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The Memphis Grizzlies are on the brink of trading Rudy Gay to the Toronto Raptors, and a third mystery team reportedly has entered the fray to take Jose Calderon. You ready for this? From ESPN's Marc Stein on Twitter:
Sources say deal will morph to include third team to take Calderon, w/Detroit at front of line to land Spaniard after chasing him all season
Third team not yet in stone but Pistons have had interest in Calderon all season & have two SFs to help MEM fill Gay void: Prince & Maggette
Can Calderon make Monroe and Drummond stars?
Ha, remember this? Jan. 16: Tay not bothered by rumors
Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski confirms Memphis has interest:
Memphis officials spent day calling around to do background on Detroit's Tayshaun Prince, sources tell Y!
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 30, 2013
Speak of the devil! Our very own Sean Corp proposed virtually the same thing yesterday, except his version included Rodney Stuckey instead of Corey Maggette. Instead of rehashing his logic, let's break out the blockquotes:
Let's think this through logically. We know that the Raptors would love to get their hands on Gay and are fully prepared to part with Jose Calderon to do so. They'd love to unload Andrea Bargnani as well but he is injured and not good at basketball and I just think they're stuck with him. The apple of Toronto's eye is Rudy Gay. I think if he was the only player that came to the Raptors in the deal, Toronto would be satisfied. Memphis might be under the luxury tax but they did some damage to their depth in the process. They are in win-now mode and can't take too much of a step back in terms of the talent they receive if they unload Gay's mega-deal.
Prince takes Gay's spot in the Grizzlies lineup. While he's not as skilled as Gay, he makes half as much over the next three years. He also has playoff experience and still has a good defensive reputation. He also plays a brand of basketball that fits with Memphis' style. The Grizzlies also get Stuckey bolster their bench.
If this actually happens, it has to be the precursor to a second trade, right? Why stockpile Calderon, Brandon Knight, Stuckey and Will Bynum? Stay tuned. In the meantime, now your thoughts.