Chapter 3 The cornerstone of the second wave of team building

The Rockets sent Anthony Carr, Dixon, Harrington, Price, and a 2001 first-round pick and second-round pick in order to get Francis.

Anthony Carr ended his 16-year NBA career with the Grizzlies this year, and Price was in the final second year of his career, in fact in the deal in which the Grizzlies received a first-round pick and two instant picks.

The 26-year-old O'Sella Harrington is a short and stout interior player who is only 206 cm tall, the Rockets' 1996 No. 31 overall pick, and Brook Lopez's distant cousin, who just signed a five-year, $11 million contract last year, and is also a high-quality interior line at a good price, while Michael Dixon is the most valuable in the entire deal.

Dixon is the Rockets' No. 14 rookie in the first round in 1998, 196 cm tall, playing the second position, can be inside and outside, three-point shooting is very accurate, last year he was in the Rockets his three-point shooting rate of 43.3% ranked sixth in the league, more importantly, Dixon and Bibby are very good friends, once teammates in the NCAA, and now the two are playing side by side again, Dixon immediately integrated into the Grizzlies' system and became the team's starting second position.

On February 10, 2000, the Grizzlies defeated the Clippers 112-90 away, Dixon scored a career-high 40 points on 17-of-27 shooting, on March 29, the Grizzlies lost to the Lakers 99-104 at home, Dixon scored 28 points against Kobe Bryant, Dixon scored 32 points on 12-of-17 shots, and on April 12, the Grizzlies lost to the Suns away, Dixon scored 35 points on 12-of-28 shooting, and throughout the season, Dixon was full of 82 games and started the game. He averaged 18.2 points per game and became the team's leading scorer alongside Rahim.

Raheem has continued to perform steadily, with 82 games full attendance, averaging 20.3 points and 10.1 rebounds per game, reaching 20+10 for the first time in his career. The White Devils Bibby is still a stable playmaker averaging 14.5 points and 8.1 assists per game, in the game on November 6, 1999, Bibby scored 17 points and a career-high 16 assists at the time, Reeves only played 67 games, after the major injury, Reeves did not dominate the restricted area, he was strictly controlled by the coach to play time, only 25.7 minutes per game, only 8.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.

At the start of the season, the team won only four of its first 22 games, and after Hill was sacked, Lionel Hollins became the team's interim coach, and the Pistons won a team-high 22 games.

Hollins is a Trail Blazers decorated player, and his No. 14 jersey has been retired by the Trail Blazers for the first time since retiring as a player, and his performance has not been recognized by management, and he has been sacked at the end of the season.

In the 2000 NBA Draft, the Pistons held the list and selected the talented Stromeyer Swift.

At the beginning of the draft, Barkley called Swift a Buck full of energy and a good runner and jumper, and his draft template was the NBA's explosive interior muscle man - Sean Kemp.

Swift University represents Louisiana in the game, with super physical fitness, dominates the NCAA arena, two years in college, Swift sent a total of 130 blocks, this data is only second only to O'Neal and Swift only took 50 games to complete this data, much more efficient than O'Neal, but Swift despite his coveted physical fitness, but his shortcomings are also obvious, the ball quotient is not high, and the ability to grasp opportunities on the offensive and defensive ends is not strong, On the offensive end, in addition to the violent dunk in the penalty area, there is no other offensive means, as an inside line on the defensive end, the body is relatively thin, his block is more reflected in the help defense, the ability to defend one is relatively weak, especially when meeting the strong technical flow of the inner line, it is completely only the part of the explosion.

After Hollins was sacked, the team's head coach was replaced by Sidney Lowe, who coached the Timberwolves for two seasons from 1992 to 1994 with a win percentage of just 24 percent.

Although Lowe's ability is average, this season still brought the Grizzlies to 23-59, and its wins are the highest in team history, Raheem averaged 20.5 points and 9.1 rebounds per game, Dixon averaged 16.3 points per game, Reeves could only hover back and forth between starters and benches because of his uncompetitive knees, averaging only 8.3 points and 6 rebounds per game, and it was the White Devil Mike Bibby who really ushered in the transformation this season.

On November 22, 2000, the Grizzlies lost to the Timberwolves 100-101, Bibby scored 37 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists on 14-of-18 shooting in the game, on January 12, 2001, the Grizzlies 102-115 Supersonic Bibby scored 22 points and a career-high 18 assists, the next day, the Grizzlies defeated the Cavaliers back-to-back, Bibby scored 20 points and 16 assists on 7-of-13 shooting, on February 24, 2001, the Grizzlies defeated the Bulls 75-90, Bibby handed out 17 assists, On April 7, 2001, the Grizzlies lost to the Nuggets 97-98, Bibby scored 17 points on 8-of-13 and scored 18 assists in his peaceful career, and seven days later, the Grizzlies were defeated by the Rockets 95-100, Bibby handed out a career-all-time record of 18 assists for the third time, and in Bibby's career, the top five assists on the list were all in the Grizzlies and all completed this season! Bibby averaged 15.9 points per game and a career-high 8.4 assists, and Bibby failed to be selected as an All-Star this season, which caused condemnation from fans across the league!

In mid-2000-01, Grizzlies owner Michael Hasley began to consider the Grizzlies' prospects in Vancouver, and the gloomy record led to a decline in the team's popularity and supporters. After weighing many options, Haysley decided it was time for the Grizzlies to make a change. On February 12, 2001, League President David Stern agreed to Haisley's request, and Memphis, from mayor to people, stood out in competition with New Orleans, Anaheim and Louisville, so the team moved to Memphis for the 2001-2002 season, and the team name continued to use the Grizzlies.

In 2004, the Grizzlies settled on a new arena and paid $90 million for the 20-year naming rights to the FedEx Center.

The Grizzlies spent a total of six years in Vancouver, with a total of 101 wins in 460 games in those six years, a winning rate of only 21.9%, and never made the playoffs.

Not only did the Grizzlies move from Vancouver to Memphis in the new season, but the team's roster also ushered in a huge change.

The first is that the Grizzlies traded away Raheem, who was in his prime, and the general manager of the Grizzlies became former NBA celebrity Bill Knight, as soon as Knight came to the team, he began to think about the 2001 rookie conference, when scouting players, Knight was in Europe, impressed by a big man with outstanding skills, and the more he looked at it, the more he loved it, that person was Pau Gasol.

At that time, the 21-year-old Gasol has become a rising star in Europe, 213 cm tall, delicate technology, invincible under the basket, and has a mid-range shot, and will respond, Gasol is already a key player in European basketball Barcelona training, playing guard when he was a child, and then his height increased suddenly, and his position is getting closer and closer to the inside, Gasol's basket skills are very outstanding, he can pass the ball inside and outside, in the summer of 2001 in the European Basketball Championship in Turkey, Gasol averaged 17.5 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, completely overshadowing the famous NBA star Nowitzki, and Knight finally became madly obsessed with Gasol, and he thought about it for days before finally deciding on the trade.

In the 2001 draft, the Hawks selected Pau Gasol with the third pick, and then was traded to the Grizzlies and got Rahim, in order to get Gasol, the Grizzlies not only sent the team's number one star, but also paid Gasol $2.2 million plus Gasol's own $1.6 million to his parent club Barcelona as a buyout fee, and then signed a three-year 7.85 million rookie contract with Gasol, and Gasol began his brilliant career in the NBA.

Raheem's 7,801 points for the Vancouver Grizzlies rank first in Vancouver Grizzlies' team history, 3,070 rebounds are also first, 416 steals and 374 blocks are also first, although Raheem has a good career with the Grizzlies, but it is still a trade that the Hawks regret a lot, Raheem played three seasons with the Hawks, suffered a serious injury and slowly faded out of the professional game, and Gasol became the NBA's premier interior star.

In addition to trading to Raheem, the Grizzlies also traded away another of the team's hopefuls, the White Devil McBibby, the Grizzlies who newly relocated to Memphis are in urgent need of exposure, McBibby's style of play is too unpretentious, it just so happened that the Kings' starting point guard nicknamed "White Chocolate" Jason Williams had a discord with the team and filed a trade request, White Chocolate's style of play is extremely gorgeous, although his stability is insufficient, but Williams' very ornamental style of play is exactly what the Grizzlies need.

This is really not a deliberate praise for white chocolate, in fact, the emergence of white chocolate, it is not an exaggeration to describe it as a sideways birth, playing very creatively, passing elusively, strength and ornamentation, in the rookie season of white chocolate 1998-1999 season, his No. 55 jersey sales have been in the NBA of all players sales ranked fifth, and the Kings' home attendance, 13% more than last season, is the NBA with the largest increase in the team!

As a victim, Bibby scored 1,675 assists in the Vancouver Grizzlies, ranking first in team history, and this trade had the best of both worlds.

The newly relocated team looks wonderful, but the team also has a huge loss, that is, Reaves was stuck in ankle and lower back injuries, and he had no choice but to announce his retirement, and when we talked about the Grizzlies' green years in Vancouver later, "Big Hillbilly" is definitely the most difficult memory.

Reaves was the team's first star, but his entire career was plagued by injuries, and his glory was short-lived, all dedicated to the Vancouver Grizzlies, averaging 12.5 points and 6.9 rebounds per game in six seasons, and throughout his career, the Hillbilly scored 4,945 points, 2,745 rebounds and 302 blocks for the Grizzlies, second only to Rahim.

In the 2001 draft, the Grizzlies made a big come, selecting the NCAA honor-decorated Sean Battier with the sixth pick.

Coming from a well-educated middle-class family, Battier's personality and style are the same as those of Grant Hill, a model of the previous era. In his four years in North Carolina, Battier won almost every honor he could take, and in his final year, Battier led North Carolina to win the NCAA championship, while Battier won the MOP, Best Defensive Player, Naismith Award and John Wooden Award.

In terms of the team's roster, the Grizzlies signed center Lorenz White for five years and $33 million, and White is a hard-working interior player with a tough style of play and no complaints whether he plays as a starter or off the bench.

In just one season, the trident Raheem and Bibby, who had been pinned on the team's hopes, were traded, Reaves retired, Dixon suffered a major injury during the season, due to an Achilles tendon injury, Dixon only played 4 games in the season, and the team reconfirmed the new team with Gasol as the core.

When Gasol first started to enter the NBA league, he was thin, but Gasol was a very motivated player, and immediately recognized his shortcomings, and began to fight on the first day he came to the arena, Gasol averaged 17.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.1 blocks per game in his rookie season, and undoubtedly became the best rookie of the year, while Basule averaged 14.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, and was selected for the best rookie team.

In addition to Gasol and Battier, the team's other hopeful, Swift, is averaging 11.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game as a substitute. Lorenz White also averaged 12 points and 9.4 rebounds per game, and the team was stacked with three very capable interior players for a while, Gasol, Swift and White, who became the main guarantee of the aggregate interior in the following years.

With these three pie gods, White Chocolate showed his talent to the fullest, averaging 14.8 points and 8 assists per game, and in 65 games, 22 assists were double-doubled, and 13 times scored 20+, including 19 assists, 16 assists and 38 points.

Although the Grizzlies lineup has changed greatly, the team's record has not improved, it is still 23-59, exactly the same as last season, and has been rejected from the playoffs for the seventh consecutive year, and the Grizzlies' big brother, the Toronto Raptors, under the leadership of Carter, reached the playoffs in the fourth year of the team, and reached the playoffs for three consecutive years.

In the 2002 draft, the Grizzlies chose power forward Drew Gooden, who is 208 cm tall and plays as a power forward, with a tough style of play, comprehensive skills, slow feet on the defensive end, and poor physical fitness, Drew averaged 26 minutes per game. He had 12.1 points and 5.8 rebounds, but it was clear that the Grizzlies were a bit bloated with four capable interior players, and they were in dire need of a great outside player, so on February 20, 2003, the Grizzlies sent Gooden to the Magic to get super shooter McMiller.

Miller is 203 cm tall, in the third grade, in the second and third positions, with extremely average physical fitness, but has a historical shooting ability, and his career three-point shooting rate exceeds 4 percent, and he is the best rookie in 2000.

Gasol has shown a terrifying ability to stabilize output this season, this season's Gasol averaged 19 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.8 blocks per game, 82 games of full attendance, scoring 20+ to 42 games, scoring less than 10 points only 9 games, rebounding more than 10 games in 34 games, Gasol got 32 double-doubles throughout the season, although Gasol was not selected as an All-Star this season, but it seems to have been among the league's first-class interior lines.

Originally, the team's management pinned on a strong interior line to make a difference this season, but who would have thought that at the beginning of the season, the Grizzlies led by Lowe suffered a wave of eight consecutive losses, and then Lowe was disgraced and Huby Brown took over.

Brown is a well-known veteran coach in the league, coaching the Hawks in 1976-1981, coaching the Knicks in 1982-1987, all of which have achieved extraordinary achievements, and then went to be a commentator, and has been doing it for 15 years, this year, at the kind invitation of old friend Jerry West, the 68-year-old Brown returned to the mountain as the head coach of the Grizzlies. And for the Grizzlies, Pau Gasol is the Knicks' Patrick Ewing.

The Grizzlies led by Brown suffered a wave of five consecutive defeats, and the Grizzlies, who hope to make a difference this season, started with a tragic 13-game losing streak.