The NBA’s moratorium ends Monday, July 6, and once that happens, the Memphis Grizzlies can finally put two more offseason moves on the books.
One of them brings Isaiah Stewart to Memphis. The Grizzlies reached a deal with the Pistons during the second round of the 2026 NBA Draft on June 24, sending Detroit three second-round picks in exchange for the 25-year-old big man, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. Stewart is expected to step into a major bench role as Zach Edey’s top backup at center, giving Memphis a rugged interior presence with rim protection, mobility for a 6-8 frontcourt player and some floor-stretching upside on offense.
The path to Stewart was a little more complicated than a straight pick swap. Memphis had already made a separate draft-night deal with Detroit on June 23, moving the 17th pick it had just picked up from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Pistons in exchange for the 21st pick and three second-rounders.
The Grizzlies then sent those same three second-rounders back to Detroit to land Stewart, turning that sequence into a broader draft haul that also brought in New Zealand Breakers wing Karim Lopez. In the end, Memphis essentially turned No. 17, used on Ebuka Okorie, into Stewart and Lopez.
Stewart has two years left on his contract and is set to make $15 million in each of those seasons.
Memphis also has another trade waiting to become official: Santi Aldama is headed to Dallas. The Grizzlies sent the 7-0 combo forward to the Mavericks for guard AJ Johnson, a 2030 top-20 protected first-round pick via Golden State and two second-round picks, per Charania.
That move also keeps Memphis’ $29 million traded player exception from the Jaren Jackson Jr. trade in February fully intact. Without moving Aldama, earlier offseason transactions would have eaten into that flexibility.
Johnson is 21 and stands 6-5. He’ll be on his fourth team entering his fourth NBA season after being drafted 23rd overall by Milwaukee in 2023, a selection that drew heavy criticism at the time. He came into the league as a developmental project, and so far he hasn’t shown much promise.
The draft assets Memphis picked up in the Aldama deal are not expected to be especially valuable. The first-rounder is protected, and the source material notes that it likely won’t convey, with Steph Curry and Draymond Green possibly retired by 2030 and leaving Golden State in the top 20 of the draft.
Once the moratorium lifts and both trades are official, Memphis will have a much clearer read on its roster and asset picture as the offseason moves forward.
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Grizzlies Just Sent A Clear Message About Who Matters Next
The Grizzlies took a different look in their third Salt Lake City Summer League game on July 7, choosing to rest several players who had handled the first two outings and giving the finale a more experimental feel. Memphis still had enough firepower to stay competitive for stretches, but the rotation shift made the night feel less about the scoreboard and more about which pieces the organization wanted to protect and evaluate next.
Memphis fell to the Hawks 96-82, with Brendan Hausen providing the scoring punch, while Taylor Hendricks returned after sitting out the previous game because of injury. The bigger picture now turns to Las Vegas, where the Grizzlies are expected to get their rested players back and continue sorting out who is actually part of the next wave. [Read more 🡒]
Grizzlies Fans Have One Big Question About Memphis Latest Trade
Khris Middletons move to Washington is only part of a sprawling sign-and-trade that has tied together the Wizards, Mavericks, Grizzlies, Pistons, Clippers and Bucks, and Memphis is right in the middle of it. For Grizzlies fans, the headline is less about where Middleton ended up and more about what the team chose to take back in the shuffle, since the franchise used a complicated multi-team deal to add another layer to its offseason work.
The real question now is how Memphis plans to handle the incoming guard piece and the draft capital attached to the trade. The Grizzlies have been active in reshaping the roster around their core, and this kind of move usually signals flexibility as much as it does a clear long-term fit, which is why the next step here matters almost as much as the trade itself. [Read more 🡒]
Grizzlies Just Made Their Riskiest Frontcourt Bet Yet
The frontcourt shuffle in Memphis took another turn after the Grizzlies sent Santi Aldama to Dallas in a deal that brought back AJ Johnson, a protected 2030 first-round pick and two future second-round picks, along with the draft rights to EuroLeague forward Tarik Biberovi going to the Mavericks. Aldama had become a useful piece for Memphis before a knee injury interrupted his momentum, and moving him now signals the Grizzlies are willing to rework that part of the roster rather than simply wait for it to heal itself.
Quinten Post is the next name to watch, with Memphis moving quickly to a three-year offer sheet for the restricted free agent. Golden State now has the chance to decide whether to keep him, and that waiting period leaves the Grizzlies in a familiar spot for a team trying to patch together size and spacing on the fly. If the Warriors pass, Memphis may have found a way to soften the blow of losing Aldama. If they do not, the risk in this frontcourt bet gets even harder to ignore. [Read more 🡒]