Originally locked-in to picking 17th overall in the 2021 NBA Draft, the Memphis Grizzlies now hold the rights to the No. 10 pick in the draft after making a trade with the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday afternoon.
Memphis traded away Jonas Vanaciunas, the No. 17 and No. 51 picks in the draft to New Orleans in exchange for veterans Eric Bledsoe, Steven Adams, the No. 10 and No. 40 picks in this year’s draft, as well as the Lakers’ 2022 first-round pick with Top-10 protection on it.
This Lakers pick was originally traded in 2019 as part of the Anthony Davis to L.A. deal and will now be in the hands of the Memphis Grizzlies unless the Lakers receive a Top-10 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft lottery, in which case this pick would revert back to New Orleans.
Pretty much, this pick is going to be a late first-round pick that the Grizzlies will own next year since the Lakers are almost a lock to be in the playoffs during the 2021-22 season with LeBron and AD healthy. But, it is the NBA and anything can happen!
Taking on the contracts of Eric Bledsoe and Steven Adams is not too ideal for the Grizzlies, but they are expected to decline Justise Winslow’s team option for next year, freeing up some salary space, and they may not hold onto Bledsoe after all. Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reported after this trade news broke that Bledsoe is not expected to stay in Memphis.
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There have also been reports that the Memphis Grizzlies may not be done trying to move up yet and could potentially look to use this No. 10 pick in the draft to move up even further according to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer.
Being able to trade up and draft either James Bouknight or Jonathan Kuminga seems like something Memphis is interested in, but as of right now, they own the No. 10 pick in Thursday’s draft and here are their Top-4 options with this pick.
