Chapter 19: The Long Reconstruction

In the 2016-2017 season, the Grizzlies played the Spurs in the first round of the West, and the first four games were tied 2:2, in the key battle of Tianwang Mountain, the Spurs' backup guard Patrick Mills played well and scored 5 three-pointers, scoring 20 points alone, helping the Spurs defeat the Grizzlies 116-103, in the sixth game, Parker scored 27 points in 11 of 14, Leonard scored 29 points, although Conley scored 26 points in 7 of 18, but the Spurs still took away the final victory of the game, with a big score of 4: 2 eliminated the Grizzlies.

In the whole series, the Grizzlies lost to the superstars, Leonard averaged 31.2 points and 6 rebounds per game in six games, shooting 54.8% from the field, and 48.3% from three-point range to conquer the Memphis, Parker averaged 16.3 points and 3.0 assists per game, shooting 53.3% from the field and 53.3% from three-point range, while Aldridge, the team's interior pillar, was stunned by the Grizzlies' interior twin towers, averaged only 14.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, on the other hand, the Grizzlies, Conley became the absolute first firepower point of the Grizzlies, averaging 24.7 points and 7.0 assists per game, shooting 48.5% from the field, and 44.7% from three-point range.

The 2017-2018 season is a year of major changes for the Memphis Grizzlies, Randolph became a free agent, but the Grizzlies did not renew the meritorious veteran, which is not surprising, after all, Randolph is 36 years old, and his state has declined significantly this season, on July 5, 2017, Randolph signed with the Kings for 2 years and 2400, a day later, the Grizzlies official website issued a long post thanking Zach Randolph for his contribution and promised to retire his No. 50 jersey, Randolph from the former league cancer in the Grizzlies, Respect and status were found.

Randolph, who played for the Grizzlies for eight seasons, played a total of 551 games behind Conley and Gasol Jr., and scored 9,261 points for the Grizzlies to rank third behind Conley and Gasol Jr., second only to Gasol Jr. with 5,612 rebounds, and sixth with 1,085 assists and 429 steals.

The departure of the Black Bear also marks the official end of the Grizzly Bears' iconic Black and White Twin Towers era, with not only Randolph but also Tony Allen leaving. The 36-year-old also did not get a contract extension from the Grizzlies at the end of the season, but the offensive ability of Mr. Toh has been quiet in the free market until September 12, when he found a job with the Pelicans.

Mr. Tuo has worked hard in the Grizzlies for seven years, has always been the team's defensive gate on the outside, and is also the core figure of the team's defense, he doesn't know what offense is, but he doesn't want the opponent to know what offense is, his fighting spirit, has been praised by many players and fans, he has a low starting point, just a No. 25 pick, but six times in his career into the best defensive team is the greatest affirmation and praise for Mr. To. Shortly after Mr. To's announcement of joining the Pelicans, the Grizzlies' official website announced that Mr. To's No. 9 jersey would be retired.

He currently has the ninth-most points and 1,964 rebounds for the Grizzlies, second only to Conley with 796 steals, and seventh in all-time with 217 blocks.

At the 2017 Rookie Conference, the Grizzlies traded a 2018 second-round pick from the Rockets for Dillon Brooks, the 45th overall pick in the second-round pick this year.

Brooks is 198 cm tall, serving as the second position, he has a comprehensive technical background, but each item is not a very top-notch level, he doesn't like to pass the ball very much, but his singles ability is outstanding, which is also where the Grizzlies like the most, playing starters, Dillon has a good mid-range shot, playing as a substitute, Dillon also has excellent singles ability, and Dillon has a good attitude to play, active defense, no matter whether he plays the starter, he has no complaints about playing as a substitute, after eight substitute games, Dillon quickly sat firmly in the Grizzlies' starting second position, He averaged 11 points and 3.1 rebounds per game.

On July 8, 2017, the Grizzlies completed their first signing, signing 2009's Rookie of the Year Terrick Evans for one year and $3.3 million, and after years of absence, the Grizzlies finally signed a great value signing.

Evans used to be the pride of the sky, the fourth in the first round in 09 was selected by the Kings, and his rookie season became the first player in NBA history to contribute an average of 20+5+5 per game in his rookie season, and it should be cultivated by the King as the core, but who knew that Evans was the peak of his rookie, and since then he has been more and more frustrated, and the rookie season ended with the Pelicans, not only failed to find his form, but also suffered a serious injury, Evans suffered a serious injury to his right knee last season, and the season was reimbursed, and then he was replaced to the Kings, The Kings played more than a dozen games and were in average form, and after the free agency opened on July 1, Evans remained unattended and was finally picked up by the Grizzlies for almost the price of cabbage.

After playing 12 games this season, Conley collapsed due to an injury, left heel surgery, and the season was reimbursed, and the Grizzlies were destined to have another season with the Grizzlies this season.

In the first 12 games of this season, the Grizzlies got a 7-5 record, which is generally not bad, but then Conley's reimbursement cast a dark shadow on the team's prospects......

Without Conley, Evans quickly became a sharp knife on the outside of the Grizzlies, on November 1, 2017, the Grizzlies lost to the Magic by two points, Evans came off the bench to score 32 points in 13 of 20, on December 2, the Grizzlies were defeated by the Cavaliers 111-116, Evans started the game, scored 31 points, 7 rebounds and 12 assists in 10 of 20, and only made 1 turnover, on December 23, the Grizzlies defeated the Clippers, Evans scored 30 points, 7 rebounds, 11 assists and 3 steals in 10 of 20, two days later, Evans' 32 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists led the Grizzlies to defeat the Lakers again, and the former stars who were almost abandoned by the NBA found the joy of playing again in the Grizzlies! He averaged 19.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game throughout the season, and his contract was also voted the most cost-effective contract of the year by the media.

Gasol Jr. is still the team's interior mainstay, and on January 3, 2019, in the Grizzlies' defeat to the Hornets, Gasol Jr. faced the black and hard Biyombo and scored 22 points, 10 assists and a career-high 17 rebounds, which was the fourth triple-double of his career.

On March 22, 2018, it was an extremely dark day for Grizzlies fans, on this day, the Grizzlies challenged the Hornets away, and the score was 79:140, and the Grizzlies lost by 61 points! The 61-point margin is the most won game in the history of the Hornets, and it is also the worst game lost in the history of the Grizzlies, ranking sixth in NBA history!

By the way, Parsons only played 36 games this season, averaging only 7.9 points and 2.5 rebounds per game, but the shooting rate was much higher than last season, 46.2% on two-pointers and 42.1% on three-pointers......

This season's Grizzlies went through a miserable mess, and finally slightly inferior to the Suns in shamelessness, losing to the Suns by a win difference, and what is even worse is that the Grizzlies only got the fourth pick, selecting Jalen Jackson.

On February 8, 2019, Gasol Jr., who didn't want to be involved in the team's rebuild, was sent to the Raptors in exchange for Jonas Valanciunas, Deron Wright, CJ Myers and a 2024 second-round pick.

Gasol Jr. has played in the Grizzlies for 11 years, it can be said that he has squandered his spring on the land of Memphis, his No. 33 jersey is worthy of being retired by the Memphis, and now Gasol Jr. has played 769 games for the Grizzlies, with 11,684 points and 2,639 assists in team history second only to Conley, ranking second, 5,941 rebounds and 1,135 blocks ranking first in team history!

Parsons is rotten in his hands, more than 90 million has only played 73 games in three years, and the mileage of the best sixth man is not enough, the Grizzlies want to trade, but people are not stupid, they want the Grizzlies' No. 4 pick to accept Parsons, how can the Grizzlies give, and finally kneel and beg the general managers of the other 29 teams, as long as they can receive Parsons, no matter who comes, as long as they can play......

Okay, the Grizzlies are here for the time being, looking at the history of the Grizzlies, from the Reeves-Raheem combination in the first stage, to the big Gasol-McMiller combination in the second stage, to the black and white double bear-Conlito teacher combination in the third stage, the fourth combination is undoubtedly the most brilliant, not only helping the team reach the Western Conference Finals, but also gaining a large number of fans in the league with this tough style of play.

But now the situation in front of the Grizzlies is also very grim, there are no players with star potential on the team, old players such as Conley, Parsons contracts are too big to get out, and the Grizzlies want to turn over, and they really have to stay up for a few more years......