Prior to the trade deadline, Memphis Grizzlies veteran guard Tyreke Evans had been one of the most mentioned names around the league.
However, the Grizzlies were unable to find a feasible deal to move on from Evans on Thursday afternoon. According to Zach Lowe of ESPN, this included the front office turning down a potential last-minute trade with the Denver Nuggets.
Denver gave Memphis a choice of two offers for Tyreke Evans, per league sources: Emmanuel Mudiay/one 2nd-round pick OR an expiring contract/multiple second-round picks. MEM wanted more, and didn't want any 18-19 salary.
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) February 8, 2018
Grizzlies have been set on unloading Evans with the notion that they could receive a lucrative offer in return for the 28-year-old, who is putting up one of his most productive seasons. Instead, their decision to hold onto him led to the Nuggets working out a three-team trade with the Dallas Mavericks and New York Knicks that saw them move Emmanuel Mudiay to New York in that deal.
Although Memphis was holding out for a better offer, they may have passed up on the chance to get something in return for Evans before he hits the free agent market this upcoming offseason. he is sure to draw plenty of attention due to his play this year with the Grizzlies becoming a more dependable scorer and shooting from beyond the arc. He is averaging 19.5 points on 45.8 percent shooting from the field and 39.8 percent from beyond the arc along with 5.0 assists, and 5.0 rebounds per game.
This should help him garner a more lucrative offer in free agency than the one-year, $3.3 million deal that he signed with the Grizzlies last offseason. If he is able to maintain his high level of play, he could be in line for a lucrative multi-year contract offer.
It will be interesting to see how they reimplement him back into the fold after essentially sending him away from the team in their attempt to move him before the trade deadline. With the Grizzlies well out of the playoff mix, this should see Evans once be a major part of the game plan upon his return.
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