With Nick Calathes entering restricted free agency, the Memphis Grizzlies shored up their depth at the point guard position by acquiring Luke Ridnour from the Orlando Magic. The Grizzlies traded away the rights to 2013 second round pick Janis Timma. Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the trade.
Ridnour will be turning 35 next season and is on the tail end of his career (4 ppg, 2 apg in 14 minutes last season) but he is a capable backup guard. According to Woj, Ridnour "could be used again as a trading chip with the NBA draft and free agency approaching." If the Grizzlies decided to keep Ridnour, he will be insurance in case Calathes leaves in free-agency. Beno Udrih is the other backup point guard on the Grizzlies. He is coming off minor ankle surgery but should be healthy by the time training camp starts.
For the Magic, Ridnour was obviously not a long term solution to backup Elfrid Peyton. They save some money (about $2.7 million in cap space) in the trade and now have room to sign or acquire a better backup point guard.
