Why the Grizzlies didn’t trade Tyreke Evans, and why fans are mad

Memphis had multiple offers on the table for Evans, but they wanted more. Now, the Grizzlies risk losing their combo guard for nothing.

After what felt like ages of dangling Tyreke Evans on the trade market, hoping to pat down the highest bidder for all they had, the Memphis Grizzlies passed the Feb. 8 NBA trade deadline without a deal. Evans played his way into the national spotlight on a floundering, injury-riddled Grizzlies team, averaging 19.5 points, five rebounds and five assists per game on much-improved shooting percentages of 45 percent from the field and a 39 percent clip from downtown.

Memphis even shut Evans down in six of the seven games leading up to the trade deadline, including two games where he was not with the team. The belief was the Grizzlies shut Evans down in order to avoid injury while they sorted a deal out.

But somehow, Memphis emerged from the trade deadline empty-handed, and now their fans are demanding answers because of the likelihood that Evans leaves as a free agent next summer.

Did the Grizzlies have any offers on the table?

Hell yeah they did.

According to TNT’s David Aldridge, Memphis had offers on the table that included multiple second-round picks for weeks before the deadline.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski also reported that Boston, Denver and Philadelphia were in the discussions for an Evans trade, but no team was willing to part ways with a first-round pick for the combo guard. The Nuggets, according to ESPN’s Zach Lowe, specifically gave the Grizzlies a choice of two trade offers: Emmanuel Mudiay and one second-round pick or an expiring contract with multiple second-round picks.

Boston also had its eyes set on Evans, according to The Boston Herald’s Steve Bulpett, but Memphis wanted more than the Celtics were willing to offer. The Grizzlies also had an offer from Washington, according to ESPN’s Zach Lowe, and the Wizards were willing to part ways with two second-round picks.

But Grizzlies brass decided against all those offers because they didn’t include any first-round picks, and left the deadline empty-handed.

Why are fans upset?

Let’s tag in SB Nation’s Grizzlies blog, Grizzly Bear Blues, which breaks down the Evans non-trade beautifully:

As we all know by this point, Tyreke Evans is on a cheap one-year contract. This means he will have the option of leaving Memphis and going wherever he wants next year. All of this is exactly why he should have been traded to anyone for anything. If he leaves this offseason, the Grizzlies will have only hurt their draft pick with better play this season for zero assets in the future.

The Grizzlies do not have any advantage over other teams in the offers they can make in the offseason. The thoughts are that the team will offer him the mid-level exception at a little over $8 million a year. Will he accept this? Who knows. But that isn’t the point.

My thoughts and the thoughts of many others in the Twitterverse is that how do you not get anything for an expiring contract who, odds are, will not return. Chris Wallace and the front office should have accepted whatever was available in the last minutes before the deadline. It escapes me to why they would want Tyreke to come back, which will worsen their draft pick this draft.

The Grizzlies have two routes to explore now that Evans is on the roster past the trade deadline: They can try to convince him to re-sign for the $8.4 million mid-level exception or less with a team that has won just a third of its possible games to date, or they can buy him out and lose him for nothing.

Either way, the Grizzlies are probably going to watch Evans walk and get nothing of value from his career season. That’s why many fans are pissed, and rightfully so.