Memphis mess: Grizzlies' issues run deeper than on-court struggles
It's exceedingly difficult to lose 16 of 19 games in the NBA's Western Conference and make the playoffs. Yet, that's what the Memphis Grizzlies are up against in their attempt to clinch an eighth straight postseason berth.
In all likelihood, the league's third-longest current playoff streak will end this spring, possibly while the franchise's public stance remains that no rebuild is planned and veteran center Marc Gasol won't be traded.
Gasol remains a flashpoint for the Grizzlies' problems this season. Not only did tension between him and David Fizdale help cost the former coach his job two weeks ago, but the Spanish big man is shooting a career-low 42 percent. The Grizzlies are being outscored 6.1 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor, but they're outscoring opponents 4.2 per 100 when he's on the bench.
After Friday's loss to the Toronto Raptors - a game in which he was a minus-18 - Gasol took his team to task for a lack of urgency.
"I don't understand, when you've lost ... 12 out of 13 games, how guys can't have urgency," he said. "That to me is mind-boggling." When asked why the Grizzlies lacked cohesion, he cryptically replied, "I'd rather not comment on that right now."
While general manager Chris Wallace is on record saying Gasol won't be traded, some believe Memphis would do it if he asked. At this juncture with the franchise, that only makes sense. Choosing to hitch your wagon to a center who turns 33 in January and an oft (and currently) injured point guard in Mike Conley can only yield so much today.
Related: Marc Gasol is still the Raptors' dream, but they should wait
For that reason, it would be unwise to discount the offseason departures of longtime veterans Zach Randolph, Tony Allen, and Vince Carter in the Grizzlies' shortcomings. While Randolph was an aging big and Allen had been rendered moot offensively, their jovial leadership helped make the Memphis locker room one of the loosest in the NBA the past few years.
However, they couldn't afford to keep those veterans alongside their already-veteran core due to salary-cap constraints. That's what happens when you give Chandler Parsons a $95-million contract after two knee surgeries and get 7.3 points per game in just 54 games in return, or pay Brandan Wright $18 million to play in 56 of a possible 168 contests.
The Grizzlies had to re-sign restricted free-agent power forward JaMychal Green this past summer, but did Wallace really need to give Ben McLemore $10.6 million over two years to shoot 42 percent and fail at in-game 360 dunks?
Green, for one, saw his game grow under Fizdale's revised approach. The 43-year-old ex-bench boss had developed a reputation around the league as a players' coach, so much so that LeBron James publicly questioned the firing of his onetime Miami Heat assistant.
And that's why the Fizdale exit was so vexing. Gasol maintained he played no part in the dismissal, but in what direction is this team now going? To appease an aging franchise player who's still questioning his co-workers?
Odd modus operandi isn't without precedent for the Grizzlies. Earlier in owner Robert Pera's stewardship of the franchise, the 30-something tech billionaire challenged Allen to a one-on-one game. When then-coach Dave Joerger put the kibosh on that, Pera reportedly wanted to fire him (the following year, Joerger was allowed to interview for the Timberwolves head coaching vacancy, but ultimately engineered his own firing by Pera in 2016).
On one hand, the Grizzlies appear enlightened. They were one of the first NBA teams to make a high-profile analytics hire when they brought aboard former ESPN statistical guru John Hollinger in 2012. On the other, they appear to be a mess in terms of the human element.
Any amount of analytical scrutiny, however, doesn't change the fact that with Allen and Randolph gone, the "Grindhouse" era of Grizzlies basketball is over. And so to, likely, is their playoff streak.
Take that for data.