2010-2011 Finish: 37-45

What went bad

From hero to zero. Oh lord, how did it happen? After vanquishing the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA Finals, the Memphis Grizzlies disintegrated, falling apart to become one of the worst teams in the league. Just as the Lakers surged back, the Grizzlies plummeted faster than Greenmig dropped 50 pts on Steve Blake. So just how did the Grizzlies get so stinking awful so fast?

First came the parades, the free barbecue and the general outpouring of love in Memphis. But fans forget victory faster than loss. The first sign something was wrong in Grizzly territory is Stephen Jackson decided to try his luck on the free agent market. Despite the wining and dining from GM Rasho, S-Jax turned his back on the franchise and fled (so did Joe Alexander but no one cared). Rasho convinced Chris Bosh and Manu Ginobili to re-sign but the S-Jax departure must have cracked something inside the poor GM. Just wait and see.

On the same day he inked Manu to a new day, Rasho shipped him off to those very Sixers he bested in a three way deal that got him young forward Thaddeus Young, the troubled Brandan Wright and the aged Morris Peterson. Not really the best deal in the world and as NLL fat cats VT and BadWolf (he got Paul Pierce in the deal) chuckled and smoked cigars, the Slovenian friend and the rival may have just pushed the fraught Rasho over the bridge, cos his next move completely sunk his team.

In a blockbuster deal, Rasho sent Bosh and Jose Calderon to the Raptors for Brandon Roy (that's right, he's retired now) and Brendan Haywood the very next day. In a span two days, Rasho lost four of his five Championship starters. WOW. Then he goes and ships Marvin Williams to the Magic for ANOTHER PG (he has Jameer Nelson already) in Beno Udrih.


What went worse

It's no surprise the Grizzlies were gawdawful this season. They released MoPete in March and then shipped off Roy (luckily) and Wright to the Minnesota (the place that will do any trade), getting back Danilo Gallinari (nice), Dan Gadzuric (barf), Kris Humphries (pre-Kardashian) and ANOTHER PG in Jeff Teague. It's a nice haul for the soon-to-be-ex-player Roy, but I would like S-Jax, Bosh, Calderon and Manu more. Also, Joakim Noah missed half the season with an injury.

Goats
 
- Rasho, GM -

Sorry, Rasho. We all think you are a nice guy, but you really sunk this Championship-caliber team.


Looking to the future

The Grizzlies aren't so bad off that recovering from 10/11 isn't impossible. The first order of business is inking Noah and Young to extensions. Then it's time to play pick a PG. Either Udrih or Nelson should be traded, hopefully bringing in a SG. It is also time to trade or amnesty Haywood and his mega-long deal. Young and Gallinari both play the same position, maybe move one of them for a starting PF or SG. Then fill out your bench. The bench will need a lot of work. Player redundancies is the biggest problem. Udrih vs. Nelson. Young vs. Gallinari. Move two of them and get help where you need it more.

Drafting Enes Kanter was a smart and makes Haywood expendable, especially if he is starting material. That leaves SG the only hole on the roster, one that can be moved by trading one of the above mentioned players. The addition of Tyler Honeycutt, a frail but great player, adds another small forward into the mix. Malcolm Lee can defend but will do little else for this team.

Bottom line: Rasho needs to pull himself up by the bootstraps, get out there, make some deals and restore this team. He has the pieces to do it. However, if he does nothing, the Grizzlies will likely sink again.