Let the rebuilding of the Grizzlies begin!

Mark Randall

A Times Staff Sports Column As a long-time Memphis Grizzlies fan, it was hard to see the club trade away Mike Conley. It was bad enough to lose Marc Gasol, who of course went on to win a championship with the Toronto Raptors.

Now with the departure of Conley, grit and grind is officially a thing of the past. We will see both of their jerseys hanging from the rafters some day, but the Grizzlies are now in full rebuild mode.

But I have to say, the 2019 draft took away some of the sting of the Gasol and Conley trades. The front office absolutely earned an ‘A.’ We didn’t get a repeat of 2009, the last time the Grizz had the No. 2 pick where they could have had James Harden or Steph Curry but instead wasted it on Hasheem Thabeet.

This time, the Grizzlies arguably got two of the best players in the draft. It was already pretty much a foregone conclusion that the Grizzles were going to make Murray State star Ja Morant the No. 2 pick overall. By most accounts, Morant will be a star. Although he will have some big shoes to fill to replace Conley, Morant averaged 24.5 points per game last season with 10 assists and 5.7 rebounds and powered Murray State into the second round of the NCAA Tournament. So hands down, Morant is a great pick and will be the main piece along with last year’s No. 4 pick Jaren Jackson Jr. in the Grizzlies rebuild. But the real steal of the 2019 draft could well be our No. 21 pick of Brandon Clarke. The Grizzlies were able to snag Clarke by trading their No. 23 pick that they got in the Conley trade from Utah to Oklahoma City along with a future draft pick. Clarke was already seen by most experts as one of the most intriguing prospects. Some had him going in the Top 10, but definitely in the Top 20. He slipped to No. 21, but it was a great move by Memphis to get him.

Clarke is a very good player. In 37 games last year for Gonzaga, Clarke averaged 17 points on 68.7 percent shooting from the field on top of nine rebounds. He is also no slouch on defense where he had 117 blocked shots and 1.2 steals a game. I think the Grizzlies made an excellent selection by trading up for Clarke. They now have two superb players going forward.

Bottom line, although I’m said to lose Conley, I think the Grizz made the right moves in the draft that should give fans a lot to look forward to. With a new head coach and a young roster, this new look Memphis team should be fun to watch. Only one thing is missing for me right now. I sure hope Jonas Valenciunas comes back.