NBA: Analysis of the trade between the Heat and the Grizzlies starring Mario Chalmers
The trade
Late on Tuesday, the Miami Heat announced that veteran guard Mario Chalmers along with forward James Ennis will be shipped to Memphis in exchange for the services of the Grizzlies’ back-up Beno Udrih and Jarnell Stokes. Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski was among the first to report the trade after ESPN’s Marc Stein had put this trade up on the rumor bulletin about 10 days back.
This deal is the first in-season trade of the 2015-16 NBA season.
Positives for Miami Heat:
From the Miami Heat’s perspective this is most definitely a cost-cutting move to dip their roster’s payroll below the luxury tax line of 84.54 million dollars. If the franchise fails to reduce its current pay roll under the luxury tax line, it will become a repeater tax team having crossed the tax line four of the last five seasons. Being a repeater team, the increased tax rate will mean that Miami will have to cash in a heavier cheque to the league’s name at the end of the season.
"This is a tough day for myself and the organization in trading Mario Chalmers and James Ennis," Heat president Pat Riley said in a team statement. "Mario was a part of two championships with us, and Ennis is a solid young player, but it is part of the business, and it was a move necessary to make because of our crowded backcourt. We feel that it is in the best interest of Mario, and we want him to be successful and be a part of a good team. We wish them nothing but the best."
Chalmers salary takes up about 4.5 million dollars in the Miami Heat’s books however after the tax additions this trade will release upto 6 million in total for the team. Despite the pure business motive behind the trade, Chalmers was very proffessional when he took to social media regarding his trade:
It has been a tremendous honor and privilege to be a part of the Miami Heat championship family for more than ... https://t.co/HvhnWKjrQN
— Mario Chalmers (@mchalmers15) November 11, 2015
The move to ship Chalmers wasn’t all business, it had a lot of basketball reasons to it as well. Comparing the stats of Udrih and Chalmers, we realize that the former pretty much does the same things as the latter except with a better shooting percentage and at half the salary of just 2.1 million.
| 2015-16 Season | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Field Goal % | 3-Point 5 |
| Mario Chalmers | 5.5 | 2.3 | 3.2 | 31.3% | 9.1% |
| Beno Udrih | 5.9 | 1.1 | 3.3 | 43.5% | 36.4% |
Replacing Chalmers with Udrih in the rotation is one way of looking at it. However what really makes the trade cost cutting for the Heat is if they waive one or both players they have acquired, allowing young point guard Tyler Johnson, who the Miami franchise love, to become a more important part of the rotation. League sources told ESPN.com that the Heat requested for more time after the framework of the deal had been decided, in order to recruit a third team in the trade that would absorb Udrih’s contract. No team joined the deal which culminated in the official release of this trade, which had been in talks since the beginning of November.
With the trade, comes to an end the Mario Chalmers era in Miami, who acquired him as the 34th pick in the 2008 NBA Draft from the Minnesota Timberwolves. The highlight of his career at Miami would be playing the role of starting point guard alongside LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh during the Big 3 era. Chalmers is currently on the second year of his contract that he signed in the summer of 2014.
Positives for the Memphis Grizzlies:
The Heat are positioned to gain much morefrom this deal than the Grizzlies do. Although he might be struggling from beyond arc in the ongoing season, Chalmers is a respectable 36% shooting from beyond the arc for his career, which is what Memphis want from him. The team is hoping that he will find his rhythm eventually and can help the Grizzlies address their three point shooting or lack there of.
Chalmers also becomes a more dependable and formidable back-up point guard to Mike Conley as compared to Udrih for the team. Not to mention the added defense he brings along with his length for the point guard position. If given the right amount of minutes, surely Chalmers should be a good fit in Memphis for the Grizzlies.