Saturday 22 June 2019 21:54, UK
Through the draft and their trade activity over the past week, the New Orleans Pelicans and Memphis Grizzlies have transformed their futures, writes Sky Sports NBA analyst Mark Deeks.
In a fiercely competitive Western Conference, it is hard to make any headway. And for some years now, the Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Pelicans have been stuck in the middle.
The Grizzlies put together some interesting and likeable playoff seasons with their Grit'N'Grind teams, built around Tony Allen, Zach Randolph, Mike Conley and Marc Gasol. They made the playoffs seven seasons in a row between 2010 and 2017, and although they lost in the first round four times, there was one run to the Western Conference Finals back in 2013 that marked the high point in the franchise's short history.
Since that time, however, things have slowly wound down. Due to the unique playing styles of both themselves and the Grizzlies - and in Randolph's case, his chequered past - Randolph and Allen were always more valuable to the Grizzlies than any other team, and thus were unable to commandeer anything of value on the trade market as they got older. They left as free agents, significantly inhibiting the core of the team without being able to return any future assets.
Ranking as the mere seventh seed three times between 2013 and 2017, the Grizzlies have since fallen further, winning only 55 games combined over the last two years, in part due to Conley's injury last year but also due to not being able to add new reams of talent as the conference around them got stronger.
It has been a similar story for the New Orleans Pelicans, who never turned the presence of the great Anthony Davis into competitiveness. Indeed, they have always been behind Memphis. In the seven years since he was drafted, the Pelicans were only able to manage two playoff appearances, and their only series victory was last year in the first round against the Portland Trail Blazers, a team that has now left them far behind.
The Pelicans have been also-rans stuck in an awkward position. Not enough talent to get anywhere competitive, not bad enough to be near the top of the draft, and yet without the ability to rebuild considering they have one of the NBA's greatest talents in tow.
Both teams needed to pick a lane, then. And this week, it seems they both have.
Although it will not be completed until July due to salary cap requirements, the Pelicans have agreed to trade Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers for a plethora of assets, highlighted by the No 4 pick in this week's NBA Draft. Last night at the draft, they subsequently moved that same No 4 pick to Atlanta for the No 8, No 17 and No 35 picks, as well as the dumping of Solomon Hill's contract. After the selections were made and both trades are complete, the sum total of their haul for Davis reads Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, Lonzo Ball, Jaxson Hayes, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Didi Louzada, two future first-round picks from the Lakers and the right to swap picks with them in 2023.
Add that to Zion Williamson, and they quite literally have a new team.
When further adding in the crafty selection of Alan Smailagic at No 39 (whom the Golden State Warriors have promised at No 41, thus requiring them to give up future second-round picks in both 2021 and 2023 to get him back), the Pelicans have in very short order moved from being the afterthought to the ones with the leverage, and the assets in the future.
Being lucky enough to pick first overall and get a franchise-changing player like Zion Williamson is of course a huge part of why. But already, they have been able to add to that. Jrue Holiday, a fantastic two-way guard, remains with the team to help him develop, alongside him will be all of the above, and potentially contributions from the likes of incumbent forwards Christian Wood and Kenrich Williams, the four second-rounders they yielded at the post-trade deadline for Nikola Mirotic, plus post-draft signings Javon Bess, Aubrey Dawkins and Zylan Cheatham.
Where a mere fortnight ago they were in limbo, and where one short year ago they were wondering if the signing of Elfrid Payton could see them sneak into the eighth seed again, the Pelicans now have one of the best stock pilings of young players and draft assets in the league.
The Grizzlies have had a similar week. After 12 years, the Mike Conley Jr era ended when it was announced that he would be traded to the Utah Jazz in July in exchange for Kyle Korver, Jae Crowder, Grayson Allen, the 23rd pick in yesterday's draft and another future first-round pick. Having also been lucky in the lottery to move up to second overall and take Ja Morant, a ready-made replacement for Conley, the Grizzlies also pulled off one of the better selections in yesterday's draft when they moved up from that No 23 pick to No 21 in a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and subsequently selected Brandon Clarke from Gonzaga, a player who should never have fallen that far.
They too now have the foundations of a young team. Pairing Morant with Jaren Jackson Jr from last year's draft makes for a very strong foundation, one that Clarke should fit in nicely with. The defensive and transition potential of that trio is phenomenal. Having also moved Gasol at the last trade deadline to the championship-winning Toronto Raptors, the Grizzlies received Delon Wright and Jonas Valanciunas, both of whom head for free agency this season, yet will be very useful contributors should they stay, and young veteran Kyle Anderson further adds to the excellent defensive core they now have.
Memphis's moves were not as extreme or as successful as New Orleans' were. But then, they did not have an Anthony Davis to trade, and as seen above, that is a very high bar to clear. In the deals for both Conley and Gasol, they received talent and youth, saved money without prioritising that, and gave themselves a foundation for the future. Indeed, there is a very good chance that between Morant and Clarke, the Grizzlies will come out of this draft with two of the five best players in it.
From where they were before - free falling, no motivation to lose this past season due to the lack of control of their own first-round pick and the new lottery odds, reflected in moves for Justin Holiday and Joakim Noah amongst others, yet not good enough to actually win, finishing 15 games out of the playoff race - they now have a core. A good core, at that.
Whether you are at the top or at the bottom of the league, you need some luck. The Raptors won the title this season due to a combination of luck and skill. They were brilliant, playing well-coached and disciplined basketball on both ends with a well-constructed, balanced roster. But they also got lucky with the myriad injuries that Golden State had.
Success at the top of the pile means being timely with roster-building decisions, determination in choosing when and how to act, unearthing great player value and getting a bit lucky as well.
The same however is also true at the bottom, and the Pelicans and Grizzlies have just proved that. In picking first and second overall, they were lucky to acquire future stars, but it also meant they did not have to deal with any uncertainty over their selections and the requirements to make trades to get their guys in the way that everyone below them did. They have known they could have Zion and Ja for some weeks now. That gave them the opportunity to plan accordingly, hence the trades of Davis and Conley, both of which are very good returns considering the inevitability of each one being traded and the contractual situations therein.
However, it is in the other moves they made yesterday with which they truly struck blows. The luck was one thing they couldn't control - the extraction of value and the timely aggression, they could. And they did.
