Grizzlies to Make Run at Raptors’ OG Anunoby?

Raptors forward OG Anunoby is undoubtedly drawing interest ahead of the Feb. 9 trade deadline, already being linked to the Suns and several others.

But could the Western Conference-contending Grizzlies make a run at him, too? That seems to be the question, as a few rival executives expressed to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

“There’s been some speculation from a few rival executives that the Memphis Grizzlies could make a run at OG Anunoby, given their surplus of draft picks in the years to come,” Scotto said on the HoopsHype podcast, where he was joined by Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.

Anunoby is currently sidelined with a wrist sprain, but that won’t keep opposing teams from pursuing him.

The Raptors are considered one of the trade deadline’s great mysteries, as it’s hard to know whether they will be buyers are sellers — with just a little more than a week to go. Per Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report, some of the players would welcome a trade. (Full post.)

Anunoby may or may not be one, but he is certainly considered one of the league’s rising two-way players, averaging 16.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and a career-high 2.1 steals in 45 games.

Depending on what the Grizzlies would have to give up, he could be the type of underrated wing to put them over the top.

“Show me the lineup in the league that he can’t fit in,” Murphy said. “With some of the metrics out there, he consistently ranks as one of, if not the most, versatile defender in the NBA. He can guard a ball-dominant guard in James Harden and then switch off and guard Joel Embiid in the same possession. He finishes at the rim at almost a 70 percent clip and is a career 37 percent three-point shooter.”

Of course, at this point, all of it seems like mere speculation. Truthfully, though, nearly everything is at this time of year.