After that 12-2 start, the Grizzlies went 17-13 before the Gay trade. What these critics don't take account is that the Grizzlies, who were overachieving in their hot start, have cooled off quite a bit since. The Memphis Grizzlies, a contending team, traded away the deal's best player for reasons that were mostly financial. In some respects, the critics of the trade were right. Not finished there, the Grizzlies then sent Calderon to the Detroit Pistons for Austin Daye and Tayshaun Prince.
Memphis sent Gay and backup center Hammed Haddadi to the Toronto Raptors for forward Ed Davis, guard Jose Calderon and a second round pick in the 2013 Draft. The Grizzlies, despite being serious contenders in the Western Conference, traded away one of their biggest scoring threats in Gay for reasons that were at least as much about money as they were about basketball. If you heard the post-trade analysis, you would have thought that the Memphis Grizzlies had pulled out a full-on Miami Marlins fire sale when they traded Rudy Gay to the Toronto Raptors last week.
