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Report: Grizzlies trade Courtney Lee to Charlotte

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

Larry Kuzniewski

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the Grizzlies have traded Courtney Lee in a three-team deal with the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat.

Charlotte gets Courtney Lee, the Miami Heat get Brian Roberts from Charlotte, and the Grizzlies get PJ Hairston, Chris Andersen, and four second-round picks (two from Charlotte, two from Miami), one of which is “heavily protected.” (Protected heavily enough that the Grizzlies essentially get three picks, even if the fourth one is technically part of the deal.)

It’s no secret that the Grizzlies have been trying to find some sort of future-oriented return on their expiring deals for a while now, and while I just speculated on this morning’s Beyond the Arc podcast that the Grizzlies probably wouldn’t be able to get much. This is the “not much” I was talking about, but they opted to go for it.

In Hairston, the Griz get a look at a young shooter (whose option wasn’t picked up, so he’s a free agent after this season) who they may want to keep if he can prove himself in the games remaining. In Andersen, the Griz have a big man they can package in another deal, or keep for the year, but either way he’s gone after the season. Second round picks are, of course, good to have if you don’t have any first round picks.

Really, if the Grizzlies don’t do anything else, this is still an OK deal by me—they’ll miss Lee, for sure, and I’d hate to think that this means Tony Allen and Jeff Green are going to start at the 2 and 3 for the rest of the year, but that’s probably where we’re headed barring another move—but now they have a little bit more flexibility (and certainly more assets, in the form of second-rounders) to work with between now and the deadline on Thursday.

We’ll see. I’m not sure how much this moves the needle for the Grizzlies this year. It probably makes them a little bit worse. But it also doesn’t gain them a single cent more salary in the offseason, and I didn’t think they were going to bring Lee back anyway, so… no harm no foul.

Hairston and Andersen are certainly characters, though, and Lee is good friends with Jeff Green and Mike Conley, so the chemistry shock might take a little bit to get over. Hold on your your hats until Thursday, folks.