The Big Question: Should The Grizzlies Tank By Trading Gasol & Conley?
When Mike Conley went out with an Achilles Tendon Injury everyone thought the Grizzlies would fall off. But not like this. The Grizzlies were 5-1 when Conley went out and have the worst record in the Western Conference with 8 wins and 20 losses. An 11-game losing streak followed by a 5-game losing streak, a surprising lack of identity, and the question creeps up in your mind “Should the Grizzlies tank?”
Let’s go back to the 2010-11 season, the Grizzlies just made the playoffs for the first time in five years as the eight seed and beat the San Antonio Spurs in 6 games and had a hard fought 7-game series against the uprising Oklahoma City Thunder. That was the start of the era that gave opposing teams nightmares as they had to face a really good defensive team that shows that “Grit n Grind” night in night out. This team hasn’t tanked in a long time in a tough Western Conference.
In the 2015-16 season, the Grizzlies played an NBA record 28 players throughout the season and they still made the playoffs because of their identity which they so proudly show off. But now, after letting Zach Randolph and “The Grindfather” Tony Allen go in free agency this past summer, their identity was in question.
Then the season started. Marc Gasol was playing at an All-star level dropping 25 and 10 a game in a 6 game stretch and they beat the Warriors once and the Rockets twice and we were happy to see Memphis back in the top flight where they weren’t destined to be when the season started. But then, Mike Conley, who had a career year last year, injured his Achilles and like any franchise without their superstar on the court, the team started losing its way. They just couldn’t stop teams anymore on defense. The stagnant offense just couldn’t find a rhythm.
That was just on-court. The off-court antics made it seem like it was the Sacramento Kings running the Grizzlies front office. Gasol and Fizdale’s relationship dipped to a new low when Fizdale benched Gasol in the fourth quarter of a close game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Fizdale got fired the next day and they had one answer to all the questions fired by the media.
"We are looking for a better direction".
Now, Memphis has lost 15 of its last 16 games and no, that's not a typo. The era that built Memphis to a team that went to the Conference semis thrice and the 2013 Conference Finals in the past five years is dead. With two aging stars and a team that wouldn’t stay healthy for a quarter of a season, Memphis needs to make moves before they lose trade value that Gasol and Conley possess.
Gasol is a great fit for most eastern teams like Cleveland and Boston who need rebounding on their side. Mike Conley can make you dance on any given night given he’s healthy. Most sides would give up a fortune for those two. I’m not a big fan of tanking but with a top-8 protected draft pick and a number one pick not out of reach with some great prospects coming out of college, this is the year to tank.