Memphis Grizzlies: Where’s the owner during all this turmoil?

With the Memphis Grizzlies in trouble and the owner not present at games, here’s a cry for help on behalf of the fanbase.

Dear Robert Pera,

I know you haven’t been around much lately. You’ve been busy lately handling your multi-billion dollar business interest in Ubiquity Networks but lately things have been happening in Memphis that we, the fans of the Memphis Grizzlies, would greatly appreciate you looking into.

It has been going on for a while now really, but the problems worried about have become too large to ignore any longer.

Your team, the Memphis Grizzlies, are in a lot of trouble. They’re on an eight-game losing streak — the highest such streak since the 2009-10 season. That team had no starter over 28 years of age as most of the players were under 25 years old. Head Coach Lionel Hollins was starting his 2nd season in Memphis and was being given a lot of leeway after the team had fallen apart under Marc Iavaroni.

That team finished the season at 40-42 and even though they missed the playoffs, they’ve made the postseason every year since. It was the beginning of a team about to make a major move forward for the first time in franchise history.

Have you seen what they look like these days, Mr. Pera? Something needs to change and the blame falls squarely on one person’s shoulders.

Where’s the blame?

Chris Wallace is your General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations. He’s in charge with signing players, drafting players and trading players. He has total control over what the roster looks like. When we look at his performance, it has to give you cause for concern.

Your leaders are struggling despite having max contracts. Mike Conley is 30 now and started the season terribly before being rested to heal an aching Achilles. Marc Gasol turns 33 this January and is shooting a career low 41.8 percent from the field. He was also benched in the fourth quarter of a loss to the Brooklyn Nets. He’s grumbling in the press and is generally unhappy — which isn’t a good thing.

The free agents brought to Memphis have been questionable at best. I realize the Grizzlies have never been a desirable team for young, rich basketball players but overpaying for injured players and potential busts can’t be the answer. Wallace’s free agents on this year’s roster include Brandan Wright, Chandler Parsons, Mario Chalmers, James Ennis, Ben McLemore, Tyreke Evans and JaMychal Green. All of them are damaged goods either via injury, or have failed in previous stops.

Tyreke Evans has played well most of the season, despite recovering from three knee surgeries. However, he’s on a one-year contract, which means he’s free to leave at the end of the season. It’s unlikely Evans will return — despite his ties to the community — with the team struggling and financially strapped.

Brandan Wright had an injury-filled past that has continued in Memphis. He’s currently injured and has played a grand total of 55 games in the two plus seasons he has been in Memphis. This isn’t a surprise either since Wright has only played more than 60 games once in his career.

Ben McLemore was so disappointing in Sacramento the team allowed their former lottery pick walk after his rookie contract expired. Despite this obvious black eye on his career, Chris Wallace offered him over $5 million to play for the Memphis Grizzlies. That’s along the lines of what the team paid Tony Allen over the last four seasons.

JaMychal Green was a find in the D-League three years ago and played well as a starter last season. Chris Wallace waited until after training camp had begun to re-sign Green only to lock him up for two seasons. Green is now 27 years old, so he will still be a viable option for another team in two seasons. You have to wonder why Wallace didn’t insist on a team option for the 3rd year of the contract even if it cost a little more to sign him.

Chandler Parsons received a maximum contract offer from Chris Wallace despite missing the end of the two previous seasons with knee injuries. He tried to play for 34 games before being shut down for another knee surgery. This time the surgery was on his “good” knee too. The question is, why were the Memphis Grizzlies in a bidding war for his services in the first place?

James Ennis has been a disaster this season despite shooting 51 percent from the field. He has fallen so far out of favor as he’s buried on the bench after beginning the season as the starting small forward.

Mario Chalmers was out of the league for over 18 months after tearing his achilles. That news didn’t stop Wallace from waiving Wade Baldwin, the Memphis Grizzlies’ 2016 first round draft pick, to keep him.

Drafting issues

The Baldwin issue leads into another problem area for the Memphis Grizzlies. Drafting under Wallace has been poor at best.

We can give Wallace a pass on Hasheem Thabeet, since it’s widely accepted that former owner Mike Heisley was behind that pick. We can forgive Wallace for making the trade that sent Kevin Love to Minnesota along with Mike Miller for O.J. Mayo and Marko Jaric for the same reason.

However, it doesn’t explain Jordan Adams, Xavier Henry, Tony Wroten, Jarell Martin or Wade Baldwin. All of these pick, with the exception of Jarell Martin, are out of the league already. Martin, despite starting during JaMychal Green’s injury, has spent time with the Memphis Hustle in the G-League. It’s not an encouraging sign as a third-year player.

The Grizzlies started a lineup without a single first round draft pick this season. How much worse can it get?

The bottom line is, this team needs to rebuild. It won’t help knowing that the Grizzlies won’t have a future first-round pick they owe Boston for acquiring Jeff Green. They also won’t have the Los Angeles Clippers first=round pick they acquired in trading Jeff Green, because Wallace gave that to Boston in exchange for two second-round picks in a weak draft.

One of those picks, Rade Zagorac, was signed and released this summer. How much of your money was wasted by Wallace doing that? The other player, Deyonta Davis, has played some and showed flashes of talent, but also has no offensive moves outside of three feet from the basket and a propensity to pick up fouls. He definitely doesn’t look prepared to take a consistent role on a competitive NBA team right now.

Coaching Issue?

This brings us finally to the last issue.

Coach David Fizdale is probably a nice man. He’s socially conscious and involved in the community for positive change. However, he also destroyed the franchise’s identity. We are no longer “Grit ‘n’ Grind” Memphis. He ushered out Zach Randolph and Tony Allen, two of the founders of that image. He took away what we fans could hold onto and be proud of to replicate what other teams are doing with bigger stars, healthier free agents and better draft picks.

The results aren’t really shocking.

Coach Fizdale was Chris Wallace’s hire. His first true hire as the Memphis Grizzlies GM actually. Marc Iavaroni was hired before Wallace. Heisley hired Lionel Hollins. Jason Levien hired Dave Joerger.

Fizdale deserves an opportunity to coach more than one season before his job in on the line. The Memphis Grizzlies fans don’t want to see a parade of coaches being shuttled in and out. It’s bad enough that the two winningest coaches in franchise history (Lionel Hollins and Dave Joerger) were fired when they were. Making another coaching change won’t improve things. They’ll just make them worse.

Closing Remarks

All these reasons are why we need you to take charge, Mr. Pera. We understand the team will likely be rebuilding not reloading going forward. We understand there’ll be dark days ahead.

What we can’t understand is allowing the man who put the team in this position to be in charge of the rebuild. The franchise needs someone on top with a vision for the team’s future. The Memphis Grizzlies need someone who’s in touch with modern techniques for evaluating talent. Basically we need someone who isn’t Chris Wallace.

So Mr. Pera, will you please come to Memphis and set things straight?