On Thursday night, the Memphis Grizzlies completed a trade, sending center Steven Adams to the Houston Rockets in exchange for guard Victor Oladipo and three draft picks.
Both Adams and Oladipo have been sidelined this season due to injuries. The Grizzlies officially announced the deal late Thursday night, revealing that they acquired three second-round draft picks from the Rockets as part of the trade. ESPN reported that two of these picks will be in the upcoming year’s draft, while the third one is slated for 2025.
Adams, the 12th overall pick in the 2013 draft out of Pittsburgh, had played two seasons with the Grizzlies before a knee injury sidelined him last season. He underwent surgery on his right knee just before the start of this season and is expected to miss the entire current season. However, he is anticipated to be ready for play in the next season. During his time with the Grizzlies, Adams averaged 8.6 points and 11.5 rebounds, including an impressive 5.1 average in offensive rebounds. Prior to his stint with Memphis, he played seven seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder and one with the New Orleans Pelicans.
As for Oladipo, who has also faced injury challenges, he boasts a career average of 16.9 points per game since being selected out of Indiana as the second overall pick in the 2013 draft. Although his scoring average has declined over the last three years, his standout season was in 2017-18 when he averaged 23.1 points with Indiana, along with 4.3 assists and 2.4 steals per game.