5 biggest disappointments of the 2017-18 NBA season
3. The Grizzlies’ trade-deadline inaction
When Mike Conley suffered a season-ending heel injury in November, the Memphis Grizzlies’ season likewise went kaput. Despite Marc Gasol’s best efforts to keep the team afloat, Memphis fell into complete disarray once Conley left the lineup in mid-November, scuffling its way to its worst record since the 2007-08 season.
In theory, such a collapse should have signaled a fire sale at the trade deadline. After all, Tyreke Evans will become an unrestricted free agent this summer, while Gasol can follow in his footsteps next summer if he declines his $25.6 million player option for the 2019-20 season. If one of them departs in free agency — God forbid both — and the Grizzlies have nothing to show for it, that would be a devastating setback in terms of maximizing resources.
Evans spent his lone year of college at the University of Memphis and revived his career with the Grizzlies, so perhaps he’ll be amenable to re-signing with the Grizzlies for the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. (If Lou Williams’ three-year, $24 million extension was any indication, that may wind up being Evans’ market regardless.) But it only takes one team to fall in love and overpay Evans for the Grizzlies to be left empty-handed.
That’s even more true for Gasol, whose trade value is declining by the day as he moves closer to the end of his contract. Memphis’ front office reportedly refused “to discuss trades on the franchise center” leading up to the NBA’s Feb. 8 trade deadline, according to ESPN.com’s Adrian Wojnarowski, but the big man described his frustration level as “pretty high” while speaking with local reporters later that month.
In mid-December, Gasol told ESPN.com’s Zach Lowe that he had “a responsibility to this city,” adding, “I’m not gonna quit, no matter what.” He added, however, that he would be amenable to a trade if the team wanted to go that route: “If they think it is best, I would do anything for this franchise.”
We won’t know until July, but Memphis could come to regret its inaction at the trade deadline.
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