We had the rumor earlier today, but the Grizzlies and Rockets made it happen. Here’s the final deal: Houston sends Shane Battier and Ish Smith to Memphis for Hasheem Thabeet and a first-round pick. According to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein, the Rockets went deep in talks with Philly on a Battier for Marreese Speights and Jason Kapono deal, but ended up choosing Thabeet instead.
What this deal means for both teams is such: Memphis gets security at the small forward position for Rudy Gay, while Houston gets a young big man to play alongside Luis Scola in the presumable post-Yao Ming era.
What do you think? Would you have made this trade?
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