Oklahoma City Thunder: Time will tell if new players make a difference for Memphis

“Time will tell,” Hollins said before Thursday night's game against the Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Well, time ran out early for the Grizzlies as OKC hit its first nine shots and led wire-to-wire in a methodical 106-89 victory.

On Wednesday, the Grizzlies dumped salary by trading Gay and seldom-used center Hamed Haddadi to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for point guard Jose Calderon, forward Ed Davis and a second-round pick.

Memphis in turn sent Calderon to Detroit in exchange for veteran forward Tayshaun Prince and Austin Daye.

Davis, Prince and Daye underwent physical exams in Memphis on Thursday. All players involved in a trade must pass their physicals before they're allowed to play with their new team.

Eight days earlier, Memphis had traded forward Marreese Speights, guard Wayne Ellington, guard Josh Selby and a future first-round draft pick to Cleveland for forward Jon Leuer.

The timing of the Gay trade couldn't have been worse for the Grizzlies. They've been anemic offensively all season and tried to keep pace with the NBA's highest-scoring team one night later.

Even with Gay, Memphis ranked 27th in the league in scoring (93.4), 24th in field-goal percentage (. 437) and 24th in 3-point percentage (. 344).

Defense will now take on added importance for the Grizzlies (29-16), who started the season with an 8-1 record and were 18-6 at one point. Since then, they have gone 11-10.