Memphis Grizzlies: 3 Keys To Victory Vs The Chicago Bulls
By AJ Salah
It’s a matchup of cross-conference doormats, as the Chicago Bulls visit the Memphis Grizzlies at FedEx Forum Wednesday night. What can Memphis do to help advance their anti-tank?
For a couple years now, it’s become increasingly evident that the Memphis Grizzlies needed to tear things down and rebuild from the bottom-up. The prudent means of this for most teams (unless you’re, like, the Knicks) has been through gaining draft equity and, thus, tanking. Memphis’ front office stubbornly refused to do so.
The irony, of course, is that the Grizzlies, now in a perfect situation to tank, cannot, in fact, tank. Owing their first rounder to the Boston Celtics (who else?) from an ill-advised Jeff Green acquisition, the Grizzlies need to tread carefully. The pick is top-8 protected this year, then top-6 in 2020, before zero protection in 2021.
This means Memphis could be doing themselves a favor by getting this over with quickly; like a bad breakup or shot of tequila. Not conveying the pick could mean giving up a far greater asset down the road as their rebuild continues. As such, their mandate is to continue to compete.
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The Memphis Grizzlies still employ an All-Star caliber player in Mike Conley, with a functional-enough roster to salvage this season. While they sit 14th in the West, four East teams have worse records (Hawks, Bulls, Cavs, Knicks), and another two (Heat, Wizards) within striking distance.
Meanwhile out West, the two teams directly ahead of Memphis – the Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans – are potential marks. Dallas has lost five straight after future-oriented trade deadline moves, while New Orleans could be sitting their almost-MVP if the NBA doesn’t snuff them for it.
While the variance of the Draft Lottery has flattened a bit this year, shedding their obligation to the Celtics is a realistic goal for Memphis. The key will be beating vulnerable teams, especially at home. One such matchup arrives Wednesday night in the form of the 16-45 Chicago Bulls. Here’s how Memphis can come out on top, and continue to defy the urge to tank: