"Greivis Vasquez remembers sitting in the Grizzlies' locker room with his former teammates at a time when idle chatter focused mainly on who might be leaving.

"We all knew a trade was coming," Vasquez said.

But the premonition didn't make the Grizzlies' Dec. 24 deal with the New Orleans Hornets any less stunning for Vasquez. Memphis shipped Vasquez, a 2010 first-round pick out of Maryland, to its division rival in order to acquire forward Quincy Pondexter.

Vasquez moved on with mixed emotions.

"I was shocked," said Vasquez, who returns to FedExForum tonight for the first time with the Hornets. "It hurt me a little bit because I like Memphis. But they needed big men and a small forward to help Rudy (Gay). And we had too many guards. They weren't going to play me, Jeremy (Pargo), Josh (Selby) and O.J. (Mayo). But I wouldn't say they gave up on me too fast. Maybe if Darrell (Arthur) didn't get hurt they wouldn't have traded me.""