The Dallas Mavericks and the Memphis Grizzlies have, sources tell me, talked about trade concepts that would sent the No. 4 overall pick in Thursday's NBA Draft from Memphis to Dallas, with Chandler Parsons as the "salary dump'' included in the swap.

The Grizzlies began last weekend in the preliminary stages of shopping the idea, as first noted here, with DallasBasketball.com breaking the story on Dallas' willingness in "taking on money in exchange for a top-10 pick,'' as a source put it to us last Thursday.

DBcom also reported last week that the Mavs are "not willing'' to include Harrison Barnes in such a trade, which, if somehow pulled off, would result in the Mavs owning back-to-back picks -- Memphis' at No. 4 and their own pick at No. 5.

What are the odds of this coming together? I'm told this has moved beyond the "Oh-everybody-talks-to-everybody'' phase. But let's call it a longshot for a couple of reasons.

One, it's certainly possible that Memphis opts to stand in at No. 4 to make the pick; the Grizzlies spent much of 2017-18 in tank mode and might like to reap the reward. But their singular goal isn't "getting the pick''; it's "getting better'' with pieces built around Michael Conley and Marc Gasol, and cap management can be a part of that.

Two, surely some of each teams' consideration (and the consideration of any other bidder) is "Which player is available at 4?'' If, for instance, Dallas believes Luka Doncic is the second-best prospect in this draft, and he doesn't make it past Atlanta (picking third, right behind Sacramento), that may take some bloom off the rose here.

What DBcom wrote at 1 a.m. on Tuesday, the better part of a day before ESPN's Woj reported it:

"I can say with certainly that the Kings are having an in-house debate about Doncic ... and I can say the Mavs are happy to hear that, as they hope he slides. But I do not have any indication that this will be some sort of "precipitous fall.'' In fact, I believe Atlanta is seriously considering Doncic at No. 3.''

That's not a Tuesday night Atlanta smokescreen via Woj; how could it be when we knew it to be true, via a Mavs prism, on Monday night?

And three, it's also possible, frankly, that another team with more handsome assets blows any Dallas proposal out of the water.

Our thoughts: The Grizzlies (who I'm told are having a difficult time "connecting'' with potential draftees) need to take back in trade players with utility. They need to do so while staying under the lux-tax line. And then they can have the room to add more players and use the Full MLE. That sort of thinking is likely going be their foundation in talks with the Mavs and whomever.

For the Mavs, those "players of utility'' can include Wesley Matthews and/or Dwight Powell, along with a future first-rounder. As a result of our original Barnes "not willing'' story, he's also become a centerpiece of debate. A bottom-line consideration: Is the "chance'' of securing a potential star at pick No. 4 a superior asset for Dallas than the known quantity that is Barnes?

It's fun for Dallas fans and media to debate ... but the debate is best-fortified by what Mavs management actually thinks.

In the meantime, some observers are having a difficult time understanding that taking on Parsons is the penalty in any such trade. The fact that he probably remains friendly with Mavs owner Mark Cuban is largely immaterial here; he's a 7-points-per-game guy who is injury-prone and who will eat up a massive $49 million of cap space over the next two years. (For the record, and contrary to public opinion, the transaction-minded Mavs are not bound by "hard feelings'' toward a wide assortment of NBA players, from Hassan Whiteside to, yes, even DeAndre Jordan.)

That represents a gigantic Samsonite full of dead weight -- the 29-year-old Parsons, an ex-Mav, is just halfway through his four-year, $94.4-million contract as he's owed $24.1 million this season and $25.1 million in 2019-20 -- and is something not to be taken lightly as the Mavs weigh their options here. There is great attraction to owning picks Nos. 4 and 5 here. It's fun to visualize, say, Luka Doncic and Jaren Jackson Jr. both being added to a lineup of young studs featuring Dennis Smith Jr.

The issue here is that Dallas prefers that young-stud lineup also include Harrison Barnes -- who, along with the availability of Doncic, may be the fulcrum on which this trade concept teeters.