A big trade between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Cleveland Cavaliers might have just crushed whatever hopes the Rockets had of putting Zach Randolph alongside James Harden and Jeremy Lin.
The Cavs and the Grizzlies agreed today to a four-player deal that would send Grizzlies power forward Marreese Speights, guard Wayne Ellington, guard Josh Selby and a future first-round draft pick to the Cavs for forward Jon Leuer.
The trade is expected to trim $6 million off Memphis' payroll, helping the successful, yet small-market Grizzlies stay under the league's luxury tax limit. And in return, Cleveland picks up Memphis' draft pick, which could turn into a No. 6 thru No. 14 selection in the 2015 or 2016 NBA Draft if the Grizzlies' record falls to such a level that would qualify them for that position.
But, more importantly, it's not so much about what the Grizzlies get or lose in the trade-it's who they might get to keep.
The Grizzlies are one of the most competitive teams in the West right now, second in the Southwest Division at a 26-14 win-loss record, and one of the top defensive teams in the NBA. But they lack the sufficient salary cap space to keep Randolph and stars Rudy Gay and Marc Gasol.
The Grizzlies owe their star trio more than $50 million during the next season.
Speights makes $4.2 million this season and $4.5 million next season, while Ellington is making $2.08 million in the final year of his deal; and Selby makes $762,195 this season and $884,293 next season. Dumping those salaries means that the Grizzlies will have more than $6 million extra in salary cap space this season and now have a much better chance of retaining their superstar nucleus of Gay, Randolph and Gasol.
"It's a trade that had to be made from a business decision, so we have a chance to keep our core together and we move forward," Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said. "Hate to lose Mo and Wayne or Josh, but it's part of the business of basketball and you have to do things. You have to make some tough decisions, and tough decisions were made and we live with them and move forward."
While that's good news for Memphis fans, the news comes as a blow to the Rockets, who were reportedly in talks with the Grizzlies' big man. And with good reason. Randolph, a strong rebounder that can score, has a reputation as an outstanding defensive forward who plays physically every game.
The addition of Randolph's defense added to his proven scoring ability would not only toughen up Houston's dead-last NBA defense (tied for last place with the lowly Charlotte Bobcats in points allowed, allowing opponents 103.2 points per game) but would also add another proven scorer to Houston's arsenal, giving them a "Big Three" offense of Harden, Lin and Randolph that would be a nightmare for opponents to defend against.
However, just because Houston may miss out on getting Randolph-nothing is certain until after the Feb. 21 trade deadline passes-it doesn't necessarily mean they're out of the picture in trade terms. With Marc Cuban declaring Dallas "open for business" and other teams looking to swap pieces, the Rockets could still conceivably make a trade this season.
And even if they don't, they still have a large chunk of cap space available to get either a big time star or very solid pieces to add to their rotation in the offseason.
Bottom line for the Rockets--losing Randolph may not be fun, but it's not the end of the world.
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