After his name continued to come up in countless trade talks before Thursday's NBA trade deadline, the Memphis Grizzlies decided to keep guard Tyreke Evans and will likely try to re-sign him using their mid-level exception this upcoming offseason.
The speculation was tweeted out by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and then later confirmed by his colleague, Chris Haynes.
Memphis is still without traction on a Tyreke Evans trade and may keep him, league sources tell ESPN. Grizzlies would try to re-sign him using their mid-level exception this summer.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 8, 2018
Memphis has kept guard Tyreke Evans, league sources tell ESPN.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) February 8, 2018
This has to be very frustrating for Grizzlies fans, as Memphis' front office reportedly was trying to get a first-rounder for Evans, who would essentially just be a rental player. According to a tweet from TNT's David Aldridge, the Grizzlies had deals on the table for weeks involving Evans and second-round picks but were unable to get anything done in time before the deadline.
According to a tweet from Woj the other day, teams who were in the running for Evans were rumored to be the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, Denver Nuggets, and a dark horse in the Miami Heat.
Jason Martin of 929ESPN in Memphis tweeted out a perfect reaction to the news of Evans staying with the Grizzlies.
“Grizzlies had 2+ weeks to get this thing done. Sent Tyreke Evans back to hotel and everything. Yet here we are, on deadline day, and he’s coming back like he never left. There are no words. Other than ‘mid-level exception,' I guess,” Martin said.
Evans signed a one-year, $3.29 million deal with the Grizzlies over the past offseason, was previously ruled out for the previous five games before the trade deadline but wasn't traded.
Evans was expected to be traded, especially considering Memphis is a complete longshot to make the playoffs in the Western Conference at this point in the season.
In 46 games this year for the Grizzlies, Evans is currently averaging 19.5 points, 5.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds in 31.1 minutes per contest.
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