By: Stephen Patterson
With the Cleveland Cavaliers listening to offers for PG Mo Williams, I can only hope that Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace has put in a call. The Grizzlies are in desperate need of a quality point guard able to not only distribute the ball, but also be a valid scoring option. Mike Conley, last seasons starting point guard for Memphis, is a good player and would be a great leader off the bench, but he hasn't been able to show he has the ability to really lead the team in his 3 seasons with the Griz. Williams would provide the team with an excellant 4th scoring option (maybe 3rd depending on Rudy Gay's free agency decision) and could potentially put Memphis on the next level.
What would it take to pry Williams from the Cavaliers? There have been multiple reports that Cleveland is very interested in moving into the first round of tomorrow night's NBA Draft. I think a package of Sam Young, the 16th pick (assuming they acquire it from a seperate deal with Minnesota that is being discussed), and a future 1st or 2nd round pick might be enough to get Cleveland's interest. This would give the Cavaliers a promising player to come off the bench and atleast one mid-first round pick. Cleveland could use the pick to select Eric Bledsoe out of Kentucky if they wanted to take that approach to finding a replacement PG.
Imagine a potential starting line-up of Williams, OJ Mayo, Gay (Ronnie Brewer if Gay signs elsewhere), Zach Randolph, and Marc Gasol. This kind of move would put the Grizzlies in position to really compete for the division and almost assure them a trip to the postseason. With Dallas facing an uncertain future with the possibility of losing Dirk Nowitzki to free agency and San Antonio beginning to show a little bit of their core's age, Memphis could possibly have the best team in the division over the next few seasons. Another plus for the Grizzlies if they made this deal is the fact it would greatly improve their odds of landing free agents.
If Memphis acquired Williams and put a line-up resembling the one I mentioned above out on the court, and assuming they fill out the roster with decent players, I'd pencil them in somewhere in the 6-8 seed range for the postseason this year and almost a certainty to end the horrid 0-12 streak the franchise has in playoff games in their postseason history.
