NBA exec on Grizzlies: The Marcus Smart trade killed them

The Grizzlies have tried to take big swings in the trade market at various times in the last three years, including engaging the Phoenix Suns on Kevin Durant this year. However, the biggest one that actually got completed was dealing Tyus Jones and two first-rounders for Marcus Smart when he was just past his sell-by date in the summer of 2023. It’s somewhat ironic given that the Grizzlies have nailed so many small moves in the same period. “The Marcus Smart trade killed them,” as one rival exec put it, costing them draft assets and a $20-million salary slot for a whole lot of not much. On a roster that couldn’t afford a miss once Jackson, Bane and Morant graduated to expensive veteran deals, Smart was nearly dead money. He was neither healthy nor happy in Memphis, and his level of play dropped off even when he was active; the Grizzlies ended up giving Washington another first just to move off the last year of his deal.