During the Grit 'n Grind era, the Memphis Grizzlies were dark horse contenders for so many years, and their lackluster offense is something that they never solved, and the blame should be pointed at their former GM Chris Wallace.
Without question, Hasheem Thabeet is the biggest disappointment from the 2009 NBA Draft as he lived up to his expectations of being the #2 pick becoming one of the biggest busts in recent history.
Imagine if the Grizzlies took James Harden instead of Thabeet?
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Blame is on Heisley. He is who forced Wallace to draft Thabeet. I’d love to be mad at him for it, but he brought the Grizz to Memphis so can’t be too mad 😅
Or if we took literally anyone else, that draft was super loaded.
If the Grizz had taken Harden, Curry, Derozan, Holiday, hell even Tyreke Evans, they probably win a championship.
Brother we good, we just have to be healthy on court and not stoopid off court
I mean what if my aunt had wings, she could fly
There’s so many scenarios going back to the year we lost the pick on the LeBron/Melo draft (and DET took Darko with our pick). I like Harden and I think he has become one of those guys that everyone just dumps on(some of it rightfully deserved, especially being out of shape and partying). He would have helped a lot.
I hate to say it…. But I understood why we took a center.
We had Mike/Lowry
Oj
Rudy
Zbo
Marc (young chubby Marc)
Of those at the time, Marc was the weakest of that lineup and not much of a rim protector and neither was zbo
So on paper, it would make sense just like we needed edey.
But edey is a thousand times better so it’s all good.
I have an even better one for you…
What if not only did the Grizz draft James Harden at #2, what if the Grizz realized OJ Mayo didn’t fit the team with Harden and the addition of frontcourt scorer Zach Randolph, so the Grizz offered OJ Mayo to the Wizards for the #5 pick. Maybe throw in the #27 pick. The Wizards prefer the first team rookie from the previous year Mayo over the package of Randy Foye (on the last year of his rookie deal) and Mike Miller from the Timberwolves.
The Grizz could draft Ricky Rubio but coach Lionel Hollins is adamant that Stephen Curry is the right choice. Since Hollins was the one who convinced owner Mike Heisley that Harden would do what Mayo could do but with more size and better temperament, Heisley trusts Hollins’s opinion and directs GM Chris Wallace to take Curry.
If this happens, Conley probably moves off the starting line-up. Allen Iverson is probably never signed with the mid-level. And the next season the Grizzlies probably possibly don’t sign Tony Allen.
But the 2009-2010 could have had a line-up of
Gasol / Randolph / Gay / Harden / Curry with Conley, Arthur, and possibly Sam Young still as key reserves.
Tyreke Evans goes to the Thunder instead of the worst managed team in the NBA and becomes the star he deserved to be