Memphis Grizzlies: Long-term vision
You did it, Memphis, you found your guy. Ja Morant is special and Jaren Jackson Jr. is a great compliment to his game. Finding the guys to build around is the hardest part, but now the Grizzles have to spend the next couple years being very careful about who they put around these two budding stars.
It’s all about finding complementary players now for the Grizzlies and setting themselves up to cash in 2-3 years from now and be really competitive. Unlike teams in the bigger markets, Memphis can’t count on being able to lure in a superstar so team building and finding guys that fit their playstyle in the draft and free agency is vital. They already did it once with the Mike Conley/Marc Gasol teams that had so much success, so I have confidence in this front office to do it again.
Miami Heat: A splashy move
The Heat have been really good and probably better than most people expected, but it’s still pretty unlikely that they could make a serious run to get through the Eastern Conference. Enter Pat Riley.
Pat Riley has never been afraid to make the big move and he has a lot of potential pieces to consider over the next couple of months if he wants to do something big. Jrue Holiday is perhaps the most impactful player that could realistically be traded before the deadline. The question for Pat Riley and the Heat is how much do they want to give up? Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler will be off-limits, but is Justise Winslow? What about Tyler Herro? Goran Dragic?
They’ll have to figure out what they’re comfortable with but they also have to be careful to not sacrifice their long term cap situation to go for a win-now move that they may not be ready for. It’s already been reported that they have their sights set on the 2021 free agent class so any big move will have to also keep that goal in mind.