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UPDATE 1:52 pm: This trade became official, according to the Commercial Appeal.

And as we feared, it’s because the Zach Randolph injury was more serious than first thought.

UPDATE 11:17 am: This has grown into a three-team trade involving the New Orleans Hornets that is “on course” to come to fruition Wednesday, reports Marc Stein at ESPN. Here is his tweet breaking it down.

Trade, on course to be completed Wednesday, would send Speights to Grizz, Xavier Henry to Hornets and furnish Philly with two future picks

I like that for the Hornets, getting Henry who has potential. Picks for the rebuilding Sixers is good (how good depends on the picks). Memphis gets its big man, and I still wonder if they need him more now than they did 48 hours ago.

10:27 am: The Memphis Grizzlies and Philadelphia 76ers have had on-and-off again talks about Marresse Speights for months, but those talks got serious again on Tuesday, according to the Commercial Appeal.

Which makes me wonder if Zach Randolph’s injury is more serious than the Grizzlies have let on.

Memphis has looked at the athletic but raw Speights as a potential backup for Marc Gasol pretty much since the lockout ended, but it’s been on-and-off more than a television sitcom romance. Apparently it is back on.

Which only makes me wonder if the Grizzlies now really think they need that depth up front. Randolph’s knee injury looked bad when teammate O.J. Mayo fell into it, but team doctors described it as just a bruised ligament.

But Randolph had an MRI on Tuesday and the team did not release the results, reports the Commercial Appeal. That raises eyebrows. It may be nothing, but it’s just a couple things together at once that make me wonder if something bigger is not at play here.