The Grizzlies extract value from Dillon Brooks sign-and-trade
The Memphis Grizzlies acquired Josh Christopher and generated a traded player exception, instead of letting Dillon Brooks walk for nothing.
What a win-win for the Memphis Grizzlies and Dillon Brooks.
Brooks received a huge bag — netting a 4-year, $84M deal with all of it guaranteed, with the possibility of earning $90M if incentives hit. Landing a contract of that magnitude after (waves hands everywhere) everything that happened the final 4 months of the season was unforeseen, but also big time for Brooks. It’s also well-deserved, as he’s worked his way to becoming an elite defender and a player that adds toughness and edge in a locker room.
For the Grizzlies, it’s truly remarkable to land a sign-and-trade with a team with cap space. That doesn’t happen all too often, a testament to all parties for their willingness to work together to make it a win for everyone involved. Though a massive 5-team trade allowed the Rockets to acquire even more veterans, with free agent signings of Jock Landale and Jeff Green.
The Grizzlies are acquiring soon-to-be 3rd year player Josh Christopher, while generating a sizable traded player exception.
It’s fair to say Christopher’s fit on the roster is cloudy, as it’s uncertain if he’ll stay on the roster. There’s prior interest in Christopher, as he had a pre-draft workout here — worth noting, he and his family have ties with Tayshaun Prince. His addition highlights how the Grizzlies’ offseason is obviously not over, since there are 17 players on the main roster right now. Are there more moves on the way, or will they ultimately cut Christopher? I see them sending him to Vegas for Summer League and going from there.
Regardless, he slides in as a possible developmental combo guard — which may not have been a need, but is nice to have. The goal would be to tap into his live-dribble game here and there, with the hopes his shooting and defense could grow to make him at least a “3&D bench guy.” It hasn’t panned out for Christopher thus far, but there are arguments he wasn’t in the best developmental environment. Houston has been a disaster the past few years. He also has produced when given opportunity, averaging 12.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.1 assists on 47.7/34.5/76.7 shooting splits when his minutes are in the 20’s (30-game sample size).
The likely desired asset in the sign-and-trade was a traded player exception. Due to the BYC rule, the traded player exception only accounts for Dillon Brooks’ salary as a Grizzly ($11.4M) instead of his new handsome payday — as the salary increase is over 20%. With Josh Christopher’s $2.5M salary incoming, the exception is at $8.9M. Per The Daily Memphian’s Chris Herrington, the number is closer to $7.1M, with the Grizzlies absorbing Isaiah Todd’s contract into the exception.
Now, the question will be how the Grizzlies maneuver the roster going forward. They could make it easy and just waive Todd and Christopher. Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer reported Miami’s interest in Christopher, though his salary can’t be aggregated in a trade for 60 days. If the Grizzlies want Christopher on the 15-man roster, they would either have to release a guaranteed contract, or orchestrate a trade to trim a roster spot — whether it’s a 2-for-1 deal, or a salary dump.
Their plans with the roster crunch are unclear, however it’s rather significant for the Grizzlies to maximize value on a player they easily could’ve had walk for nothing.