I participated in a mock trade deadline with the team over at Center Hub, representing as the fake Grizzlies GM. Here are the following moves I made. Reminder, these are just mock moves made with other fake GMs, not predictions. I don’t foresee any of these moves happening. This is more of a process deal rather than a “I can see this happening” bit. I’ll have predictions with a Memphis Grizzlies trade primer coming out tomorrow.
Trade #1: Ja Morant to the Miami Heat. Simone Fontecchio to the Orlando Magic. Tyler Herro, Jonathan Isaac, the right to swap the Heat’s 2026 first-round pick with the Orlando/Phoenix first-round pick, and a 2026 second-round pick via Orlando.
Obviously, the first domino would be Ja Morant, as he’s one of the biggest players on the trade block this deadline. Naturally, I sought offers with the Toronto Raptors and Miami Heat with the objective of draft capital and/or young players.
I accomplished one of those things in a quest to accumulate assets at the trade deadline.
I was offered either Tyler Herro or Terry Rozier as the salary centerpiece. I didn’t want Rozier without Jaime Jaquez Jr. and a first-round pick. The mock Heat GM was not interested in it, but offered Herro with Fontecchio to match money with the rights to swap first-round picks with the Heat’s 2026 pick and the Orlando/Phoenix selection. I took it with the intention of flipping the contracts and potentially increasing the value of the second pick of the first round of a loaded draft class.
Herro would’ve been a good sell. He’s coming off an All-Star game. He’s grown every year as a creator — evolving into a three-level scorer and sound playmaker. Yeah, having him as a core piece could limit a team’s upside. However, there would’ve been utility keeping him around… or flipping him for a cleaner fit.
Fontecchio was immediately flipped, as I identified teams that may be looking for luxury tax relief and that may include a second-round pick as an incentive to take on money — hence the Orlando Magic call. They have a logjam in the frontcourt, and they could use shooting. It made sense.
Jonathan Isaac would help shore up the defense of a shorthanded Grizzlies front-court. His contract isn’t as bad as it is on paper, as he only has a partial-guarantee of $8M next season followed by two non-guaranteed years. He could be a trade chip to bring back another asset in a future salary dump deal.
Trade #2: GG Jackson to the Dallas Mavericks for two second-round picks (2029 via Chicago, 2030 via Philadelphia)
I need to trim a roster spot, and I was fielding different trades that traded a player for draft capital — or even two-for-one deals. The only tangible offer I had involved GG Jackson, where Dallas came to me offering two second-round picks.
Obviously, I would have preferred not trading him, but it’s better than either waiving someone outright or trading away a player with an asset attached to him.
Trade #3: Tyler Herro, John Konchar and a 2029 second-round pick via Portland to the Chicago Bulls for Josh Giddey and Ayo Dosunmu
So this trade couldn’t legally be done together, so it was processed as two separate transactions. The Bulls came to me about a package revolving around these four players. I saw this as a can’t-miss opportunity.
Starting with Konchar and Dosunmu. For simply giving the Bulls their 2029 second-round pick back, I flipped Konchar into Dosunmu — which you’ll see will help make another move.
The main piece here was Herro for Giddey. Often, you hear teams not want to take on long-term money. However, I saw a different opportunity. Herro would be an expiring contract next season, which would lead to uncomfortable extension conversations. After an All-Star bid last season, will he command a higher AAV than what he has on this contract ($30M)? Meanwhile, Giddey would be locked up for three more years at a flat $25M annually.
Ultimately, the decision-making of a “can’t-miss” opportunity was the advantages it’d created. Giddey is a 6’7” guard that’s an elite rebounder for his position — 8.6 rebounds per game, 23.5 defensive rebounding percentage (falls in the 92nd percentile, per dunksandthrees). He’s a crafty playmaker that leverages his height to read the defense and — 39.9 assist percentage, 9th in the league — and that’s willing to push the pace. He’s improved as a shooter, as he’s been making 37.8 and 36.6 percent of his threes on roughly four attempts per game in each of the past two seasons. These skills create advantages with his size. How many teams are competing on the glass with Zach Edey, Cedric Coward, and Giddey — it alleviates Jaren Jackson Jr.’s biggest weakness? The possessions game matters. At 6’7”, he can play alongside Ty Jerome and Scotty Pippen Jr.
Yeah, the defense isn’t great, and if the shooting isn’t real, it caps the team. However, there are too many advantages and combinations that can be unlocked and dynamic to pass up.
Trade #4: Ayo Dosunmu to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Kenrich Williams and a 2029 second-round pick via Atlanta
Finally, there was a logjam in the guard spot — mainly 1-3 — so I sought one more trade to clear it up for an asset.
I wasn’t going to keep Dosunmu past this season with his contract, so I put him on the trade block to see if someone would bite. I ultimately got offered Kenrich Williams and another second-round pick for Dosunmu. It felt fine, as Williams is a playable forward veteran with a team option next season.
So this is how the depth chart is looking:
Guards: Josh Giddey, Ty Jerome, Scotty Pippen Jr., Cam Spencer, Javon Small (two-way)
Wings: Cedric Coward, Jaylen Wells, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Vince Williams Jr., Jahmai Mashack (two-way)
Forwards: Santi Aldama, Jonathan Isaac, Kenrich Williams, Olivier Maxence-Prosper (two-way)
Bigs: Jaren Jackson Jr., Zach Edey, Jock Landale, Brandon Clarke
Draft Capital
First-round (all own picks + 2 = 9): 2026 (2nd-3rd most favorable of own/ORL/PHX (technically goes to CHA)/WAS, ability to swap least favorable of the picks from their swap with Miami), 2027, 2028, 2029 (ability to swap with Orlando if Magic is 3-30), 2030 (2nd most favorable of own/PHX/WAS, ORL), 2031, 2032
Second-round picks (7 with the 3 “conditionals,” aka protected seconds): 2026 (2), 2029 (2 + conditional), 2030 (1 + conditional), 2031 (1), 2032 (1 + conditional)
With this deadline, I added more positional size with Giddey and Isaac, then an expiring contract with Williams. I didn’t fully blow up the team, but I feel the optionality to continue the retool or asset accumulation — roughly $34M in expiring contracts between Clarke and Caldwell-Pope, $7M team option with Williams, and only $8M guaranteed with Isaac.
Ultimately, in this fake scenario, I constructed a team where I added a jumbo playmaker that could complement Edey and Coward for the longer term — and in this construction, he fits with Jaren Jackson Jr. too. Again, the mission with the trade was to amplify the possessions game and scale up with size. Imagine the size in a hypothetical Giddey-Wells-Coward-Jackson-Edey lineup, or even if you swap one of Jackson and Edey with Aldama. There’s no size really sacrificed if I want to level up the playmaking and play Giddey, Jerome, and Pippen together.
I cleaned up the roster with up to three players — Landale, Kenrich Williams, and Jonathan Isaac — that could enter free agency next season.
It was a fun exercise — wish I can see this play out. Thank you to Steven Bagell and the team over at Center Hub for including me in this.
Let me stress, this is a fun — even if far-fetched — hypothetical, where more than anything I wanted to harp on the process rather than the actual moves.
Let me know what you think!
NBA 2026 Trade Deadline Primer
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