NBA Season 2025-26

[Birdman]

NBA trade deadline & when free agency start is better than regular season games

[Goldstar88]

Memphis is up there with the Kings for worst franchises in the NBA. How do you trade away your 26 year old, DPOY for spare parts and 3 firsts. Memphis is prioritizing its young core.? Apparently JJJ was too old. 

Classic Danny Ainge heist.

[Vermont Green]

Harden to CLE?

[jpotter33]

https://x.com/shamscharania/status/2018852938974904558?s=46

Harden for Garland confirmed. This has already been a pretty active deadline for good sized/important deals.

[Phantom255x]

I get it from Cleveland's standpoint. Garland has been a weak link for them particularly in the playoffs and they've also underachieved a bit this season. Swapping him for a player with a higher ceiling and scoring ability (albeit similar playoff issues and issues on defense) seems worth the gamble since it didn't cost much else besides the player swap.

[Goldstar88]

Clippers might as well trade Kawhi now. Sell high.

[Moranis]

Memphis is up there with the Kings for worst franchises in the NBA. How do you trade away your 26 year old, DPOY for spare parts and 3 firsts. Memphis is prioritizing its young core.? Apparently JJJ was too old. 

Classic Danny Ainge heist.

the ESPN breakdown on JJJ is pretty interesting. 

Grade for Memphis: A-
Grade for Utah: B-

What this deals means for Grizzlies: This is Part 2 of a Memphis teardown that began last summer when the Grizzlies sent Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic, and this deal is very much in the same vein. Memphis has struck to maximize value at the expense of a roster that fit together but had topped out shy of competing in the playoffs.

I do think it's worth asking just how good Jackson really is. Although Defensive Player of the Year will always remain a top-line item on his r?sum?, Jackson hasn't really performed at that level since. He's now a good rim protector (opponents are making 54% of their attempts within 5 feet when Jackson is a primary defender, per GeniusIQ tracking on NBA Advanced Stats, putting him in the NBA's top 10 among players who defend at least four shots per game) but no longer the elite one he was in 2022-23 (when that same mark was a league-low 47%).

To some extent, that drop-off was probably inevitable because of Jackson's increased offensive load. He played just 28.4 minutes per game in his Defensive Player of the Year season and sported a 25% usage rate. That ballooned to 30% the following year, when Ja Morant missed all but nine games, and remained at 28% last season.

The issue is this season Jackson hasn't really been elite at either end. His usage rate is back down in the mid-20s, his efficiency as a scorer is down from last season, and he has been only average (36%) as a 3-point shooter. Having Jackson be more good than great at both ends is fine when he's making $35 million. On his extension, which averages more than $51 million, that will be a bigger issue.

From that standpoint, I think now was the best time to trade Jackson. We've also gotten ample evidence that the post-Bane lineup the Grizzlies hoped would keep them in contention is unlikely to become reality. Center Zach Edey, an ideal fit next to Jackson, has been limited to 11 games by ankle injuries, while Morant can neither stay on the court nor produce at an All-Star level on it.

Making this deal cleans up Memphis' books -- which include a record $29 million trade exception to take on unwanted salaries through the 2027 trade deadline -- while continuing to add to a cache of 12 first-round picks, which now trails just two teams (the Thunder and Brooklyn Nets) leaguewide, according to ESPN's Bobby Marks. Perhaps most importantly, the Grizzlies' extra picks are coming from a variety of different teams, giving them a number of ways to luck into a franchise-changing lottery pick.

As great a story as the Phoenix Suns have been this season -- much to the dismay of Memphis, which holds swap rights with Phoenix via the Bane trade -- the Suns' unprotected 2031 first-rounder remains one of the most valuable future picks to change hands. Phoenix's combination of owing Bradley Beal's stretched salary through 2029-30 and a lavish extension that will pay Devin Booker $60-plus million in 2027-28 and 2028-29 makes betting against the Suns a strong play.

Even if the Grizzlies are too good for their own pick to jump up in the lottery and don't get lucky with incoming first-rounders, the Memphis front office has shown the ability to find rotation-caliber players later in the draft. Rookie Cedric Coward looks like a long-term starter, while Edey was massively productive before his injuries and 2024 second-round picks Cam Spencer and Jaylen Wells were both hits.

We'll see whether the Grizzlies can pull off something similar by developing the young players they got in this trade. Hendricks was the No. 9 pick in 2023, and Clayton is months removed from being taken 18th in June. Hendricks hasn't yet shown the 3-point shooting he needs to be a contributor since suffering a leg fracture in October 2024, and Clayton is going through predictable issues with his efficiency as a rookie point guard. Both can still become rotation players in Memphis.

The obvious question for the Grizzlies is what's next for Ja Morant, the last remaining of the three young stars who led Memphis to 50-plus wins in 2021-22 and 2022-23. The reality is no offer like this is forthcoming for Morant, which might mean the Grizzlies are better off just letting his contract play out and hoping he can rebuild his value.

Making the Bane and Jackson trades has given Memphis one of the NBA's most valuable commodities: patience.