UPDATE 4:10 pm: After everyone spent hours looking for a better deal, at the last second these two decided to hook up and make this deal a reality.
Battier replaces O.J. Mayo as the guy on the wing with Rudy Gay (Memphis traded Mayo to Indiana, they get Josh McRoberts back to provide front line depth). Like we said below, this deal makes the Grizzlies better this season. With all the trouble both Memphis and Battier have given the Lakers over the years, you can bet they’d like to avoid them in the first round.
11:47 am: The Memphis Grizzlies as trade deadline buyers? Rockets GM Daryl Morey trading for draft bust Hasheem Thabeet? You all are crazy or selling something. Next thing you’re going to tell me somebody was willing to take Baron Davis off the Clippers… What? Okay, I’m not sure I understand anything any more.
But it’s true, there is proposed deal that would send Shane Battier to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Hasheem Thabeeet and a first round pick, according to the Commercial Appeal.
There were questions about whether the Grizzlies would include the pick, but recent reports suggest this deal is picking up steam and may well happen.
With the recent moves by Denver and Utah, the Grizzlies see the chance to move up in the standings. As of Thursday morning they are eight seed in the West, half a game back of Portland, one game back of Denver and two back of New Orleans for the five spot. The Jazz are half a game behind Memphis.
If the Grizzlies get all the way to the six seed they could see the Lakers in the first round — a team they match up well against and traditionally give trouble to. If they can get the five seed they would face Oklahoma City in the first round.
Houston, they are looking to the future, this has to be about the pick. This would be a 2013 pick, most likely, because the Jazz already own the Grizzlies pick for 2011 and teams cannot trade first-round picks in consecutive drafts. But we still think this is about the pick because Thabeet has a long way to go to show he should stick in the NBA.
Couldn’t the Rockets get more for Battier?