This seems short-sighted.

The first thing that needs to be understood is that Tyus Jones AND Dillon Brooks wERE going to leave whether traded or not. Tyus was going to leave because there were any number of teams in larger markets who were going to give him the starter spot. I don’t know why people on this sub are under the delusion that an NBA player is going to want to come off the bench for most of his career when there are teams who want to make him a starter.

As for DB, I’ve said it before: he saw the writing on the wall in terms of his place in the pecking order of offensive weapons. On a team with Ja, Bane, Trip, Luke, Santi, etc, he’s not going to be the first or the second option or even the third or fourth. He wanted more money and the Grizzlies were never going to pay what he wanted when he was offensive option-4 in the starting 5 (and if we had a center with an even slightly more robust offensive toolkit, Dillon would have been option 5).

Long term, Smart will prove to be a great fit for the Grizzlies. There’s a desire to want to blame someone, ANYone when the losses are pouring in. Coach. The newest addition to the team. The suspended superstar. The 2 & 3 of the “Big Three” who really ought to be able to carry the team if you think about it (KD and DBook certainly don’t feel like they can’t carry the Suns to a win). We want to lay the blame on someone. That’s natural. It’ll take time for him to gel. Longer because he’ll have to adjust to Ja when he comes back. But it’ll happen. Celtics fans loved Smart and not because they just don’t know any better. He’s an excellent player.