The Minnesota Timberwolves need to get better on defense. The Memphis Grizzlies have to improve offensively. This is what makes the Chase Budinger for Tony Allen trade seem like something worth pulling the trigger on, but as always, things are never that simple.
The Timberwolves are locked in for at least this and next season with Nikola Pekovic and Kevin Love, not exactly the best duo when it comes to rim protection. That is why adding Tony Allen to the mix, or anyone who is considered as a perimeter stopper seems like a crucial addition for the Minnesota Timberwolves to make. They probably won’t get to the playoffs this season, but it’s hard to see them being able to hang on to Love and Rubio if they miss it again next year.
The Grizzlies are still in the hunt for a playoff spot, making up for lost time after Marc Gasol came back, and getting plenty of help from Courtney Lee after acquiring him from the Boston Celtics. But is it enough? Probably not, so they’re looking how to improve offensively. Is Budinger enough? He is averaging 6.1 points in 17.7 minutes a night, and is the kind of player that can get hot pretty quickly, and is usually a very good outside shooter. This season he’s at 35% from beyond the arc.
In terms of their deals, it makes sense. Budinger is making $5 million a season and has a deal that expires in 2016. Tony Allen makes on average the same thing through the 2016-2017 season. But the Grizzlies want to make the deal more complicated according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
Not just Allen, but they want to include that bad Tayshaun Prince contract in there as well, which is for $7.2 million this season and $7.7 million in the next one, while get the Timberwolves to give up on J.J. Barea. Once again, this is a defense for offense kind of move that seems to work for both teams financially and professionally.
Will it happen? This is actually a deal that should make both teams better somewhat deleting some of their weaknesses. From all of the trade proposals going around, this one makes the most sense, and likeliest to actually be finished by the time the deadline arrives.