The Orlando Magic and Memphis Grizzlies have agreed upon a trade which sends backup point guard Luke Ridnour to Memphis as first reported by Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski:
The Orlando Magic has agreed to trade guard Luke Ridnour to the Memphis Grizzlies, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 24, 2015
The Grizz will send Orlando the rights to their 2013 second round pick, Janis Timma. Timma is currently playing his basketball overseas in the Latvian Basketball League. Not the biggest names in the league were exchanged but it is still a trade of two decent players nonetheless. Ridnour is a trusty veteran who can play the backup point guard role nicely. However, now this does leave a hole in Orlando’s second unit at the point guard position. They do have an excellent young stud at the starting spot in Elfrid Payton. The departure of Ridnour may result in more minutes for starting shooting guard Victor Oladipo at point guard whenever Payton needs a breather. Maybe even veteran Ben Gordon can work himself back into the Magic rotation.
For Memphis, they receive help at the backup point guard position where Luke Ridnour could provide insurance to star Mike Conley. Conley did have some injury issues in last year’s postseason so maybe Memphis still have some lingering doubts about that. Even if that was what the Grizz were concerned about, the move is sort of a head scratcher from both sides. Memphis really didn’t need another reserve point guard as they already had the very serviceable Beno Udrih and behind him Nick Calathes performed decently in limited playing time. Not only that but they have former Louisville star point guard Russ Smith still on the roster. For Orlando, as mentioned before, they now lack a dependable point guard off the bench.
The trade could help Orlando down the road as Janis Timma may develop into a decent NBA player in a couple years given he works on his craft. For Memphis this may have been either just an addition of a perimeter shooter or the acquisition of a trade chip as the draft and free agency are soon upon us.
