Memphis Grizzlies: Front office receives high praise after busy week

The Grizzlies have stayed in headlines this week after working the phones with trades and signings and have been given high praises for their efforts.

Memphis said it was time to move on and officially made that move when they traded point guard Mike Conley to Utah. Then drafting Ja Morant with the second pick in the NBA Draft meant the beginning of another rebuild.

Even though the Grizzlies are preparing to rebuild for the future with young NBA talent, they aren’t worried about bringing in some veterans to give the young guys someone to lean on. They made that apparent when they traded for Andre Iguodala from the Warriors.

Since June 30th, the Grizzlies have made six moves from re-signing Jonas Valanciunas to trading for players and draft picks the Grizzlies front office has been busy. You could even say Grind City’s front office has been … grinding.

Omari Sankofa II of The Athletic has graded all six of those moves, and now it’s time to dive into those moves and grades starting with the Valanciunas signing.

Sankofa gave the Valanciunas signing a “B.” He credited the Grizzlies for getting Valanciunas for a reasonable price. It’ll allow them to trade him later on. I agree it seems like the price was a little low when you see what other players in the league are getting.

I think Valanciunas can bring a lot to the locker room. He’s been apart of bad teams and really good teams, so he’s seen it all. The next move the Grizzlies made was trading Igoudala from the Warriors to add another veteran to the roster.

This was a great pick up for the Grizzlies, in my opinion. He brings a lot of experience Valanciunas has but at a higher level. He knows what it takes to be great for more than a season or two, which is valuable information in a league that sees so much turnover.

This move was given an “A+” grade, and no doubt was this move a home run. Julian Washburn was the only asset given up by the Grizzlies in the move and unless Iguodala just falls apart next season the Grizzlies 100% won this trade.

We’re just two moves in, and I’m already getting excited about the future in Memphis oops. The next move the Grizzlies made was getting rid of their worst contract. To celebrate Independence Day, Chandler Parsons was traded to the Hawks for Solomon Hill and Miles Plumlee.

Ever since Parsons arrived in Memphis, it’s been a disaster. He was overpaid and stayed injured so he could produce on the court as he was expected to. Even if he wasn’t injured, I don’t think he would’ve lived up to what he was getting paid.

This is move is the first grade I disagree with. Sankofa gave this trade a “C+.” His reasons are justifiable, but I like the move simply because the Grizzlies were able to dump the contract. Hill and Plumlee’s contracts aren’t great either, but they will at least be able to contribute on the court, or at least Hill can.

The next trade the Grizzlies traded for Josh Jackson, De’Anthony Melton and two second-round picks. Getting Jackson alone out of this trade makes it at least an A trade. Sankofa agrees and gave the trade an “A+” grade.

Jackson is young and could do great with Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. in Memphis. Those three could be the next big three if you want to shoot for the stars.

On July sixth the Grizzlies traded for Dwight Howard and gave up CJ Miles. Later it was announced Howard would be released, so the goal in this trade was to get rid of Miles’ contract which isn’t even that bad, but they needed to get away from the luxury tax line.

This trade was given a “B” grade, and I would grade it a little lower than that just because the Grizzlies weren’t able to get anything in return. A second-round draft pick down the line, cash considerations, something, anything but the Grizzlies are leaving empty-handed with this trade.

The final trade that was graded was with the Dallas Mavericks when the Grizzlies traded Delon Wright for two second-round picks. The most important trade piece is draft picks, and the Grizzlies need to stack up on draft picks while they can.

This trade was given a “B” grade, and I think that’s an appropriate grade for this trade right now. I expect the Grizzlies to be busy at the trade deadline next year so these draft picks could become very valuable when that time comes.

Depending on who the Grizzlies can get with those picks, I think this move could become an “A-.” I don’t think the Grizzlies are done either although I think things will slow down because they’re running out of players to trade.

2019 is going to be an interesting season with all the new pieces. I wonder how they will mesh on the court and which players are bound to be traded before the trade deadline.

This Grizzlies team has a solid young core and a nice group of veterans to help lead the way. The future is bright for Memphis as they look to bring Tennessee its first professional sports championship.