In the midst of a three-team trade that has been leaked every which way short of becoming official, the Memphis Grizzlies got some internal business taken care of by agreeing to a three-year, $35 million contract extension with Dillon Brooks, the team announced on Wednesday.
Brooks, who is making $1.6 million this season, was set to become a restricted free agent this summer. With how well he's played this season, the Grizzlies likely didn't want to mess with matching whatever offers he might get on the open market, while Brooks secures the type of long-term security most second-round picks never realize.
You might recall, Brooks was almost accidentally traded in December of 2018 as part of a three-team deal with Washington and Phoenix, only for the Grizzlies to pull out because they thought they were trading Marshon Brooks, while the Suns believed Dillon was the Brooks they were getting. It all worked out for Dillon, who stayed in Memphis and is now getting paid. Marshon is now playing in China.
On Wednesday night, it surfaced that the Grizzlies are again figuring heavily into some trade madness, reportedly agreeing to send Andre Iguodala to the Miami Heat. Who is coming back to the Grizzlies has not been made official; word is the Heat are trying to expand it into a three-team deal with OKC to also land Danilo Gallinari.
It has been widely reported that Justise Winslow is the main piece going from Miami to Memphis, and Brooks, who has been vocal in his criticism of Iguodala electing not to play for the Grizzlies this season even though he's under contract, took another obvious shot at Iguodala when asked what he thinks about Winslow coming to town.
"Now we have a player that we're getting that actually wants to play with us and thinks we're good," Brooks told reporters.
It's hard to blame Brooks, or any of the the other Grizzlies who've spoken out, for taking offense to Iguodala's refusal to play for them. There's likely more to the story than what the players know, like things that were agreed upon before Iguodala was dealt from Golden State in the first place, but on the surface it simply looks like Iguodala wants to play for a team worth his time at this point in his career, and Memphis didn't make the cut.
Brooks and the Grizzlies are clearly emboldened by the surprising success they've had on their own. Through Wednesday, they have a three-game lead over the Blazers for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, and the play of Brooks, alongside rookie sensation Ja Morant and sophomore stud Jaren Jackson Jr., has a lot to do with that.
