The Memphis Grizzlies are in a very strange situation in which they are in year one of a rebuild, but find themselves in contention for a playoff spot.
Memphis has been unbelievable this year, largely thanks to rookie sensation Ja Morant. Currently slotted for a playoff spot, it is unlikely that the Grizzlies end up selling this season, but buying is also an unlikely possibility. Thus, the Bulls have to work with what they can here to get a deal done with Memphis.
Denzel Valentine is actually someone who the Grizzlies could be interested in. As a former lottery pick, Valentine is a young player who still has a lot of upside. His shooting, dribbling, and off-ball skills make him a very valuable commodity in modern basketball. Memphis could look to slide Valentine into their bench unit for some instant offense, both for right now and the future.
Although his contract is up at the end of the season, Valentine will remain a restricted free agent until Memphis withdraws his qualifying offer. This gives the Grizzlies the opportunity to use Valentine as a rental to stay in this year’s playoff race or to lock him up as a part of the Grizzlies’ solid young core.
On the other hand, Chicago would receive De’Anthony Melton, the former second round pick of the Houston Rockets. Melton had a solid amount of hype around him after being drafted by Houston, but he was quickly traded before ever playing a game as a Rocket and has been quite in Memphis since. Still a very young player, Melton shows two-way promise, but has yet to find consistent minutes in his short NBA career. Although he is on the last year of his rookie deal, he could still very well find himself on the Bulls roster in 2020-2021 if they were to trade for him.
While former first-round pick Bruno Caboclo is merely a throw-in to make salaries work here, the 2020 second round pick is the crown jewel of this swap for the Chicago Bulls. This pick is very likely to be within the top-45, which would be a very solid asset for the Bulls. Adding as much young talent as possible is key for the Bulls, especially if they can find a scoring spark off of the bench to replace Valentine with that pick.