Valid excuses abound in Memphis. Ja Morant has yet to finish serving his 25-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the league, and the Grizzlies are laboring through an avalanche of other notable absences.

Flirting with the worst record in the Western Conference is still a letdown. This team's depth was supposed to help it tread water while awaiting Morant's return—even without Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke.

Memphis has the assets to take another big swing. But it's tough to go all-in without seeing how (or if) the on-court product normalizes with Morant.

Plugging the Adams-sized hole up front without depleting the team's asset stores is the way to go for now. Drummond does that in ways Bismack Biyombo and Xavier Tillman. do not. He brings more size and heft, much to the delight of Jaren Jackson Jr.'s defensive workload, and is an offensive-rebounding dynamo.

Drummond is boarding over 20 percent of Chicago's misses at the moment (a career-high). The Grizzlies will have to stomach more freelancing in the post and hair-pulling decisions from him than they do with Adams or any other big on the roster, but he's worth the trouble relative to current alternatives. And getting his Early Bird rights is good insurance against Adams and Tillman hitting the open market this summer.

The Bulls might flinch at taking on Konchar, who begins a three-year, $18.5 million extension next season. But he can bump up their three-point volume if Billy Donovan plays him. More critically, they appear headed toward a wholesale dissolution this season or over the summer. Capitalizing on Drummond's play so far before he hits free agency would be good asset management—for a change.