The Memphis Grizzlies have joined the great 2018 tank race

By Tony East | Feb 27, 2018

MIAMI, FL - FEBRUARY 24: Jarell Martin /

It’s the final third of the NBA season, which can only mean one thing: The great tank race is on. The Memphis Grizzlies are joining the fight.

Let’s face it, the NBA is run by stars. Every single team that wins a championship has a superstar on the roster, and most have more than one. Since the turn of the century, the worst best player on a championship team was (probably) Hall-of-Famer Chauncey Billups, showcasing how important it is to have a superstar on the squad.

For most teams, including the Memphis Grizzlies, the easiest way to get a superstar is to draft one.

The Grizzlies know this better than anyone. They are one of the least attractive free agent destinations in the whole league; their most high-profile signing of the last decade may be Chandler Parsons. They also know the value of a good draft thanks to draft night 2007, the night in which the franchise acquired Mike Conley and in which Marc Gasol was first drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers (only to be traded to Memphis the following year).

2007 became year one of the most recent Memphis rebuild. It was Conley’s first season, with Gasol coming over a year later from Spain. The Grizzlies were acquiring as much young talent as possible to try to build a core for the future, including Gasol, Conley, O.J. Mayo, Javaris Crittenton, and even Kyle Lowry.

This strategy paid off. Between Conley, Gasol, and Mayo for a little while, the Memphis Grizzlies were able to build a perennial contender. They have made the playoffs in seven straight seasons (a streak that will likely end this season) and even made a conference finals appearance, one round away from the pinnacle of NBA success.

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Now, it may be time for a new era of Memphis Grizzlies basketball. Gasol’s contract ends next season. Conley is aging and is injury-prone. Parsons has quickly lost both talent and the ability to actually play. It is probably time for general manager Chris Wallace to look in the mirror and say “It’s time to rebuild.”

Thankfully, it looks like he is making that decision. The Grizzlies are doing the NBA league office’s least favorite thing, or at least they appear to be. They are tanking.

Memphis is one of five NBA teams that has 18 wins. That is the lowest number of wins in the league, tied with the Phoenix Suns, Orlando Magic, Sacramento Kings and Atlanta Hawks, and the Dallas Mavericks were right there until they won Monday night. The Grizzlies know that since they need to acquire a superstar for their next chapter, finishing with a worse record than any of those teams is crucial.

Additionally, as outlined by ESPN‘s Brian Windhorst, teams are tanking because there is lottery reform in place for next season. That will make it harder to get the No. 1 pick. As a result, teams are tanking even harder to try and have more control of their fate while they still can.

Combine that with a loaded, top-heavy 2018 NBA Draft class and there you have it — a perfect storm with many reasons for the Grizzlies to tank.

It is obvious they are doing so.

Ivan Rabb is playing double-digit minutes. Wayne Selden is starting games. Tyreke Evans sat out a week mostly for trade reasons, but it also helped the tank. Jarell Martin started and played over 30 minutes against Miami a few nights ago. The team has lost 10 straight games, tied with the Suns for the longest active losing streak in the NBA.

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It’s clear the Grizzlies are tanking. They will call it “developing young talent” or “seeing what they have in their young guys,” but they are tanking, and it is the right thing to do. Only time will tell if they can win the race to the bottom.

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