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Ja Morant vs. Pau Gasol: Whose Rookie of the Year season was better?

By Amaar Burton

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 5 : Pau Gasol #16 of the Memphis Grizzlies watches the game against the Washington Wizards on April 5, 2002 at the MCI Center in Washington DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 5 : Pau Gasol #16 of the Memphis Grizzlies watches the game against the Washington Wizards on April 5, 2002 at the MCI Center in Washington DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images) /
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RICHMOND, KY – FEBRUARY 16: Ja Morant #12 of the Murray State Racers brings the ball up court during the game against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels at CFSB Center on February 16, 2019 in Murray, Kentucky. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
RICHMOND, KY – FEBRUARY 16: Ja Morant #12 of the Murray State Racers brings the ball up court during the game against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels at CFSB Center on February 16, 2019 in Murray, Kentucky. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

The backstory

When Gasol was taken with the No. 3 pick in the 2001 draft, he became the highest NBA draft choice to come from a foreign pro league.

Born and raised in Spain, Gasol played for FC Barcelona and was a veteran of the Spanish national team before entering the NBA draft. He was taken by the Atlanta Hawks, who traded him to the Grizzlies in exchange for All-Star power forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim.

At the time, the Grizzlies had just relocated from Vancouver to Memphis. They were coming off a season in which they went 23-59, the franchise’s sixth straight losing season since its inception. (Although, looking at the bright side, 23 was their all-time best win total.)

Head coach Sidney Lowe was in charge of a young squad featuring Shane Battier, Jason “White Chocolate” Williams and Stromile Swift. Gasol, who was 21 years old on Opening Night, was the team’s youngest rotation player.

Expansion franchises are expected to struggle, but the Grizzlies were particularly bad at the time Gasol arrived.

*****

Morant was taken with the No. 2 pick in the 2019 draft. At Murray State, he began his college career as a relative unknown, but by the end of his sophomore season he was a nationally recognized star and March Madness hero.

Once upon a time, Morant’s claim to fame was that he’d played on the same AAU team with Zion Williamson. In 2019, he was drafted right after Zion was the no-brainer top pick.

The Grizzlies had experienced some success in the years before Morant’s arrival, but in 2019 it was in a rebuilding phase. From 2011-17, Memphis was a dark horse contender in the Western Conference, advancing to the conference finals in 2013 and boasting a solid core of Marc Gasol (Pau’s younger brother), Zach Randolph and Mike Conley Jr.

That team was eventually broken up, and the Grizzlies were starting over when Morant was drafted. Two losing seasons brought them two top-five picks, which they used on big man Jaren Jackson Jr. (2018) and Morant (2019). Memphis went 33-49 in the 2018-19 season.

Morant went to a team that was a first-year head coach in Taylor Jenkins and, like Gasol’s rookie year, a team boasting a young core of talent with potential.

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