NBA Draft week got off to a fast start on Monday with a three-player deal between the Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Pelicans. The Grizzlies took on a couple of bad contracts (Eric Bledsoe, Steven Adams) and gave up their starting center (Jonas Valanciunas) in order to land the No. 10 overall pick in Thursday’s draft and a future first-round pick in 2022 (top-10 protected via Lakers) according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com. The Pelicans also got back the No. 17 overall pick and swapped second-round picks with the Grizzlies in the deal, while dumping some excess long-term salary ahead of the draft.
How exactly will this move impact the free agency landscape for the Celtics and other teams across the league heading into a busy week ahead? Let’s look at some developments as a result of the trade.
Eric Bledsoe is still available in a trade: This has been the case for the past 12 months anyway, but Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports is reporting that Bledsoe will not end up in the Grizzlies crowded backcourt when all is said and done. The 31-year-old underwhelmed in New Orleans last year and still has two years remaining on his contract which is worth about $37 million total. The second year of that deal is only partially guaranteed so Bledsoe will be a movable piece. He is overpaid but still put up 12.2 points per game last season.
The Grizzlies are probably not going to move any serious assets to dump his money as a team especially on a team that is still going young for now. However, they could look for some team that is desperate for an upgrade with limited options in free agency to take on Bledsoe’s money. The Celtics are certainly not a team that would be interested in him unless they are getting back an asset as part of the deal.
Justise Winslow will be a free agent: The Celtics almost gave up the farm for the Duke product in the 2015 NBA Draft. Just 18 months ago, the Memphis Grizzlies took on two bad contracts (James Johnson, Dion Waiters) in order to take on promising young forward while also giving up a pair of useful wings (Jae Crowder, Andre Iguodala) in the deal. However, after an injury-riddled two years in Memphis, the Grizzlies have elected to decline Winslow’s $14 million team option, which will make the 25-year-old a free agent in August.
This means very little in the free agency landscape, beyond adding another potential buy-low option to the wing position. Winslow has played just 37 combined games in the past two years and his perimeter shooting numbers have fallen off a cliff in that stretch. Some team will take a chance on him this offseason but it’s probably not a worthwhile investment for Boston with limited means to add to the roster in free agency.
Memphis will probably be looking to move more parts of their roster: After completing the three-player deal with New Orleans, the Grizzlies currently have 14 players under contract for next season and also have the No. 10 overall pick. That gives Memphis a full roster without even using any of the team’s free agency options (full mid-level exception)
We already know that Bledsoe is on the move but dealing away Jonas Valancinuas is a potential signal that older players whose primes don’t necessarily align with the team’s young core (Ja Morant) could be made available for assets. Kyle Anderson is one player at age 27 that would fit that description as he has just one year left on his expiring deal. League sources tell MassLive that Anderson is a playing that the Celtics have shown interest in during the past.
No matter what the Grizzlies decide to do with Anderson, today’s deal is a signal that they are from done when it comes to offseason trades since some consolidation would make sense for their roster.
The Pelicans now have ammo to land a big name in free agency: The Pelicans became players in the free-agent market today by dumping over $21 million from their payroll for next season in Bledsoe and Adams. What path Pelicans general manager David Griffin elects to take with that new freedom remains to be seen. The team could simply re-sign their own free agents in Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart with that cap room but the more likely option is going after a bigger name on the market.
If the Pelicans renounce Ball and Hart’s cap holds, they could have $36 million to spend, enough to go after a bigger name like Kyle Lowry on the open market.
What impact will this have on the Celtics’ plans and the free agency of Evan Fournier? Probably not much. The Pelicans have a lot of young talent on the wings already in Brandon Ingram and Nickel Alexander-Walker. Spending big money on Fournier wouldn’t make a ton of sense when there is a glaring need now at point guard with Bledsoe traded and Ball being a restricted free agent.
