Life comes at you fast in the NBA. One moment, you are a beloved fan favorite as a role player on a team with legitimate title aspirations. Next, you are an inconsequential addition to one of the biggest trades of the NBA trade deadline. That's where former Philadelphia 76ers wing Georges Niang finds himself.
Niang, who once rocked the Xfinity Mobile Arena as a catch-and-shoot sharpshooter, is now an afterthought in the NBA. It wasn't that long ago that Niang was the kind of player that every contending team wanted to add (which is why he was so beloved in the first place). Now, he's bouncing around the league like a proverbial hot potato.
Niang is on the move once more after being including in the Jaren Jackson Jr. blockbuster on Tuesday. The Utah Jazz traded the former 76ers sharpshooter before he played a game this season. Now, Niang finds himself on a Memphis Grizzlies team that is fully embracing the tank.
76ers fans would have never expected Georges Niang's fall from grace years ago
Niang was an important role player for a team with legitimate title aspirations three years ago. He played well enough for the Sixers that the Cleveland Cavaliers shelled out a three-year, $26 million contract to secure his services during the 2023 offseason.
That's not massive money, but it was a deal the 76ers couldn't emulate for a player who undoubtedly increased his value in the league. Niang went from an unknown role player to a known commodity in Philly. Because of his skillset and his age, Niang seemed as if he would have real staying power.
Niang's first season in Cleveland was fine, but he didn't reinvent the Cavaliers' second unit by any stretch of the imagination. His three-point shooting dipped in efficiency, which only highlighted the defensive holes in his game.
This resulted in the Cavaliers trading Niang just halfway through his three-year contract during the 2024-25 season. Niang was traded to the Atlanta Hawks as part of a package to land De'Andre Hunter, who Cleveland already gave up on and traded this season.
That's when the hot potato act really started to take off. Niang was traded to the Boston Celtics as part of the Kristaps Porzingis salary dump before the 2025-26 season. However, Boston had no real interest in him, flipping him to the Utah Jazz, where he started his career, in an inconsequential trade. The Grizzlies will be Niang's fifth team in the last 13 months, although he didn't play for two of them.
Niang hasn't played yet during the 2025-26 season as he recovers from a fractured foot he suffered in the offseason. It's unclear when he will return to action, and if the Grizzlies even have any interest in keeping him around. He's on the last year of the three-year deal he signed with the Cavaliers and very well could be a buyout option.
Who knows, after all this, maybe he finds his way back to the 76ers as a cheap buyout target. Wouldn't that be serendipitous?