How trade deadline affects OKC Thunder amid winners and losers

Teams who failed to move players unlikely to return next year:

While many teams might fall under this area the worst was the Memphis Grizzlies. Whether via convenience or simple truth Evans was relegated to the injury list. Once he was clear to return the Grizzlies kept him out of games. His absence from the lineup wasn’t even kept a secret. Rather, the Grizzlies made a point of saying he would be moved and not play until he was traded.

So, what happened? Surely the Grizzlies wanted more than teams were willing to offer, but to not take up any team on their offers seems downright silly.

Rumors were the Grizzlies wanted a first-round pick for Tyreke Evans. Obviously opponents weren’t willing to offer that, especially since Evans could walk at the end of the season.

Grizzlies most egregious of teams not capitalizing at deadline:

Still, there must have been offers on the table. The team rumored to be most interested was the Boston Celtics. It’s possible I’m unfairly judging Memphis here because Danny Ainge is well known for taking advantage of his counterparts. Perhaps Ainge tried to take advantage of Memphis and they weren’t willing to budge. If that was the case, however, then GM Chris Wallace should have called other teams. For example, why not trade Evans to OKC in exchange for Josh Huestis? Or at least inquire about the deal.

Moving forward, it seems the Grizzlies may buy out Evans (now that is a real head-scratcher). There is also the potential Memphis try to keep him and sign him this summer, though it seems unlikely.

The other rumors out of Memphis was they received offers from several teams inquiring about Marc Gasol. The question here is if the franchise is set on a rebuild why not get what you could now for Gasol?

Overall, this was just a terrible trade deadline by Memphis.

Effect on OKC Thunder:

The OKC Thunder has only played the Memphis Grizzlies once this season resulting in a win. Three games remain to face them grit and grind team. There are a number of ways that the Grizzlies did could affect the OKC Thunder.   First, if they buy out Evans he may be a player Sam Presti would target.

Aside from that, one would suspect the Grizzlies are in full-on tank mode. If the Thunder can start beating lower end squads with the same panache they bring to upper-tier squads it should result in three victories.