Some fans just like to concoct blockbuster trades in their minds, designed to benefit their own team and their own team only. Just take for example one Denver Nuggets fan who wrote to NBA.com’s David Aldridge and asked the feasibility of a trade that would send Memphis Grizzlies point guard Gary Harris and center Marc Gasol to Denver in exchange of a package that doesn’t include the Nuggets’ top three players.
That sounds like a plan to strip the Grizzlies naked of talent, but here’s the letter anyway.
Fan: What are the chances that Memphis will opt for the mega blow-up and move Mike Conley along with Gasol. As a Nuggets fan, he is my dream point guard, to pair with Jokic and Milsap. Is Jamal Murray, a first, and anyone not named Jokic, Milsap, or Harris enough to get Conley?
DA: Well, you can’t ask a team for its best player and give them your third or fourth-best player, Phil. Memphis is going to ride Conley and Gasol for the foreseeable future, but if the Grizzlies were to talk trade with Denver, it would almost certainly have to include Harris or Jokic as part of a package for Conley — and the Nuggets, almost certainly, would pass.
As what Aldridge’s tone suggests, it’s highly unlikely that the Grizzlies even entertain this kind of deal.
Even if the Grizzlies decide to blow up the team from the ground up, they would be able to find better deals than a Denver package that doesn’t have Jokic, Harris, or Millsap in there, which was what Aldridge pointed out. On the flipside, why should the Nuggets give up prime assets for aging stars?
Memphis has Conley and Gasol as controllable assets for the foreseeable future with the former signed with the team until 2021 (early termination), while the latter has a deal that won’t expire until 2020 (player option). The Grizzlies could be hitting the rebuild button soon, and if that’s the case, it would be very interesting how they manage their players’ contracts.
Follow Us
Subscribe