UPDATE #2, 6:04 pm: Here is some twitter confirmation that the deal is close from one of the participants in the trade:
https://twitter.com/WolstatSun/statuses/296755975854100480
Memphis may have found their third team according to Marc Stein at ESPN:
ESPN sources say Pistons poised to send both Tayshaun Prince and Austin Daye to Grizzlies to acquire Jose Calderon as part of Rudy Gay deal
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) January 30, 2013
Tayshaun Prince is a solid if no longer spectacular wing to fill in for Rudy Gay. Prince is shooting 43.4 percent from three this season (handy when you have passing bigs like Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph), is a solid defender and will fit in well with the Grizzlies as they try to make a playoff run.
Calderon in Detroit is not going to make Brandon Knight’s day.
UPDATE 4:40 pm: Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports and the NBC Sports Network took to twitter on Wednesday afternoon to say that a deal to send Gay to Toronto is moving much closer to reality, with or without the addition of a third team in the mix — appaarently the Grizzlies really want to get this done.
Memphis and Toronto pushing closer on deal to send Rudy Gay to the Raptors, sources tell Y! Sports. Raps would part with Calderon and Davis.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 30, 2013
There have been scenarios today that include third teams, and also where Grizzlies and Raptors could do deal straight up, sources tell Y!
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 30, 2013
Raptors and Grizzlies are discussing framework of trade with respective ownership groups now, sources tell Y! Deal could be done tonight.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 30, 2013
It looks to me like a two-team deal is agreed to and Memphis is getting time to see if a third team can be found to jump in that makes it work better for them. Marc Stein at ESPN tweets that Dallas and Detroit were two possible third teams. However, if that doesn’t come together fast Memphis will just pull the trigger on a two-team deal then try to flip Calderon to another team in a separate trade later.
Ed Davis has played well for Toronto at the four as the starter since Andrea Bargnani went down, well enough that he took the starting spot away from the former No. 1 pick. Davis is on his rookie contract, Calderon has $10.5 million expiring deal (and would provide depth at the point with Mike Conley and provide tax relief in future years if they can’t flip him).
3:18 pm: No Rudy Gay to Toronto trade is imminent as of Tuesday night. In fact, the latest report from Adrian Wojnarowski suggests he may not be going there at all.
The Raptors and Grizzlies are looking to get a third team involved in the deal. While we fans at home love to come up with three-way trades the reality of them is they are exponentially harder to pull off than a straight swap. Too many people to make happy, too many issues to balance.
Here’s the latest, Wojnarowski of Yahoo sports and the NBC Sports Network.The final hurdle for the salary dump of Memphis Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay to the Toronto Raptors hinges on finding a third team to absorb the expiring contract of Raptors guard Jose Calderon, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.
The Grizzlies have inquired with multiple teams over the past several days, searching for a willing partner to facilitate a three-team deal, sources said.
Calderon is a quality point guard in the last year of a deal making $10.5 million. There is some trade value for him, but not as much as you might think. There are a lot of good point guards around the league and if you have one you like you’re not going to give up anything of value to get another one.
It could happen still, especially if the two teams work it out themselves, but with a third team don’t bet on it.
