Memphis Grizzlies Look to Marreese Speights to Fill in for the Time Being

The Memphis Grizzlies added former Philadelphia 76ers big man Marreese Speights in a three-team trade that also involved the New Orleans Hornets. The Grizzlies acquired Speights from the 76ers, while the Hornets received Xavier Henry from Memphis, as the 76ers received a 2012 second-round draft pick from Memphis and a 2013 second-round draft pick from New Orleans.

As a member of the Philadelphia 76ers since they selected him out of the University of Florida in the 2008 NBA Draft, Speights had a pretty active role in the offense during the first two years in Philadelphia. He averaged a career-high 8.6 points and 4.1 rebounds during the 2009-10 NBA season before he saw his playing time decrease and become somewhat inconsistent.

The Grizzlies are hoping that the newly signed Dante Cunningham and Marreese Speights can hold down the fort while Zach Randolph recovers from his knee injury, having already lost forward Darrell Arthur for the entire season. He and Randolph were the major factors in helping the team make a playoff run that ended in a seven-game series against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The 76ers appear to be on the verge of making changes as new ownership has come into the picture. Also Spencer Hawes has been quite impressive early this season as the team looks to do some more tweaking possibly in time for the summer of 2012.

It will be interesting to see how Speights finds his way in Memphis. He is a rebounder and a decent shooter which should help the Grizzlies especially in the front court as he can help out Marc Gasol in this shortened NBA season.