Look, there’s no reason to try to pull one over on you here. We’re talking about the 22-41 Memphis Grizzlies, who last year were the #2 seed in the Western Conference, and this year are undergoing one of the all-time brutal seasons from hell. No one move is going to turn things around for Memphis this year, and to be honest, that would’ve been the case fifty games ago, well before the wheels had officially flew off the Grizzlies wagon.
Today, the Grizzlies made a move purely out of necessity, as they signed Wenyen Gabriel to a 10-day contract.
Wenyen Gabriel played 68 games for the Los Angeles Lakers last season, averaging 5.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per game in the regular season. He also made appearances in ten postseason games for the Lakers on their run to the Western Conference Finals, averaging 3 minutes per game. Since going undrafted in 2018, Gabriel has played in 148 regular season games.
As stated before, the presence of Wenyen Gabriel isn’t going to move the needle for the Grizzlies this year. Ja Morant was back for only nine games before suffering a season-ending injury. Marcus Smart, a key offseason addition from the Boston Celtics, has played in only 20 games. Desmond Bane hasn’t played since mid-January thanks to an ankle injury. In a 30-point blowout loss to the lowly Portland Trail Blazers, the Grizzlies started Jordan Goodwin, Trey Jemison, Vince Williams Jr., Santi Aldama, and Ziaire Williams. Along with Williams Jr., Aldama, and Williams, Jaren Jackson Jr., David Roddy and John Konchar are the only other Grizzlies players to play in at least 40 games this season.
This season is an unmitigated disaster for Memphis, but given good health next year, there’s no reason why the 2023-24 season couldn’t end up being nothing more than a hiccup in what will otherwise be a semi-extended run of Memphis Grizzlies relevance in the Western Conference.
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