While the NBA Finals are taking center stage, 28 other teams around the association are preparing for the NBA Draft, set to tip off on June 26. For the Memphis Grizzlies and Houston Rockets, the upcoming draft could prove to be a significant step toward becoming an annual playoff contender.
Each team already has a number of young pieces they can build around, but this past season showed that Houston could still afford to add more top talent. Memphis had a very challenging year due to so many of their key players suffering injuries, but this has only set them up to have a stronger future, as long as they can emerge from the draft with another prospect who has star potential.
Yet, the Grizzlies are hoping to do just that, but they’d like to trade up from the ninth pick to get one of the top-ranked players on their draft board. This could make Memphis and Houston ideal trade partners since the Rockets have the third pick, and are open to negotiating.
According to The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor, Memphis, and Houston have already discussed a trade that would swap the third and ninth picks, but it’s not known what else the Rockets would want from the Grizzlies to make a deal work.
No matter what, the Grizzlies are trying to come up with a way to move up the draft board and select UConn center Donovan Clingan. Unexpected to last until the ninth pick, Memphis may have to move into the top five to secure their top target, which makes Houston a good negotiation partner.
Related: Houston Rockets aiming to trade No. 3 pick for a near All-Star