Memphis Grizzlies: The Extinction Of The Grit N’ Grind Era

The Wade Baldwin Experience

The Grizzlies took point guard Wade Baldwin of Vanderbilt with the 17th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. While that draft wasn’t a particularly deep one, a pick barely outside the lottery represents a pretty substantial asset in today’s NBA.

Baldwin sputtered in his rookie season, averaging just 3.2 ppg on a horrific .326 eFG%. But he had little opportunity to shine on a playoff team and was only 20 years old.

Instead of being patient, or trying to peddle Baldwin’s upside as an asset, Memphis shot themselves in the foot twice. First, they signed Mario Chalmers in July 2017, burning precious cap space and crushing Baldwin’s growth potential.

Chalmers had been effective in his 2015-16 stint with the team. But since then, he had torn his Achilles and hadn’t been on an NBA roster in over a year. For some reason, the Grizzlies’ brass was convinced he was the answer.

Then, in November as the season’s wheels began falling off, Memphis panic-waived Baldwin. A mere 16 months after drafting him, they had nothing to show for a first-round pick. That’s asset-squandering that is inexcusable in this league.

Today’s league is all about potential and the Grizzlies didn’t even give him a chance. He hasn’t been able to make an impact elsewhere so maybe they made the right decision moving on but he is yet another example of a franchise that has been horrendous in evaluating talent for the draft.