Trade grades: Who wins Kings-Grizzlies deal for Garrett Temple?

ByKEVIN PELTON
July 17, 2018, 12:46 PM

The deal

Kings get: guard Ben McLemore, center Deyonta Davis, a 2021 second-round pick and cash

Grizzlies get: guard  Garrett Temple

Get more trade grades for every deal here

Memphis Grizzlies: C+

The Grizzlies' summer of Grit 'n' Grind Revisited continues with the deal for Temple, a hard-working guard who also hit a career-best 39 percent of his 3s last season. Memphis was in the bidding for Temple in the summer of 2016 before he landed a three-year, $24 million deal from the Kings that has -- like most other 2016 contracts -- proven an overpay.

Nonetheless, Temple is an upgrade and a better complement to the Grizzlies' assortment of wings. He will be perhaps the best defender in a group of shooting guards that also includes Dillon Brooks (likely to play at both wing spots), MarShon Brooks and Wayne Selden. So it's understandable Memphis was willing to give up a fairly distant second-round pick and cash to make this deal happen.

The Grizzlies, whose roster now sits at 15 including the partially guaranteed contract of Andrew Harrison, have sacrificed a little flexibility when it comes to in-season trades. Their payroll sits just $950,000 shy of the luxury tax, per ESPN's Bobby Marks, which is fine but would prevent them from making a deal that adds more salary and risks pushing into the tax with unlikely incentives in JaMychal Green's contract.

Sacramento Kings: B+

Besides his veteran leadership, Temple wasn't doing a rebuilding Kings franchise much good. So besides bringing back McLemore, who began his career as a lottery pick in Sacramento, this trade accomplishes a few things.

The most important is getting the pick, a 2021 second-rounder,  according to Chris Herrington of the Daily Memphian. It's very possible by that point, when Marc Gasol will be 36 and Mike Conley 33, the Grizzlies will be in rebuilding mode and will be sending a pick at the top of the second round to the Kings.

Additionally, Sacramento picks up some cash and creates about a million in cap space. The Kings already had far and away the most cap space in the league after the Chicago Bulls spent theirs signing Jabari Parker last weekend, and Sacramento now has more than $20 million available to take on bad contracts or make an offer to a restricted free agent. So while Temple for McLemore is a downgrade, in the long run I think this deal will look better for the Kings.

As for Davis, he's unlikely to contribute much and might end up being waived this season despite a guaranteed contract at the veteran's minimum. Davis showed promise at Michigan State as a rim runner and shot-blocker, but his difficulty reading plays and low motor have prevented him from translating those skills on a consistent basis and led Memphis to give up on him. Given Sacramento's frontcourt depth, I'm skeptical the Kings saw adding Davis as part of the value from this trade.