Memphis had more than the max 15 guaranteed contracts on the books, and the cost of unloading one of those turns out to be a second-round pick.
Troy Daniels, who is owed $6.7 million over the next two years, has been traded from the Memphis Grizzlies to the Phoenix Suns, a story broken by Shams Charania of The Vertical at Yahoo Sports and since confirmed by the teams themselves. As part of the deal, the teams swap 2018 second round picks (however the Phoenix pick going to Memphis is top 55 protected, meaning it doesn’t move unless the Suns are a top five team ext season). Basically, Memphis has three second-round picks in 2018 and Phoenix gets the middle one as the sweetener for taking on the contract.
This trade is really about Memphis clearing a roster spot and some salary space, and Phoenix being willing to take it on for a second round pick.
Interestingly, Daniels and Suns star Devin Booker got in a little war of words at the end of a game last season.
According to a source Troy Daniels told Devin Booker that he was garbage, that he only scores in garbage time & told him to check his resume
— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) February 9, 2017
The Suns consulted with Booker about that before pulling the trigger on the deal.