(Thread has been bumped) SHAMS: Grizzlies Trading Valunciunas + Nos. 17 & 51 Picks to NOLA for Adams, Bledsoe, Draft Pix

[ConSarnit]

NOLA got the best player and shed two player contracts that were not good for them. Only had to drop seven slots to do so.
OTOH, Steven Adams ain't a bad player and Bledsoe, for all his disappointments, is still talented and his contract is alright (only $3M guaranteed next year).

It's closer than people give it credit for. If JV makes Zion better, then its a great deal for NO.
If MEM can flip Bledsoe for a cheaper set of players, get Adams to play bully ball, and get a long term starter with updside at #10, then they are happy.

Everyone can be happy here, really.

I just can't see how JV will make Zion better outside of setting good screens. The best compliment to Zion is someone who can protect the rim and spread the floor. JV is the opposite of that. He's great a great pnr and post-up big. Everyone can say "well, he did great with Adams" but that's because he's a freak of nature, it's not because the situation was ideal.

I get why they did it though. JV was the only moveable piece for Memphis and they got off of 2 pretty bad deals. If they can sign someone with their cap space the Pels could come out alright.

Yeah, good points.

Where could JV get shipped off to for a more complementary piece, I wonder? Not too much demand for a key clogging big, really.

I can't see too many destinations for a JV flip right now. He's expiring at $14m this year so he could be a good neutral value piece to move around the deadline.

[UcanUwill]

Memphis took a lot of dead money, but if they identified a core piece via the pick, then it's all good for them, I guess.

The piece, IMO, is Sengun. He makes perfect sense in their offense.

I agree Sengun is the guy they’re targeting at 10. And he’ll likely be there.

If Sengun drops to ten, NBA is full of idiots then. Kid will be special.

[UcanUwill]

JV was low key the grizz's most important player.

Thats exactly why they should have traded, where you going with JV as your best player ? Clearly they need more time and assets to improve the team, also they are doing great in recent drafts. Who knows, maybe they find 2 players more valuable than any of the involved in the trade in this year draft and the next one

Morant and JJJ are better players than him obviously. But you need veterans around if you want to win anything. JV knows his role and plays it well.
Adams isn't a bad player but grossly overpaid and you're taking on Bledsoe's toxic deal.

In what universe is JJJ better than JV? Kid is all hype right now.

[righterwriter]

The team I think would be smart to get in on JV would be the Celtics.

They've got a pretty traditional set of stars in Tatum and Brown, so don't require this small ball, up and down type of game to be good. I think they do need toughness and leadership, and JV could be the guy, and I don't think he'd cost them too much to get.

Maybe JV for Marcus Smart, straight up? NO gets a badly needed athletic PG/SG who plays with some fire and cuts about $4M in salary to add to their cap space to build around Zion. Boston gets a tough guy in the middle who will put up a nightly double double.

[Pointgod]

This is a trade between two young teams that don’t need to embrace a youth movement and are ready to compete now. I figured that the Pelicans would need to use a pick to get off of Bledsoe, I didn’t think the #10 pick was worth it since they should target Davion Mitchell. But not only did they get off of Steven Adams and Bledsoe, they got back the best player in the deal, a player that fits much better with Zion. Pelicans won easily.

I think Memphis should have extracted a bigger price for taking on BOTH Bledsoe and Adams and giving away their second or third best player. Including JV is the part I don’t understand.

[kan_t]

Last season Jump Shot Attemp

JV 262 in 62 games (.500 eFG%)
Adams 44 in 58 games

It would be very lazy to say JV couldn't help Zion by just looking at his 3PA. He actually has mid range game which Adams has none.

[Mike87]

Great trade for NOLA

[Karate Diop]

New Orleans doesn't have a long-term plan...

[BarbaGrizz]

Probably every Memphis fan is happy with the outcome of this trade, that´s all you need to know.

[radeonboy]

Not sure why they traded way JV. JV is beast. A good player. He can do everything except defend the P&R well and get athletic alley oops. He can do everything else. He's better than Adams. About the only thing I can say is I think Memphis didn't use JV to his potential.

[Mamba Mentality]

Read on Twitter

This cant be real lol.

[Marcus]

Read on Twitter

This cant be real lol.

it's interesting. 9 still gives them Ziare but no telling what they would have done with 17 and where would Bags fit in that frontline rotation with JJJ and Clarke?

[Pointgod]

Memphis took a lot of dead money, but if they identified a core piece via the pick, then it's all good for them, I guess.

The piece, IMO, is Sengun. He makes perfect sense in their offense.

I agree Sengun is the guy they’re targeting at 10. And he’ll likely be there.

If Sengun drops to ten, NBA is full of idiots then. Kid will be special.

Seems like you called it. Does that make OKC extra idiots for trading for middle round draft picks?

[John Murdoch]

Midway thru the season...whats ur opinion on this deal now? I still like it for Memphis but i dont like who they drafted with the pick

[ADMVP]

As a Pelicans fan, love this trade.

Sent from my SM-N960U1 using Tapatalk

[Wallace_Wallace]

For a second, I thought the teams traded the exact same players back to each other, but then I realized someone bumped this from a year and a half ago

[Duke4life831]

I mean I still have questions about it.

From the Pels point of view:
JV has no doubt been good this year. But the defense still sucks, ya its better with him out there but I dont think he has been all that good of a defender. So defensively once Zion returns I still think the Pels are going to have the exact same issues they had with Adams.

Then offensively he has been really good and for the first half of the season he started off smoking hot from 3. That was super promising. But as the season has gone on his 3pt shot has just left him. His last 20 games he has shot 32% on 2 attempts, his last 15 25% on 2 attempts.

With this current team that really isnt that big of a deal because the 4 starters around JV are all capable-good shooters. But the question is going to come up once Zion comes back. Is a big that shoots in the low 30s and only 2 attempts per game really going to provide all that much space for Zion?

And again the biggest issue with this trade was the fact they had to drop down in the draft and give up another 1st round pick to do this. And ya no Zion I like what JV has done, but with Zion I still have some big time questions about just how great of a fit it will be.

[The Rainmaker]

Pelicans fans have no reason to hate this trade because JV is significantly better than the players the Pelicans traded.

I still think the Grizzlies could've gotten a better deal for JV. Adams is a stopgap player for the Grizzlies and isn't the answer for them as a starting center. The Lakers pick is the most valuable part of the deal.

[Lockdown504090]

everyone won this trade. ziare williams shows the flashes they were looking for, jonas doin work for the pelicans. no complaints either way, just sucks hes not playing with zion, since they seem like a better fit.

[Lalouie]

i cannot question memphis
and
it's always advisable to question the pels.

one is a good org the other is historically bad. things happen to players when they go from good to bad or bad to good. it's basic sports math. on paper i am not surprised at the lopsided poll,,,but who here says he has implicit faith in the pels!!! and maybe mem is not done yet