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This year’s Western Conference in the NBA is one of the best in recent history. Going into Friday, the Memphis Grizzlies were tied for third in the West, and while they have been playing good basketball so far this season, something was missing, and that was a solid wing scorer. The Grizzlies are reportedly on the verge of filling that void Friday by trading for Jeff Green and that trade couldn’t go any better for them based on the reports.
The Grizzlies are to give up a first-round pick and Tayshaun Prince to the Boston Celtics to acquire Green, but that is well worth it for them. Prince is an aging wing who can’t do much scoring, and their first-round pick will likely be very late.
Before trading for Green, the Grizzlies had been starting Courtney Lee and Tony Allen on the wings. While Allen is a lockdown defender, he is offensively challenged, and Lee is much better suited coming off the bench.
The Grizzlies really needed some scoring punch from the wing positions and Green brings just that. He is averaging just under 18 points per game so far this season. Green’s scoring ability will be added to a lineup that features a really good point guard in Mike Conley and two great big men: Zach Randolph and MVP candidate Marc Gasol. It feels like Green is the final piece to the puzzle for this Grizzlies team.
The Grizzlies are also aware that their championship window may close after this year. This offseason, Gasol becomes an unrestricted free agent and he might want to take his talents to a bigger market. While it may not be likely he leaves, it is still a possibility, so it makes a lot of sense for the Grizzlies to be going for it all this year, and trading for Jeff Green is the perfect move at the perfect time.
Where would the acquisition of Green put the Grizzlies in the West? That’s hard to say, but they have to be up there with the Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers and Golden State Warriors at this point in time as a team that is a serious threat to win the stacked Western Conference.
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