Tony Allen and Lance Stephenson (Photo : NBAE via Getty Images)
The Memphis Grizzlies are rumored to be ready to deal away Tony Allen, one of the team's core player in the Grit and Grind era, to the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Grizzlies are currently 16-15 and sit at sixth place in the West just one game behind of the Clippers, who holds a record of 16-13.
Inconsistency has been the problem for Memphis this season, which forced head coach Dave Joerger to make the necessary adjustments within the team as he plays Zach Randolph and Allen off the bench.
For the Clippers, their second unit remains the problem for Doc Rivers as they struggle to find consistency halfway through the season.
According to David Aldridge of NBA.com, the Clips, who are all in winning now, lack a starting small forward who can instantly contribute for the team. But he also noted that there are not too many quality wingman available in the trade market.
"Allen, at this stage, is a beauty in the eye of the beholder guy; you can make the argument that he's too old (he's averaging a career-low 5.9 points per game this season for the Grizz and has been DNP-CDed four straight games), or you can argue he's got more than enough tread left on the tires to be the fifth offensive option for the Clips," Aldridge wrote.
Meanwhile, the Grizzlies are desperately in need of outside shooting and backcourt scoring. The Grizz has started the season by trading for Mario Chalmers, but this move has not entirely address Memphis' issues.
With so much struggles clouding over the two teams' campaign, it is only fair to speculate that they need a roster shakeup.
In a proposed deal from Aldridge, the Clippers would not send any of their tradable players, but rather backup point guards CJ Wilcox and Austin Rivers.
However, it is unlikely the Clippers and Rivers would give up his son, who has to agree to get traded because of his one year bird rights.
But the Clippers still have other tradable assets to offer in Jamal Crawford, Lance Stephenson, and Josh Smith. These players could give them valuable key players from other teams.
Crawford looks to be the odd man out, but the Grizzlies would probably be more effective by acquiring Stephenson.
Earlier this month, the Clips try to gauge the value that Stephenson would get if traded, according to Marc J Spears of Yahoo Sports.
But Spears also cited an NBA executive that claimed "there is not much of a market" for Stephenson and "won't get back much" in trading him.
Tom West of Clipperholics listed down the reasons why Rivers and the Clips may trade Stephenson before the deadline.
"There may be no concrete evidence that Doc will actually trade Stephenson soon, but we've certainly been given plenty of indication that he is far from being one of the most valued players on the Clippers roster," West noted.
Nevertheless, ESPN's trade machine approved a trade of Allen and Matt Barnes for Stephenson.
While this type of deal is purely based from speculations, it is realistic that the Clippers are missing Barnes in their rotation. Adding in Allen would give them an elite defensive wing man who could complement in the team's plethora of offensive-type players. Barnes would then be the Clippers' much-needed three-and-D guy.
For the Grizzlies, Stephenson would give the team another scorer at the three position, although his contract would be too risky for Memphis, who plans to retain star point guard Mike Conley in next year's free agency.
