why, Memphis, why?

The Memphis Grizzlies have their best team in franchise history. They have the strongest starting lineup in the NBA with very good balance all the way around. They are 4th in the West right now and have as good a shot as any to make the Finals. But on Wednesday night they prefer pinching pennies over winning as they completed a three team, 7 player trade that sends Rudy Gay to the Raptors.

Grizzlies get:
Ed Davis, Tayshaun Prince, Austin Daye, 2013 2nd round draft pick

Raptors get:
Rudy Gay, Hamed Haddadi

Pistons get:
Jose Calderon

This trade makes no sense to me. Yes, Rudy Gay was having a below-average first half. His points and shooting percentage are down. He has a very large contract from two years ago and the Grizzlies are feeling financially strapped for the future because of it. But come on; how often does Memphis get a good opportunity to contend? Why break up the band now? Gay still leads the Grizzlies in scoring. He also leads in minutes played, gets a lot of rebounds, and plays good defense. He’s a star. On a very balanced team he has scored at least 18.9 points per game the last five seasons. He’s only 26 years old. There was a reason the team gave him a large contract in 2010, and why now in midseason, when all the pieces finally fit together, is it the time to confess it was a bad decision?

Memphis made another trade a week ago losing Marreese Speights and a couple other players, saving them $6.4 million plus a $4 million luxury tax hit. There was no need to trade Rudy Gay.

Grizzlies received several players in this trade. Ed Davis is probably the most valuable. But he’s a power forward; Memphis already has three other big men in front of him on the depth chart! How often will he be on the court? Another aspect I heard is getting Davis makes Zach Randolph expandable next year. Hold on, you got rid of Rudy Gay and you’re already planning to get rid of All-Star Zach Randolph too??

Memphis received Tayshaun Prince and Austin Daye to fill in the void left by Gay’s departure. Rudy Gay is 26 and in his prime. Tayshaun Prince is turning 33 next month and has been declining for three years. Austin Daye is a warm body that offers very little. Despite Rudy Gay’s down year, Prince’s and Daye’s combined scoring average is still less than Gay’s. How does this make a Bottom Ten offensive team better?

As to the pick, second round draft picks rarely make an impact.

Why now? This trade hurts their chances of winning this year. Why not ride it out and get as much as you can with the group you have? I don’t know where they expect the points to come from. And the trade hurts them next year also, especially if they plan to shuttle off Zach Randolph.

The Celtics, Lakers, Spurs, Heat, and Thunder all showed that putting together a Super Team, a group with three or four dominant players, is a recipe for winning in the NBA. The Grizzlies had a Super Team, with Marc Gasol, Randolph, Gay, and Michael Conley (and Tony Allen, a top-level lock-down defender). The Spurs, Thunder, Jazz and Pacers have shown you can have a winning team in the NBA from a small market. But once again, the Grizzlies prefer to play the martyr card and cry, “We’re a small market team!” and demonstrate that saving money is preferable to giving their fans a chance, as faint as it may be, to see a champion. Isn’t it worth a shot?

Oh well. For the Memphis Grizzlies, this seems par for the course. This is the same team that traded Pau Gasol midseason, a trade that immediately put the Lakers in the NBA Finals three years in a row. At least this trade took the front headlines Wednesday away from the Nets getting blown out by the Heat and the Lakers again choking on the road.

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