Report: Grizzlies players think Jimmy Butler can be ‘OG that they need’ but would also like Udonis Haslem-type vet

After the Memphis Grizzlies’ 2023-24 campaign was plagued by injuries and losing, the team has arguably regained its status as a contender in the Western Conference this season.

With more than half of their 82-game slate in the books, the Grizzlies own the third-best record in the West at 29-15. Memphis’ depth has been key to the team’s success to this point, as a whopping 11 players are averaging 18-plus minutes of playing time per contest.

However, none of those players are older than 30 years old, so Memphis could perhaps use some additional veteran leadership. According to Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson, players on the Grizzlies would welcome Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler with open arms.

“Memphis Grizzlies players would welcome Jimmy Butler with open arms is what someone in the know on the Grizzlies side of things shared with me by phone,” Robinson wrote on X.

“‘His leadership and his presence as a winner would be refreshing.’

“The belief is that if Butler were to find his way via trade to Memphis, the starting point for Memphis would be a package that included Jaylen Wells & Marcus Smart.”

Robinson later wrote that while players on the Grizzlies would seemingly welcome Butler, they would also want another veteran to be added, someone who is “Udonis Haslem-like.”

“Good Morning: Also meant to tell you (since you believe me now because somebody at a network validated me…shame) that players on the Grizzlies believe that if Jimmy Butler were to come to Memphis he wouldn’t be the only vet on that team & they’d need reinforcements,” Robinson wrote on X. “The team I’m told believes that he’s tough and can be the OG that they need but they’d like to add one more vet that is Udonis Haslem-like to the fold.”

The reporting from Robinson is interesting because NBA insider Marc J. Spears recently reported that Butler is open to being traded anywhere except for Memphis.

However, that seemingly isn’t stopping the Grizzlies from “lurking” in Butler trade talks.

“The Grizzlies are lurking in Butler trade talks, sources said, and have been in contact with the Heat during the process,” wrote ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst. “Rival league executives believe Memphis is trying to combine a talent influx with offloading some future salary so it can facilitate a contract extension for Jaren Jackson Jr. as early as this summer.

“Butler, meanwhile, has made it known that he could opt out of his contract this summer and seek free agency. Sources have theorized that if the Grizzlies can acquire him for a playoff run and also free cap space this summer, that’s where their interests might lie.”

It’s unclear at this time what exactly is Butler’s rationale for not wanting to join the Grizzlies. He might have a better chance of making a deep playoff run in Memphis than he would if he stuck around in Miami. The Grizzlies also compete with a level of grit that would appear to fit Butler’s style of play.

If Butler, for whatever reason, changes his mind regarding the Grizzlies as a trade destination and ends up getting dealt there, he would be the team’s oldest player by a wide margin. Smart is currently the oldest player on the roster, and he’s only 30. Butler, on the other hand, turned 35 back in September.

Of course, even if Butler remains uninterested in being traded to Memphis, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Miami won’t send him there.

The next game on Miami’s schedule is a matchup against the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday, but Butler will not play in that contest. He still has one game left to serve on a two-game suspension that the Heat handed him recently.