The Western Conference got a little crazier in December when Dallas acquired Rajon Rondo from Boston to become a dark horse contender, while Houston was willing to take on the volatile ways of Josh Smith, who was amazingly waived by Detroit.
It seems the rest of the West won’t stay quietly as others shore up on their weaknesses. Oklahoma City traded for Dion Waiters earlier in the week, and apparently, all you have to do is pick up the phone and talk to Danny Ainge if your team is in need of a relevant piece.
Phoenix did just that early on Friday and managed to pick up Brandan Wright – who had played a grand total of eight games for the Celtics – for a protected first-round pick, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. The probably-thrilled Wright should provide tremendous help for the Suns off the bench as they continue to try to fight off the Thunder in the standings.
In need of a legitimate small forward to truly help complete their starting lineup, the Memphis Grizzlies also went to Ainge for help and are closing in on a deal to bring in Jeff Green, according to Woj:
In a move to strengthen themselves for a push into the Western Conference playoffs, the Memphis Grizzlies are nearing agreement on a deal to acquire Boston Celtics forward Jeff Green, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Memphis will send Tayshaun Prince and a first-round draft pick to the Celtics, league sources said. The protected pick likely won’t be available until 2018 or ’19, sources said.
The Celtics and Grizzlies are awaiting final authorization from a third team involved in the deal to complete the trade, league sources said.
Talk about a fire sale if you’re Ainge. He’s probably not done either with names like Evan Turner and Brandon Bass still on the roster as well, and he’s doing it all in order to pick up as many draft picks as he possibly can.
As for the Grizzlies, it will be interesting to see how Green fits into the dynamic of a team that had seemingly defined itself on both ends of the floor. Green can score – he is averaging 17.6 points this season on 43.4 percent shooting from the field – but is a career 34 percent 3-point shooter and has knocked down only 30.5 percent of them so far this season. Can you rely on him to space the floor? He doesn’t particularly rebound very well either for someone of his size, averaging just 4.2 rebounds in 33 minutes. In comparison, Prince averaged 3.2 rebounds in 24 minutes. Still, he is capable of playing two positions and should be able to provide a versatile way to score – something Prince couldn’t provide at this stage of his career.
Memphis is still in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive rating, but have dropped in both categories over the past few weeks due to the absence of Zach Randolph. With Green seemingly on board and Randolph having returned on Friday against New Orleans, the Grizzlies suddenly have the potential to look much stronger in the West.
OTHER NEWS AND ITEMS FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE:
Andrei Kirilenko apparently has no interest in having anything to do with his new team. For this, the team has taken action, according to The AP: “The 76ers have suspended forward Andrei Kirilenko for not reporting to the team after his trade from the Brooklyn Nets last month. Coach Brett Brown confirmed the suspension during a shootaround before Friday night’s game in Brooklyn. He said he had been looking forward to coaching Kirilenko. It’s not clear why Kirilenko hasn’t joined the Sixers since the Dec. 11 trade. The deal sent forward Brandon Davies to the Nets for Kirilenko, a second-round pick in the 2020 draft, guard Jorge Gutierrez and cash.”
Guess who’s back in the league for at least 10 days? Marc Stein of ESPN has the answer: “The Milwaukee Bucks on Friday signed former All-Star power forward Kenyon Martin to a 10-day contract. The move reunites Martin with Bucks first-year coach Jason Kidd after they teamed up together in New Jersey — with both on the floor — to lead the Nets to consecutive trips to the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003. Players can sign two 10-day contracts before a team must commit to sign them for the rest of the season or let them go. The Bucks waived guard Nate Wolters to make room on the roster.”- Check out this great Stephen Curry commercial with ESPN:
- Klay Thompson won’t be a serious candidate to win MIP this year due to stronger candidates, but he has undoubtedly made significant strides on the offensive end of his game. Ethan Sherwood-Strauss of ESPN detailed some of the improvements in Thompson’s game in this notable piece, with gifs included.
Jim Park is a blogger and editor of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @Sheridanblog.