Memphis Grizzlies Lock In Second Best Odds In NBA Lottery

The Memphis Grizzlies will have the second best odds at the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.

Whether you were Team Tank or not, the results are what they are, and the Grizzlies have the second-best shot to win the draft lottery on May 15. At worst, the Grizzlies can have the No. 5 pick this year. Personally, I do not want to win the second pick — really bad nightmares of Thabeet.

But with the talented crop of young players available in this year’s class, it should be hard to miss on a player. Ayton and Doncic are the prizes with Bagley, Porter, Jackson, Bamba, Sexton, and Mikail Bridges being very nice consolations.

The Grizzlies should take the best available player no matter what position they are at in the draft. Do not worry about fit or position on the court — just take the best player.

But unless you’re Danny Ainge robbing other teams of their lottery picks, picking this high in the draft means a miserable season has preceded. So let’s take a look at how this Grizzlies team got here.

How We Got Here

Injuries

Mike Conley, the leader, the conductor, only played 12 games this season. His backups were a second-year player and a 31 year old Mario Chalmers (not Kobe Bryant) coming off an entire season out of the league recovering from a torn achilles. Conley is the team’s MVP and still one of the league’s most underrated point guards.

Chandler Parsons only played two more games (36) this season than he did last (34). The 25 million dollar man was supposed to be the versatile 3-point shooting star the Grizzlies have been missing since Rudy Gay. The idea of a healthy, last year in Houston, Chandler Parsons is more like a unicorn these days.

JaMychal Green missed 27 games this season, most of those at the beginning after rolling his ankle game one against New Orleans. Signed to a new deal, JaMychal was supposed to be the double-double energy guy for the Grizzlies. His injury forced an almost cut Jarrell Martin into the starting lineup.

Front Office Shenanigans

The Memphis Grizzlies front office have a lot of fingers pointed at them for this season. Whether those fingers are justified are not, the fact is they played a major role in the outcome of this season. All eyes are on Chris Wallace this summer with the draft pick and free agency of Tyreke Evans.

Speaking of Tyreke — it seemed evident that he was going to be traded at the deadline. He was having a career year on an expiring contract. He was playing on a team headed for the lottery and could certainly help a contender (how bad do the Celtics need him now?).

While in Indiana to face the Pacers, Evans was pulled off the floor and sent to the team hotel. All signs pointed to Evans being shipped out of Memphis — a seemingly smart move by Chris Wallace. Wallace should have gotten something in return for Tyreke, but he decided to hold out for a first round pick that never came.

Evans will now hit the open market, following arguably his best season as an NBA player. If Evans leaves, Chris Wallace see the door. He gambled, and I believe he gambled his job on this one.

The front office also fired David Fizdale 19 games into the season. Blaming Fizdale for Kawhi Leonard being a superhuman in the playoffs is unfair. Blaming him for Conley not being himself to start the season and then going down, is unfair.

Brett Brown is in season five in Philadelphia. He survived seasons of 19,18,10, and 28 wins. Now, his Sixers are the three seed in the Eastern Conference and a dark-horse favorite to make it to the NBA Finals. Fizdale should have been given a slightly longer leash given the circumstances.

Taking L’s

Despite Marc Gasol’s best efforts to not tank, the fact was that this team was just not good. The Grizzlies were running out G-League players on a regular basis leading to 11 and 19 game losing streaks.

The last time this franchise lost 60 games was 2007-08, Marc Iavaroni’s only full season as head coach. After that season, the front office flipped Kevin Love and Mike Miller for OJ Mayo, its own kind of L.

Where do we go from here?

Conley returns healthy.

MarShon Brooks will still get buckets.

Dillon Brooks continues to grow.

Chandler Parsons’ knees cooperate.

Wallace pulls a rabbit out of his hat and re-signs Tyreke.

Wallace also doesn’t blow the top 5 pick on Malik Newman and gets a future franchise player.

They hire a good head coach.

The Grizzlies make a triumphant return to the NBA Playoffs.

Everyone is happy again.

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