It was not the No. 1 draft slot. But for a franchise starved for some good luck in the lottery, getting the No. 2 spot in the NBA Draft Lottery was huge for the Grizzlies.
The last time the Grizzlies got the second pick was 2003, when they had to give it to Detroit in order to satisfy a past trade. This time, the pick stays in Memphis. "I'm ecstatic," Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace said. "We dispelled the notion that our franchise can't get lucky. And strategically, we have a number of options. There's only one player that can be taken ahead of us if we keep the pick. We're going to be talking to all of the other 29 teams. No such bad luck this time."
Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins also was all smiles.
"There's definitely going to be a consensus about who are the top three players before we get to the draft," Hollins said. "And I'm happy because we played the season out and did what was right (trying to win games), and we were rewarded by getting the No. 2 pick. I believe we're going to get a good player. We're going to get a player who can help us right away."
Because Wallace and Hollins believes the Clippers at No. 1 will take Oklahoma's Blake Griffin, Wallace and Hollins will take the first weekend after the draft for a trip to Spain to watch 18-year-old point guard Ricky Rubio, who is considered the second-best player in the draft.
The Grizzlies have Mike Conley, who they drafted in the first round two years ago, at the point. But Wallace believes in taking the best player available. There's always a chance the Clippers might trade the No. 1 pick. They already have a good power forward, Zach Randolph, who has a big contract that might not be easy to unload in a trade.
SEASON HIGHLIGHT: The Grizzlies, despite looking more like a professional team in attitude and structure under Lionel Hollins, seemed doomed to their worst season since their first years in Memphis. But in the last three weeks of the season, they shared the ball, hustled, showed some resolve after blowing leads and won seven of their last 12 games, including a 98-90 victory over Atlanta in their season finale. Included in the hot finish was a four-game win streak in which they scored more than 100 points in each victory.
TURNING POINT: The Grizzlies hit a stretch in mid-December to late January where they lost nine straight games and 17 of 19, going from a 9-15 record on Dec. 14 to 11-32 on Jan. 24. It was clear the players had lost faith in Marc Iavaroni as their coach. They all but ignored his in-game instructions and publicly expressed their displeasure. Management responded by firing Iavaroni and hiring former Grizzlies assistant Lionel Hollins.
