The Memphis Grizzlies are in a good spot right now with a 25-10 record and the No. 3 spot in the Western Conference, but in their loaded conference no team can rest on its laurels. According to reports, the Grizzlies are looking to upgrade on the wing.
League sources have the Grizzlies pursuing Luol Deng of the Miami Heat and Jeff Green of the Boston Celtics as an injection of offense along the perimeter. While Memphis' big man duo of Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph can bruise defenses inside as well as any tandem, sometimes the Grizzlies' lack of punch outside can cost them.
Wednesday night's loss to the Atlanta Hawks as a prime example of this. They lost 96-86 in Atlanta, with Courtney Lee and Tony Allen combining for just 17 points on 7-of-17 shooting.
While Deng is the bigger name than Green, it's unclear if the Heat are willing to blow up their team already. Deng was signed this summer to a two-year deal worth just less than $20 million, and although the Heat have stumbled to a 15-20 record this year, they've battled injuries to both Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
Deng is having a good season, averaging 14.3 points on 50 percent shooting to go with 4.8 rebounds. He has also shot 36 percent from beyond the arc.
Green is likely more attainable than Deng. While he's averaging more points a night he has done it by taking more shots than Deng and shooting 43 percent. He's hitting 30.5 percent of his 3-pointers this year, and overall is not the player that Deng is.
The Celtics are in full rebuild mode however, and are more likely to move a veteran like Green who doesn't figure to be part of their nucleus going forward.
[ESPN]
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