GREEN & WHITE BASKETBALL

Memphis Grizzlies trade Deyonta Davis, Ben McLemore to Sacramento Kings

Peter Edmiston
The Commercial Appeal
Memphis Grizzlies' Deyonta Davis shoots in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Monday, April 9, 2018, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

It didn't take the Memphis Grizzlies long to move on from disappointments in the past two summers.

The Grizzlies will send center Deyonta Davis and guard Ben McLemore to the Sacramento Kings for veteran wing Garrett Temple, a league source confirmed to the Commercial Appeal.  

The Grizzlies will also send a 2021 second round pick along with cash considerations to Sacramento to complete the deal.

Davis, a former Michigan State player, was picked with the 31st pick in the 2016 NBA draft. The team was initially enamored with his potential to block shots, dive to the basket and finish, and be an athletic modern center. That potential never became performance, and an indifferent 2018 Summer League campaign sealed his fate with the organization. 

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McLemore was signed to a 2-year, $10.7 million contract last summer but disappointed greatly in his initial season with the Grizzlies. He struggled on both ends of the floor and found himself on the outside of the Grizzlies rotation looking in. 

Temple was considered a leader and a stabilizing force in a chaotic Kings setup. He held the young players there accountable publicly and privately, and his leadership extends to the Players' Association as well, where he's in year two of a term as a Vice President. The Grizzlies want quality veterans around their young players, and Temple joins Mike Conley, Marc Gasol, and others in what appears to be a solid Grizzlies locker room. 

On the court, Temple is a 39 percent outside shooter and a high IQ player who can help improve ball and player movement. 

The Grizzlies absorb a little more salary in the deal but are still around a million dollars under the $123.7 million luxury tax level. They also bring their roster down to 15 players, the NBA limit for a team's roster size in the regular season.