NBA Daily: Trade Watch – Southwest Division

The NBA transaction wire has been a quiet one this season. The early season trade of Jimmy Butler notwithstanding, there has been little movement outside of the occasional waiver claim or short-term contract.

With the Feb. 7 trade deadline fast approaching on the horizon, however, that could change rather quickly.

The rumor mill has already begun to churn and, as it does almost every season, expect the chatter to pick up even further as the calendar passes from January to February. Basketball Insiders has already looked at the potential trade prospects of the Central, Northwest and Atlantic Divisions. Today, we continue with the Southwest.

Memphis Grizzlies

Grit n’ Grind may officially come to an end in 2019.

The Memphis Grizzlies have made it known that they are ready to move on from cornerstones Mike Conley and Marc Gasol. At 19-29 and 14th in the Western Conference, there may not be a better time to do so either.

Despite the presence of Jaren Jackson Jr. and Dillon Brooks, the Grizzlies have a long rebuild ahead of them, and the cupboard, outside of those two, is relatively barren. Moving on from Conley and Gasol may be the best chance they have to take back some blue-chip assets, whether they be young players, draft picks, or some combination of the two. But why stop there? With their two best players on their way out, a total tear down may be in order for the Grizzlies. The team has a number of other players — JaMychal Green, Kyle Anderson, Justin Holiday, Garret Temple, etc. — that could help a contender and, while they may not bring back the return that Conely or Gasol could, any asset is a good asset at the start of a rebuild.

Meanwhile, Chandler Parsons is another decision entirely; his contract is an albatross and, having not played since October, there is almost no incentive for a team to take him on. If they don’t manage to find a taker and they do, in fact, clean house, giving Parsons some playing time to build value for an eventual offseason trade wouldn’t be the worst decision.

Dallas Mavericks

Despite some early-season promise, the Dallas Mavericks have found themselves once again near the bottom of the standings.

Rumors swirled around second-year point guard Dennis Smith Jr. for a time, but those seem to have subsided. Still, the Mavericks have plenty of pieces that could appear attractive to a playoff contender.

Chief among them? Wesley Matthews.

Matthews has played an important role in Dallas during his four seasons with the team. His on-court contributions speak for themselves — Matthews has averaged 13.3 points and 2.4 assists per game to go along with a 38.3 three-point percentage — but the veteran has played an even greater role in the locker room in recent years as the team has turned to its youth. So, for any team looking for a consistent contributor and or veteran presence to boost their postseason prospects, Matthews would seemingly fit the bill.

There are a number of other pieces that the Mavericks could look to move as well, including Harrison Barnes and DeAndre Jordan.

New Orleans Pelicans

The New Orleans Pelicans are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

They can almost certainly hear the chatter around Anthony Davis; it would be hard not to after years of outside speculation and rumors. But, so far, they have done nothing to address the issue. With Davis’ potential free agency just two short seasons away, the Pelicans either need to win now or get maximum value on their best asset.

They haven’t done much of either.

In public spaces, the front office has remained adamant that Davis will remain in New Orleans. However, despite a solid roster around him, the team has limped to a 22-27 record, good for 12th in the Western Conference. How long can they hold out before they pull the plug?

If the Pelicans hope to have any chance of retaining Davis’ services in the near future, they need to hit a trade deadline home run; a big name acquisition such as Bradley Beal or Mike Conley that would turn their season around and, at the very least, get them back in the playoff picture. Anything short of that, or should the Pelicans even decide to strip down the roster, and fans could be watching the last days of Davis in New Orleans.

San Antonio Spurs

With Kawhi Leonard gone, they may no longer find themselves among the NBA elite, but the San Antonio Spurs are still one of the toughest outs in the Association. At 27-22, San Antonio has found themselves at the six spot in the Western Conference, just 7.5 games between them and the first place Golden State Warriors.

With a trade-spurned DeMar DeRozan and resurgent LaMarcus Aldridge leading the charge — to go along with a host of other talented contributors behind them — the Spurs have more than held their own this season. Still, if San Antonio wants to climb the latter further or maintain their playoff standing, they’re going to need some help.

They should start in the frontcourt.

The Spurs have a nice stable of wings at their disposal, but their big man depth leaves a bit to be desired. Aldridge has had an outstanding season, but Pau Gasol has been a negative in his short amount of time on the floor this season and Jakob Poeltl is still a bit too raw to be relied upon on a consistent basis. There are, however, a number of bigs that could be had by the Spurs for the right price, including Robin Lopez, Tristan Thompson, Derrick Favors or, if they want to make a big splash, the other Gasol.

Houston Rockets

Behind a superhuman effort from James Harden, the Houston Rockets have managed to turn around their early season misfortunes.

Harden has looked even better than his MVP self a season ago — Harden has averaged 36.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 2.1 steals per game and a 40.6 percent usage rate — despite the lack of quality pieces around him. Chris Paul has missed the Rockets’ last 16 games (and counting) with a strained hamstring, Clint Capela will miss significant time after he required surgery on a torn ligament in his thumb and Eric Gordon missed eight games with a knee injury.

The Rockets have made some key additions over the course of the season. While they have run into contract troubles, Danuel House provided a spark for the team when they desperately needed it, Austin Rivers has proved a capable contributor in Paul’s absence and the team recently acquired Kenneth Faried from the Brooklyn Nets in order to bolster the Capela-deprived frontcourt.

So, what else can the Rockets do? Clean up their cap situation.

Brandon Knight, who recently returned from an infection that followed surgery on a torn ACL that cost him the entire 2017-18 season, has been less than impressive in his short floor stints. Even worse, Knight is set to make more than $15 million next season, in a situation where he won’t be able to find much playing time on a consistent basis.

Offloading Knight’s contract is not only sensible, but it would allow Daryl Morey and the front office a bit of breathing room should they look to tinker with the roster further come buyout season.

The next few weeks could be very interesting for the NBA. As the trade deadline approaches, teams will have to decide if they are contenders or pretenders and whether or not to buy or sell accordingly. And those decisions could have major implications come playoff time.

Keep on the lookout for the rest of our NBA Trade Watch series.