A young star in the making was drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies as they begin a rebuild in earnest. How will the OKC Thunder matchup versus them in 2019-20?
Much like the OKC Thunder, the Memphis Grizzlies are a relatively young franchise. This season will mark the 19th for Memphis since the team moved from Vancouver Canada.
Also, like the Thunder, the Grizzlies have experienced more success than failure. And while OKC was basically forced into their shift toward a new era, Memphis elected to take that direction and dove into a full-on rebuild.
Memphis reached the playoffs for three successive seasons in their third, fourth and fifth years exciting in the first round each time. Four seasons in the lottery followed prior to a run of six consecutive playoff trips with varying success including reaching the Western Conference Finals in 2012-13. This period was known as the Grit and Grind era featuring the foursome of Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol, Mike Conley, and Tony Allen.
Grit and Grind centered on the two ends of the positional spectrum — the point guard and the big man. Mike Conley was drafted in 2007-08 and Marc Gasol was added the following season. With the decision to start fresh Memphis drafted big man Jaren Jackson which allowed them to move Gasol to Toronto. They followed up by sending Conley to Utah this summer and drafted Ja Morant as his replacement. In essence, the Grizzlies are starting over but sticking with their same strategy at least from a conceptual perspective.
They’ll forge ahead this year with a view to the future.
The Basics:
2018-19 Record: 33-49
Lottery Seed: Surprised in the new draft lottery system nabbing the second pick.
Head Coach: Taylor Jenkins begins his first season as the bench boss.
Points per game: Ranked 30th (103.5) | Opponent points per game: Ranked 3rd (106.1)
Pace: Ranked 30th (96.6) | Offensive Rating: Ranked 27th (106.1) | Defensive Rating: Ranked 9th (108.8)
Vegas Odds:
Win-Loss: 27.5 games
Odds to NBA Title: +33344
Odds to Win Conference: +18756
* Odds courtesy of The Action Network.
The OKC Thunder won the regular-season series two games to one against the Grizzlies. Next up, let’s look at the offseason changes made by Memphis and review what to expect when the team’s tipoff versus each other in their four contests.