J-Speaks: Grizzlies to Possibly Deal Conley and Gasol

The Memphis Grizzlies came out of the gates strong to start the 2018-19 NBA campaign, thanks to the return to health of their starting lead guard and return to form of their big man in the middle. Unfortunately, this great story took a serious down turn behind a string of losses and injuries, which now has Grizzlies with the second worst record in the Western Conference. It has gotten so tough that now the Grizzlies are considering going the rebuild route and have put the two pillars of their franchise on notice that they are on the trading block. 

On the heels of their Martin Luther King Day loss, 105-85 versus the New Orleans (22-27) on Monday afternoon, and prior to their 118-107 setback versus the Charlotte Hornets (23-25) two nights later, Grizzlies (19-30) owner Robert Pera told starting point guard Mike Conley and starting center Marc Gasol that the organization was looking to move them before the Feb. 7 trade deadline. 

In moments like this when the team is in free-fall and there is a possibility of people being on the move where you learn a lot about someone’s character. 

Both Conley and Gasol, who have been the mainstays who helped the Grizzlies become a playoff perennial for seven straight seasons from 2011-2017, which included a Western Conference Finals appearance in 2013, which they were swept by the five-time NBA champion San Antonio Spurs 4-0 displayed the same grit, and determination both in their words and in their play on the hardwood that has endeared them to the fans of Memphis, TN.

“It was just making us aware that our names would be thrown out there,” Conley, the Grizzlies all-time leader in assists with 4,351 and games played at 766 and counting told reporters on Wednesday of him possibly being traded before next Thursday. 

“Not that one of us or both of us are going to be gone by next Tuesday or by All-Star break. I just feel good about being here as the next person. I’m not worried right now. A lot can happen in a few weeks. Right now, I’m just taking it in stride.” 

In the loss versus the Pelicans, Gasol had a game-high 22 points with eight rebounds and six assists in 35 minutes, while Conley had 20 points, eight assists and four steals in 37 minutes. 

They brought it again despite falling versus the Hornets as Conley led all scorers with 31 points on 10 for 17 shooting and a perfect 9 for 9 from the free throw line in 36 minutes. Gasol posted his fifth career triple-double with 22 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists, with three steals in 39 minutes. 

In the Grizzlies eighth consecutive loss versus the Kings (25-24) on Friday night, Conley had 16 points, nine assists and six rebounds in 34 minutes, while Gasol, who had two strong games while dealing with back issues had 11 points and 10 rebounds in 26 minutes. 

“You just got to deal with the situation as good as you can and do your job as good as you can. You got to control what you can control” Gasol, the Grizzlies all-time leading scorer at 11,587 points and is second to Conley in games played at 764, and counting told reporters of the possibility of him being traded. 

There are many reasons that the Grizzlies find themselves in this predicament where it is possible Conley and Gasol could be on the move. 

In league that is now all about pace, space, shooting threes and high-octane offenses, the Grizzlies game is based off of playing great defense valuing each possession. 

While that work to the tune of a 12-5 mark early on this season, teams eventually caught on to their style of play and they have gone just 7-25 since, which includes an eight-game losing streak and 14 losses in their last 15 games. 

Injuries to key members of the team has not helped matters either as second-year guard Dillon Brooks, whose possibly lost for the remainder of this season following surgery to repair a ruptured ligament in his right big toe that he sustained in the Grizzlies 96-86 win at the Spurs on Jan. 5. Brooks had just returned from a 21-game absence earlier in the season from a sprained MCL. He was the No. 45 overall pick in the 2017 draft out of the University of Oregon. 

The Grizzlies also lost two valuable wings in Kyle Anderson, who they signed in free agency as a restricted free agent from the Spurs, who declined to match the offer sheet he was signed to is out with a sprained ankle. The other wing in sharp shooter Chandler Parson, whose career with the Grizzlies has been riddled by an injured knee is very much over as he and the organization agreed to mutually separate as the team and his agent James Dunleavy of ISE Sports are working on a resolution on the future for the former Houston Rocket and Dallas Maverick, according to an ESPN.com report earlier this month. 

It is one thing to trade away valuable assets. It is another thing to get the right compensation in return that puts you in a position to improve your current situation. 

I am sure there are plenty of teams that very intrigued about acquiring Conley or Gasol, especially a team in either the Western Conference or Eastern Conference that is on the fringe of being a contender to reach the finals; to make a serious playoff run or to just make it into the postseason. 

For the Grizzlies, what they are interested in as most teams would be in this tough situation is to acquire a high draft pick or draft picks to make your team better as quickly as possible or to bring in young talented that can grow with the current players already on the roster.    

The Grizzlies front office put that plan into motion earlier this month when they acquired Justin Holiday from the Chicago Bulls for guard MarShon Brooks, who the Bulls waived, swingman Wayne Selden Jr., and Second-Round picks in 2019 and 2020. 

This trade though came on the heels of a three-team swap that went horribly wrong between the Grizzlies, Washington Wizards and Phoenix Suns, where now Rockets’ guard Austin Rivers was supposed to be dealt to the Suns and two Grizzlies role players, one of who was supposed to be Dillon Brooks. The Grizzlies wanted though to trade MarShon Brooks, a former member of the Brooklyn Nets. That miscommunication stalled the deal and eventually killed it. 

Last season, the Grizzlies held out now Indiana Pacers guard Tyreke Evans in hopes of acquiring draft picks or a young player(s) for him. That too never materialized and left in free agency with his former team getting nothing in return. 

The Memphis Grizzlies are in that very tough spot to where in order to build themselves back into a perennial playoff participant, they have to deal two of the best players they have had in franchise history in Mike Conley and Marc Gasol. Two players who have grown as players and as people in a blue-collar town that has embraced them and has given their fans many cheerful and proud moments.

“My relationship with the Grizzlies might change, but my relationship with Memphis won’t,” Gasol, who went to high school in Memphis when his brother in current Spurs’ center Pau Gasol was with the Grizzlies in the early part of the last decade said to the Memphis' Commercial Appeal. 

“What I feel inside and how I feel about Memphis and its people, it has nothing to do with the franchise or a temporary thing.” 

So, if Pera and the Grizzlies front office to trade Conley, Gasol or both by the trade deadline in one week from this Thursday there is no guarantee the Grizzlies will get the compensation, they want to start their rebuild around the player they are counting on to lead them going forward in rookie First-Round pick from this past June in Jaren Jackson, Jr., the No. 4 overall pick out of Michigan State. 

For now, the Grizzlies players currently on the roster have to worry about the rest of this season and trying to make the best of a situation that will have them missing out on the playoffs for the second straight season. 

“When you’re in a win-lose results business, the losses pile up and they weigh on you,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said at the close of this week. 

“You have to find a way to find the positive and keep perspective. The perspective is each game is a new day. The last game has nothing to do with tomorrow’s game. You have to find a way to keep digging and keep pushing.” 

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 12/14/18 www.nydailynews.com story, “Bumbling Suns and Grizzlies Kill Deal After Mixup Over Which Brooks They Were Trading,” by Scott Chiusano; 1/7/19 www.espn.com story, “Chandler Parsons, Memphis Grizzlies Agree to Part Ways,” by Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim MacMahon; 1/9/19 www.espn.com story “Memphis’ Dillion Brooks To Have Surgery for Ruptured Toe Ligament;”  www.nba.com/games/20190123/CHAMEM#/boxscore; 1/23/19 3 p.m. edition of “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Jackie MacMullan, Tracy McGrady, and Zach Lowe; 1/24/19 5 a.m. edition NBATV’s “Gametime,” with Casey Stern, Steve Smith, and Ryan Hollins; www.nba.com/games/20190125/SACMEM#/preview;  www.nba.com/games/20190125/INDMEM#/preview; www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/3206/marc-gasol; www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/3195/mike-conley; www.espn.com/nba/standings; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Memphis_Grizzlies_seasons.