Memphis Grizzlies: 5 Moments That Defined The 2018-19 Season
By Chris Kern
J.B. Bickerstaff’s Firing, Chris Wallace’s Demotion
The Memphis Grizzlies shocked their fanbase when they decided to fire J.B. Bickerstaff and move Chris Wallace into their scouting role. It was long overdue but just felt like something that wouldn’t ever happen.
Wallace made some really good moves during his time as general manager, but he will be remembered for the decisions that didn’t go well such as the Chandler Parsons signing and the Hasheem Thabeet draft pick.
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His struggles kept the team from reaching their full potential, but he did build a team that annually made the playoffs so he does deserve some credit. If he would’ve drafted better maybe they are more of a title contender, but he still did a solid job during his tenure.
It was time to move on though. The Mike Conley and Marc Gasol era are coming to an end so it’s only right that you make the change to the whole organization. When you make big changes like this it’s tough to keep the head coach which is why J.B. Bickerstaff was let go.
Bickerstaff did a good job with the team this season. Many people questioned his rotations, but he did a good job for the most part. When the roster continued to change throughout the season he was still able to keep this team competitive for the most part.
After the trade deadline, it was almost a completely new team out on the floor, but he was still able to get them to come in and play hard. Jonas Valanciunas was a big fan of the way he was used and so were many other players.
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These changes to the Grizzlies had to be done and they will benefit from them going forward. All of these struggles throughout the season and over the past couple of years are why they need to look towards the future. They have a good group and if they can put together a good front office with an experienced head coach, this team could be playoff bound sooner rather than later.