Memphis Grizzlies throwback: The origins of last rebuild

The Memphis Grizzlies are reaching a point where a rebuild is inevitable. As the time is coming, let’s go back and see how the last rebuild was successful.

I’ll go through a five-part “Throwback Thursday” series where I look at the last rebuild season-by-season. It’s important to know, because history could very well repeat itself. If it does, the Memphis Grizzlies will be fine.

The year was 2006, and the Memphis Grizzlies endured their third straight playoff sweep at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks. In the prior offseason, they did a huge shakeup trade that saw Eddie Jones and Bobby Jackson arrive in Memphis. They also had their first-ever All-Star in franchise history as Pau Gasol broke out on the scene. However, it wasn’t enough as Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks took care of the Grizzlies in four games.

In the draft, the Grizzlies sent shockwaves as they traded fan favorites Shane Battier and Stromile Swift for the eighth pick, Rudy Gay. This move could’ve easily been seen as a “retool” move as they still had Pau Gasol and Mike Miller. Adding a young dynamic wing like Rudy Gay could just give this team more firepower.

Instead, Gasol went down with a foot injury with Spain’s national team and missed the first 23 games of the season.

How did this season go down? How far did the Grizzlies fall?

2006-07 season

With Pau Gasol out with injury, the Grizzlies really had to lean on their young guns. His absence showed how the Grizzlies were absolutely depleted. Mike Miller is a nice scoring option, but even in his prime, he wasn’t a go-to scorer. Hakim Warrick and Rudy Gay were promising prospects but were still extremely raw. Their veteran point guards were a declining Chucky Atkins and Damon Stoudamire — who was returning from a patella injury.

Other than that, the team was unproven as most of the roster was fringe NBA talent. Doesn’t that sound familiar? 

Though the first stretch of the season was rough, Kyle Lowry emerged as a bright spot quickly. You could argue that he was on his way to becoming the starting point guard. Unfortunately, he broke his wrist ten games into the year and was out for the season.

The team’s performance became worse and worse, which led to the firing of coach Mike Fratello before 2006 concluded.

Tony Barone — one of the team’s scouts at the time — took over as the interim coach, and the Grizzlies were full tank ahead. They were an enjoyable team to watch … for a bottom-feeder team. In the meantime though, their eyes were on the prize for top prospects Greg Oden and Kevin Durant.

Ultimately, the Grizzlies finished 22-60, the worst record in the NBA. Pau Gasol (20.8) and Mike Miller (18.5) paced the team in scoring. Young prospects Hakim Warrick and Rudy Gay flashed some promise as the former averaged 12.7 points and 5.1 rebounds and the latter 10.8 points.

As the team’s worst record, they had the highest chance of a number one pick. Instead, the ping pong balls weren’t in their favor as they landed the fourth pick — the worst possible spot they could’ve been.

From there though, the rebuild was getting started.

Lessons to learn from this season

• Your best player is more valuable than you realize.

Wow, isn’t this familiar? Unlike Mike Conley, Pau Gasol was a scrutinized star player in Memphis as he was often characterized as “soft.” In the 23 games without him, you realized how much he meant to the Grizzlies.

• It pays dividends to play the young guys

Rudy Gay and Hakim Warrick were the main beneficiaries in this young season. They had a chance to establish themselves in this league and to grow through their mistakes. At the same time, the Grizzlies got to see what they had in their best prospects, and they weren’t disappointed.

• Sometimes, it’s OK to pull the plug

In the year 2006, the Memphis Grizzlies made a brutally hard decision to reload — and eventually rebuild. They had just made the playoffs for the third straight year, but they found themselves home early because of another sweep. Instead of trying to be persistent, they realized the formula wasn’t working and traded away key veteran — and fan favorite — Shane Battier for a younger, more promising Rudy Gay. In addition, when the season was going awry, they realized Mike Fratello wasn’t the answer at head coach and let go of him.

Again, doesn’t this ring a bell? The Grizzlies weren’t afraid to say, OK, it’s not our time anymore. Let’s try something different. It’s a harsh reality for some NBA teams, but it could lead to more help than harm.

Next: Memphis Grizzlies should reload for next year

Tune in next week as we go in-depth with the second phase of the rebuild: the 2007-08 season.