In the NBA, there’s nothing worse than injuries. You’d be hard-pressed to find a human being with a heart who disagreed. 

Injuries also have widespread effects throughout a professional sports league. Teams that had banked on contention are resigned to a year of mediocrity. An NBA Finals series is almost entirely determined when a key player tears a ligament. We feel for the players first – they’re in physical pain, and in a worst-case scenario, their career is jeopardized. 

It just so happens that those aren’t the only effects of an injury. 

For example, when a player gets injured, suddenly their contract takes on new meaning. From a general manager’s point of view, they become, in a sense, a trade asset.

LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Jordan Clarkson, Utah Jazz & Memphis Grizzlies Updates

If you and another team would like to trade a player for a pick, but need to make the money work, sending an injured player to the team receiving the pick is a way to make that happen. 

Here’s a deal that uses that exact principle to send Jordan Clarkson to the Memphis Grizzlies.