With the NBA trade deadline only a few days away, teams around the league are looking to improve their rosters or move salaries off the books. The latest deal is a three-team trade involving players, and draft picks being swapped.
According to Sam Amick of USA Today, the Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, and Charlotte Hornets have agreed to terms on a three-way deal with Courtney Lee being the biggest name involved in the deal:
Veteran guard Courtney Lee will go from the Grizzlies to the Charlotte Hornets, with veteran big man Chris Andersen heading from Miami to Memphis, point guard Brian Roberts going from the Hornets to the Heat and small forward P.J. Hairston from Charlotte to Memphis.
Although no big-name players changed teams in this three-way deal, Lee heading to the Hornets helps bolster an already talented backcourt led by Kemba Walker. Lee will be headed to the sixth team of his NBA career, but he’s played well in a reserve role everywhere he’s been over the years.
In 51 games with the Grizzlies, Lee averaged 10.0 points per game while shooting 45.8 percent from the floor and 37.0 percent from beyond the arc. Lee should provide some scoring off the bench for the Hornets while joining Walker, Jeremy Lin, and Nicolas Batum.
As for Memphis, it appears the franchise sees the writing on the wall with the team struggling against the best teams in the Western Conference. The Grizzlies are currently sitting in the fifth seed in the conference behind the Los Angeles Clippers with a 31-22, but the consensus seems to be the team will start cleaning house with Marc Gasol dealing with a broken right foot and Mike Conley possibly leaving in free agency this summer.
It’ll be interesting to see the direction of the Grizzlies franchise with the team clearly needing to make changes to remain competitive in the West moving forward.
