{"id":122394,"date":"2025-02-07T06:00:33","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T11:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=122394"},"modified":"2026-02-28T15:10:48","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T20:10:48","slug":"grizzlies-trade-versatile-wings-roster-flexibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/07\/grizzlies-trade-versatile-wings-roster-flexibility\/","title":{"rendered":"Grizzlies Trade Two Versatile Wings for Roster Flexibility"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Taylor Jenkins and the rest of the Memphis Grizzlies coaching staff have done a stellar job making the most of what has easily been one of the most injury-riddled playoff teams this season. A roster full of multi-faceted players and a selfless style of play that has become an identity for one of the best teams in the association. In recent weeks, they&#8217;ve aimed to take advantage of their excess amount of depth in hopes of acquiring a trade piece that may catapult them to Western Conference title contention. The swirling <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/01\/10\/jimmy-butlers-disinterested-in-grizzlies\/\" target=\"_self\">rumors of the Grizzlies<\/a> potentially acquiring wings like <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/butleji01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jimmy Butler<\/a>, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/johnsca02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cam Johnson<\/a>, or <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/f\/finnedo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dorian Finney-Smith<\/a> would eventually dwindle and evaporate. Although a Grizzlies trade for a ready-now wing never came to fruition, they&#8217;ve gained a more concise core.<\/p>\n<h2>Grizzlies Trade Two Versatile Wings for Additional Roster Flexibility<\/h2>\n<h3>Grizzlies Flip Veteran To D.C.<\/h3>\n<p><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/smartma01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marcus Smart<\/a>&#8216;s brief stint in the Home of the Blues has come to an end. The Grizzlies moved off the veteran guard right before the looming trade deadline. The Grizzlies sent Smart and a 2025 first-round pick to the Washington Wizards in exchange for center <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/baglema01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marvin Bagley III<\/a>, guard <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/davisjo06.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Johnny Davis<\/a> and two second-round picks.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The Wizards are sending Marvin Bagley III to the Grizzlies as part of the deal, sources tell ESPN. Johnny Davis also sent to Memphis. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/QeEN5HCUGH\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/QeEN5HCUGH<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShamsCharania\/status\/1887597149074182616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 6, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Smart&#8217;s tenure was quite underwhelming as a member of the Grizzlies. The former Oklahoma State standout notably only made 39 appearances after being traded to Memphis before the 2023-24 season. This season Smart, averaged 8.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game in 19 games. The former Defensive Player of the Year had recently returned to Jenkins\u2019 rotation. Smart had just recovered from a right index finger injury. He had a similar hand injury issue on his right shooting hand in the season prior.<\/p>\n<p>Smart posted a <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/team\/1610612763\/onoffcourt-advanced?dir=A&amp;sort=DEF_RATING\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">105.7<\/a> defensive rating this season. That was best mark amongst any Grizzlies player that made at least 19 appearances this season. The Grizzlies mortgaged off quite a bit to acquire Smart in the 2023 offseason. Despite never getting off on the right foot, it\u2019s safe to say that this was overall bad timing for the veteran wing guard.<\/p>\n<h3>Sacramento Lands Young Grizzlies Multi-Tooled Forward<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/laravja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jake LaRavia<\/a> made a well known name for himself in the early stages of the season for Memphis. The young Grizzlies wing filled in effectively with early injuries to regular contributors <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/banede01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Desmond Bane<\/a>, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/willivi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vince Williams Jr<\/a>, and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jacksgg01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">GG Jackson II<\/a>. This season, LaRavia averaged 7.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in 20.9 minutes for the Grizzlies. The Wake Forest product also shot 49% from the field and 44.4% percent from deep on a couple attempts per night. The Grizzlies traded LaRavia to the Sacramento Kings as a part of the multi-team trade.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The Sacramento Kings are acquiring Jake LaRavia from Memphis, league sources tell me.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChrisBHaynes\/status\/1887591766724858204?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 6, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>LaRavia brings promising point of attack defense, shooting, and size to Sacramento. The Grizzlies wing will look for more well deserved playing time off the bench for Kings head coach Doug Christie. As for the Grizzlies, flipping their two wings creates more flexibility without sacrificing their core pieces. Furthermore, the flexibility may be valuable in an attempt to extend All-Star big man <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jacksja02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jaren Jackson Jr.<\/a> and re-sign restricted free agent <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/aldamsa01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Santi Aldama<\/a> this summer.<\/p>\n<p>Photo credit: \u00a9 Michael McLoone-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Taylor Jenkins and the rest of the Memphis Grizzlies coaching staff have done a stellar job making the most of what has easily been one of the most injury-riddled playoff teams this season. A roster full of multi-faceted players and a selfless style of play that has become an identity for one of the best [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5331,"featured_media":122554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,32,62],"tags":[3127,1822,49497,428,3840],"class_list":["post-122394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-grizzlies","category-nba","tag-desmond-bane","tag-ja-morant","tag-jake-laravia","tag-marcus-smart","tag-taylor-jenkins"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122394"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122394\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":122556,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122394\/revisions\/122556"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}