1:54pm: The trade is now official, the Grizzlies announced in a press release (Twitter link).
12:25pm: The Grizzlies have agreed to a trade that will send Ziaire Williams and a 2030 second-round pick (via Dallas) to the Nets for Mamadi Diakite and the draft rights to Nemanja Dangubic, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
It’s essentially a salary dump for Memphis, which had been looking to move Williams due to the team’s financial situation. The 22-year-old will earn $6.13MM in 2024/25, which is the final season of his rookie scale contract. The Grizzlies will generate a trade exception worth that amount.
After the transaction is complete, the Grizzlies project to be about $10MM below the luxury tax line and $14MM beneath the first apron, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. The Nets will acquire Williams using one of their outstanding trade exceptions, Marks notes. It’ll likely be the one worth $9.5MM from sending Royce O’Neale to Phoenix in February.
According to Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal (Twitter link), the Grizzlies are likely to use their new cap flexibility to re-sign veteran sharpshooter Luke Kennard, who remains an unrestricted free agent. Wojnarowski confirms Memphis is working to bring back Kennard.
As for the rebuilding Nets, they’ll be taking a low-risk flyer on a former top prospect in Williams, who was selected 10th overall in the 2021 draft. And as a sweetener for taking on his salary, they’ll also add a future second-round pick.
Williams has averaged 7.5 points and 2.6 rebounds per game on .426/.301/.803 shooting over the past three seasons with Memphis (150 games; 20.4 minutes per contest). He’s eligible for a rookie scale extension until the day before the 2024/25 season begins; if no deal is reached, he’ll be eligible for restricted free agency in 2025.
Diakite, a forward/center who was sent from New York to Brooklyn in the Mikal Bridges trade and is now being re-routed to Memphis, could be waived. His salary for next season is only partially guaranteed for $1.39MM, and Cole recently reported that the Grizzlies want to keep an open roster spot entering the regular season; re-adding Kennard and retaining Diakite would push their standard roster count up to 15 players.
Diakite, 27, has bounced around the NBA over the course of his four seasons, suiting up for the Bucks, Thunder, Cavs, Spurs and Knicks. Overall, the Guinea native has appeared in 55 regular season games, with career averages of 3.1 points and 2.3 rebounds in 9.6 minutes.
That’s a 2030 second rounder, not 2023. Recent chatter says the Grizzlies wanted Sharpe but took Diakite instead. I’m guessing the Nets wanted better draft capital for Sharpe.
Sounds like Grizzlies are about to sign a free agent out there.
They can offer Kennard 8-10M AAV now.
Good move for the Nets. Maybe the far-off 2nd turns into something nice and they also take a chance on whatever amount of potential Ziaire may have left. The type of moving a rebuilding team should make.
Can’t blame the Grizzlies for making this deal, either. The books are tight, their window is now, and Ziaire was going to be out of the rotation anyway. Can’t win them all.
Remember when he was atrocious in college and Memphis spent a lottery pick on him anyway?
They traded up form 17 to 10 that year in exchange for taking on a couple of bad contracts. He probably could have been there at 17 if they wanted him. New Orleans took Murphy III at 17.
Now that was a huge win for NOLA, Murphy looking like he could a future all star and one of the best shooters in the league
Is Diakite still on a partially guaranteed contract at this point?
Yes. New York didn’t guarantee the entirety of his salary before the trade. Just enough to make it exactly an even salary trade with Bridges (Bogdonovic + Milton + 1/2 Diakite = Bridges + KBD). The Nets have a trade exception, so there doesn’t need to be salary matched in this trade. As a result, Diakite still only has about half of his salary still guaranteed.
I’m guessing he’ll just get gut during camp and end up back in the G-league
Jitty minutes Cometh
diakite deserves a spot in this league. bring on the expansion teams
Why did grizzlies take on Diakite if they intend to waive him?
Because of the trade exception they didnt really need to.
As Grizzlies are so close to taxes, it would have made more sense that they paid the Nets some money and kept that 1,39 million also off their payroll?
I agree. Just aquire someone’s rights. Or use him in another trade. Zhaire would be the same age as Edey but whatever. I don’t like this trade. Morant doesn’t like this trade