The machinations of an NBA team can seem mysterious, but sometimes the curtain drops, revealing that these folks are all too human. And that was definitely the case in this three-way deal between Memphis, Phoenix, and Washington that fell apart due to a botched game of telephone and confusion over a last name.
Here's how the deal was supposed to work:
- Wizards would receive Trevor Ariza from Phoenix
- Grizzlies would get Kelly Oubre from Washington
- Suns would get Austin Rivers from Washington and two players from Memphis
Those two players from Memphis were meant to be Wayne Selden and MarShon Brooks. In the cross-talk, however, the Suns ended up believing they were getting another Grizzlies player with the same last name: Dillon Brooks.
Adrian Wojnarowski initially reported the mix-up, saying that the problem was Memphis and Phoenix never spoke to one another directly.
"Deal's suddenly in peril. Memphis and Phoenix didn't communicate directly on trade, using Washington as a conduit in coordinating the 3-team deal, sources tell [ESPN's Zach Lowe] and me," he wrote on Twitter. "Grizzlies believe they were trading MarShon, but somehow Suns believed it was Dillon."
Woj followed up less than five minutes later to say that the deal was off.
Ariza eventually did get dealt, though. On Saturday morning, Suns agreed to send him to Washington in exchange for Austin Rivers and Kelly Oubre.
Wizards are trading Austin Rivers and Kelly Oubre to the Suns, league sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/GmbeUXzZT3
