2019–20 Memphis Grizzlies season

The 2019–20 Memphis Grizzlies season was the 25th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and 19th in Memphis.

After the end of the 2018–19 season, and prior to the beginning of the 2019–20 season, Robert Pera announced a restructuring of the Grizzlies' basketball operations department: "In order to put our team on the path to sustainable success, it was necessary to change our approach to basketball operations".^[1]

On April 11, 2019, the Grizzlies fired head coach J. B. Bickerstaff after missing the playoffs.^[2] Additionally, general manager Chris Wallace was reallocated to a role exclusively in player scouting. Jason Wexler was announced as team president and Zachary Kleiman was promoted to general manager, as the executive vice president of basketball operations.^[3][1]

On May 14, during the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery, the Grizzlies not only kept their first round selection this year, but rose up to the #2 pick in the process. The Grizzlies later found their new head coach on June 11 with Milwaukee Bucks assistant coach Taylor Jenkins.^[4] On June 19, 2019, it was announced that longtime point guard Mike Conley would be traded to the Utah Jazz after spending his first 12 years in the league with the Grizzlies.^[5] It was for the first time since the 2006–07 season that Conley was not with the Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies selected Ja Morant as the second pick in the 2019 NBA draft, who became their point guard of the future. Morant was named the NBA Rookie of the Year following an impressive first season in Memphis.

The season was suspended by the league officials following the games of March 11^[6] after it was reported that Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19.^[7] On June 4, the Grizzlies were one of the 22 teams invited to the NBA Bubble. On August 15, they fell to the Portland Trail Blazers in the league's first ever play-in game to end the season.

Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Club
1	2	Ja Morant	PG	United States	Murray State

The Memphis Grizzlies held a first round pick for the 2019 NBA Draft that coming into it had possible lottery implications.^[8] Before the night of the NBA draft lottery, the Grizzlies risked losing the selection if it fell outside of the top 8 due to a prior trade with the Boston Celtics.^[9] However, their sole first round pick rose up six spots in the draft to go from the already safe #8 selection to the second overall pick of the draft.^[10] On the night before the 2019 NBA draft began, the Grizzlies agreed to trade mainstay Mike Conley to the Utah Jazz in exchange for Grayson Allen, Jae Crowder, Kyle Korver, a future first round pick, and the Jazz's first round pick that year at #23, although the trade would not be completed until July 6 due to salary cap reasons.^[11]

With the second pick of the draft, the Grizzlies selected point guard Ja Morant from Murray State University. The Grizzlies also received Canadian power forward Brandon Clarke after he was selected by the Oklahoma City Thunder out of Gonzaga with the 21st pick and immediately traded to the Grizzlies for the 23rd pick (via the Utah Jazz), and the Grizzlies' 2024 second round pick.^[12][13]

Roster

2019–20 Memphis Grizzlies roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From G 3 Allen, Grayson 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 198 lb (90 kg) 1995–10–08 Duke G/F 1 Anderson, Kyle 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1993–09–20 UCLA G/F 24 Brooks, Dillon 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1996–01–22 Oregon G/F 15 Clarke, Brandon 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1996–09–19 Gonzaga C 14 Dieng, Gorgui 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 252 lb (114 kg) 1990–01–18 Louisville G 23 Gudurić, Marko 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 201 lb (91 kg) 1995–03–08 Serbia F/C 13 Jackson, Jaren  6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 242 lb (110 kg) 1999–09–15 Michigan State G/F 20 Jackson, Josh 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 207 lb (94 kg) 1997–02–10 Kansas G 21 Jones, Tyus 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 196 lb (89 kg) 1996–05–10 Duke G 46 Konchar, John (TW) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1996–03–22 Purdue Fort Wayne G 0 Melton, De'Anthony 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1998–05–28 USC G 12 Morant, Ja 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 174 lb (79 kg) 1999–08–10 Murray State F/C – Porter, Jontay  6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1999–11–15 Missouri F 44 Tolliver, Anthony 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1985–06–01 Creighton C 17 Valančiūnas, Jonas 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 265 lb (120 kg) 1992–05–06 Lithuania G/F 18 Watanabe, Yuta (TW) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1994–10–13 George Washington G/F 7 Winslow, Justise  6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 222 lb (101 kg) 1996–03–26 Duke	Head coach Taylor Jenkins Assistant coach(es) Neven Spahija Brad Jones David McClure Scoonie Penn Vitaly Potapenko Niele Ivey Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended (GL) On assignment to G League affiliate (TW) Two-way affiliate player Injured Roster Last transaction: 2020–09–13

Standings

Division

Conference

Game log

Preseason

Regular season

Play-in

Transactions

Trades

Free agency

Re-signed

Additions

Player	Signed	Former team
John Konchar[25]	July 8	Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons
Tyus Jones[26]	July 11	Minnesota Timberwolves
Marko Gudurić[27]	July 31	Fenerbahçe Beko
Matt Mooney[28]	September 4	Texas Tech Red Raiders
Ahmad Caver[29]	October 15	Old Dominion Monarchs
Jarrod Uthoff[30]	October 16	Zenit Saint Petersburg
Shaq Buchanan[31]	October 17	Murray State Racers
Bennie Boatwright[32]	October 18	USC Trojans

Subtractions

Player	Reason left	New team
Jordan Bell[33]	Waived	Capital City Go-Go
Avery Bradley[34]	Waived	Los Angeles Lakers
Bennie Boatwright[35]	Waived	Memphis Hustle
Shaq Buchanan[32]	Waived	Memphis Hustle
Ahmad Caver[30]	Waived	Memphis Hustle
Tyler Dorsey[36]	UFA	Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv
Dusty Hannahs[29]	Waived	Memphis Hustle
Dwight Howard[37]	Waived	Los Angeles Lakers
Justin Holiday[38]	UFA	Indiana Pacers
Matt Mooney[24]	Waived	Memphis Hustle
Joakim Noah	UFA	Los Angeles Clippers
Miles Plumlee[35]	Waived	Zhejiang Lions
Ivan Rabb[35]	Waived	New York Knicks
Jarrod Uthoff[31]	Waived	Memphis Hustle
Tyler Zeller[39]	UFA	Denver Nuggets

References