tristan Thompson and Tyler Zeller have put up nice numbers since Varejao’s injury. Speights is a huge upgrade defensively over Zeller, so that could be what Cleveland is thinking.
Wayne Ellington will be a nice bench guy for Cleveland right away. There’s no word if Ellington’s former girlfriend is involved in the deal. Thoughts?
Josh Selby has been a lost cause in the NBA. He was one of the top recruits his senior season in high school, but didn’t produce in college. He left college too early and hasn’t put it together yet. If he matures into a nice bench player, Cleveland could really have something with this trade.
Cleveland’s acquired first-round pick is protected. In 2015 or 2016, if the pick lands in the top-five or anywhere between 15 to 30, Memphis keeps the pick. In 2017 or 2018, it is top-five protected. In 2019, it doesn’t matter where the pick is located, if Cleveland hasn’t received it yet, it’s theirs.
The trade casualty is Jeremy Pargo. Cleveland waived him and recalled Kevin Jones from the NBDL’s Canton Charge.
Time will only tell who won this trade…but I predict no one will remember this trade in two weeks.
