Despite their late-season slide that had the fanbase ready to clean house, the Memphis Grizzlies decided to retain their general manager, Zach Kleiman. His blunders with the roster this season took a turn for the worse when he bet on the young guys to take them to the promised land after trading away veteran guard Marcus Smart at the trade deadline.
While trading away the often-injured combo guard (30 games played out of 133 with the Grizzlies) wasn't the end of the world, trading away this year's first round draft pick to deal him for Marvin Bagley III's expiring contract triggered a fanbase that had high hopes for the team.
Despite the Grizzlies' 14-23 record (including the postseason) after trading Smart, a stretch that saw them fall from the second seed to the eighth seed in the Western Conference, an announcement yesterday proved why Kleiman should continue being the team's general manager for the near future.
Drafting All-Rookie team members is Kleiman special
Getting younger has been Zach Kleiman's biggest flaw as a general manager, while also being his biggest strength. The Grizzlies' current roster consists of 10 players (including two-way players) he drafted since becoming the primary decision maker in 2019. Including the undrafted John Konchar, and Jaren Jackson Jr.'s drafting in 2018 when Kleiman was in the Grizzlies front office, 12 of their 18 players were handpicked by him.
After Jaylen Wells and Zach Edey secured All-Rookie first team acknowledgements on May 20th, Kleiman has been involved with seven players making All-Rookie teams, including five making the first team and two separate years of two rookies making the first team after Ja Morant and Brandon Clarke accomplished this feat in 2019.
Drafting difference makers and franchise cornerstones has been Kleiman's best work as a general manager. While his flaws have become more apparent as the team reaches higher expectations, he has shown that he deserves the opportunity to see this process through. Adding two high-level rookies to a solid core that was expecting to be contenders isn't easy to produce.
However, Kleiman made the best use of the Grizzlies' injury-riddled season last year with the additions of Edey and Wells. The Grizzlies produced a consistent starting five of players that were all drafted and will look to grow that unit into the contenders they want to be as they enter their prime years. Regardless of the Grizzlies' late-season outcome, their future remains bright due to the promise their rookies showed for a team with high expectations.