Trade grade: Memphis Grizzlies acquire Jordan Hawkins from New Orleans Pelicans

The Memphis Grizzlies have acquired guard Jordan Hawkins, guard Micah Peavy, a future second-round pick and a future second-round pick swap for guard AJ Johnson and forward Taj Gibson, ESPN's Shams Charania reported on Tuesday.

The New Orleans Pelicans are trading Jordan Hawkins, Micah Peavy, a future second-round pick and a future second-round pick swap to the Memphis Grizzlies for AJ Johnson and Taj Gibson, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/JLvDjv9clc
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 8, 2026

The Grizzlies have reportedly been interested in Hawkins since July, and Zach Kleiman has finally made the trade months later. According to Marc Stein, Johnson's contract being able to be aggregated is a reason that the trade happened at this point of the offseason.

Reported July 23 below that New Orleans was working to trade Jordan Hawkins to Memphis.

Now that AJ Johnson’s contract can be aggregated that trade finally happens today and will provide the Pels nearly $6 million in savings to proceed with the addition of Bennedict Mathurin. https://t.co/aOlemQrQ9A
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) September 8, 2026

Grizzlies grade: A-

In the grand scheme of things, this is not some groundbreaking trade. However, Memphis essentially got all of the assets from New Orleans for free. Johnson and Gibson were obviously not going to be part of the Grizzlies' plans for this season. It is not guaranteed that Hawkins or Peavy will make the team, but the Grizzlies basically added the two players, a pick, and a swap for free.

Hawkins is entering his fourth season in the NBA, coming off a year in which he played in 51 games, averaging just 5.1 points per game. He averaged 10.8 points per game in 2024-25 in 56 games and shot 33.1 percent from three. Hawkins' best three-point shooting season was in 2023-24, when he shot 36.6 percent from beyond the arc.

Many scouts had high hopes for Hawkins coming out of UConn. The sharpshooter was a key piece on the Huskies' 2022-23 national championship team, averaging 16.2 points per game. He shot 38.3 percent from three on 7.6 attempts per game.

So far in the NBA, the jumper has been inconsistent, and Hawkins has struggled to add value elsewhere. Playing in Tuomas Iisalo's offense could unlock more from Hawkins. With the point guards and Cameron Boozer as primary facilitators, Hawkins will have plenty of opportunity to play off-ball as a movement shooter and get great looks from three.

Kleiman has been good at identifying useful players who fly under the radar, and this could be no different.

Per Spotrac's Keith Smith, Gibson will have $200,000 of his contract guaranteed, and the Grizzlies will add Peavy via $4.3 million out of the Ja Morant trade exception.

Trade Mechanics:

🏀T. Gibson will have $200K of his contract guaranteed. That way he and AJ Johnson's contracts match salary for J. Hawkins.
🏀MEM will bring M. Peavy in via the $4.3M J. Morant TPE.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) September 8, 2026

For New Orleans, the main purpose of the move is to allow them to move far enough below the luxury tax to complete the Bennedict Mathurin signing. This gets the Pelicans to approximately $7.9 million below the tax to make that move.

While this trade likely will not be a huge deal for the future of the Grizzlies, this is the type of process rebuilding teams typically use in the NBA. It feels like a textbook deal for Kleiman to take a flyer on young talent for basically no cost.

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