Memphis Grizzlies: How They Quietly Won Draft Night

Kosta Koufos was a great pickup for the Memphis Grizzlies. (Photo by Howard Cheng/Creative Commons)

Going into Thursday’s draft, no one was expecting the Memphis Grizzlies to do anything particularly noteworthy. After all, they didn’t have a pick until the middle of the second round, selecting for the first time at No. 41. Granted, they did have two other picks later on (No. 55 and No. 60), but no one expects to get a great player at that point of the draft. For every Manu Ginobili, there’s about 30 Derrick Caracters.

But to the surprise of many, the Grizzlies had an excellent draft night, making some key moves that will bolster their roster immediately. The first was the selection of San Diego State’s Jamaal Franklin. Franklin is considered to be one of the diamonds in the rough of this draft. He had an excellent season at San Diego State, leading the Aztecs to the NCAA tournament while averaging 17.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. He’s an explosive athlete who could very well be a productive player for Memphis down the line.

While Franklin was likely disappointed that he wasn’t taken sooner, the Grizzlies might be the perfect spot for him to begin his NBA career since he will not be asked to contribute a great deal right away. One of Franklin’s biggest flaws in college was that he was a huge turnover machine, which is likely why he slipped in the draft. If Franklin is asked to play a ton of minutes right away, he could have trouble adjusting to the speed of the NBA and become even more turnover prone. Assuming the Grizzlies retain Tony Allen — which they certainly hope to do — the Grizzlies will have two quality shooting guards in Allen and Jerryd Bayless (who began playing the 2-guard spot last year and excelled). That means Franklin likely will not be a rotation player upon arrival. He can slowly learn the ropes of the NBA and in time develop into a useful player.

The Grizzlies also made one of the smartest trades of the night, sending Darrell Arthur to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Kosta Koufos. This trade helps the Grizzlies in multiple ways. First of all, they finally have a backup center. Last year, the big men in their rotation essentially consisted of three power forwards (Arthur, Zach Randolph and Ed Davis) with Marc Gasol serving as the lone true center. Now, the rotation is more balanced and will likely lead to Davis — who was criminaly underused, especially in the playoffs — finally getting some playing time.

Additionally, getting a player as talented as Koufos to be part of your second unit is an excellent move. Last year, Koufos was a starter on a 57-win Nuggets team and proved to be one of the more efficient big men in the league, shooting .581 from the field. Being able to bring a player of his caliber off the bench is tremendous luxury.  It also gives the Grizzlies one of the better second units in the league. if the Grizzlies don’t trade anyone, they would be bringing Koufos, Davis, Quincy Pondexter and Jerryd Bayless off the bench. This is a very deep Grizzlies team, one who could be quite scary in the playoffs.

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Generated 7/1/2013.

None of the Grizzlies’ moves garnered a great deal of media attention, but they became a considerably better team on Thursday night. Koufos immediately improves their rotation, while Franklin could develop into a solid player down the line. After having their best season in franchise history, the Grizzlies are making it clear they don’t plan on going away any time soon.