Have the Memphis Grizzlies Surpassed the LA Clippers As the Worst NBA Franchise?

For the longest time, the Los Angeles Clippers have been labeled the worst NBA franchise. The butt of jokes for everyone from Bill Simmons to Jay Leno, the Clippers became synonymous with losers in the NBA unofficial dictionary. Now it looks like the Memphis Grizzlies have supplanted them.

It is ironic that the Clippers and Grizzlies got the first and second place respectively in a draft loaded with one solitary NBA ready franchise superstar. From that point onwards, it looks like the Clippers might finally turn their fortunes, if not at least not the epitome of hilarity.

The trade that precipitated this is undoubtedly the Zach Randolph trade. When the Clippers won the lottery, the consensus is that either Z-Bo or Griffin might have to play out of position on occasion since Randolph is considered unmovable due to his $33 million contract.

Enter your Memphis Grizzlies. When news first came out that Donald Sterling nixed the Darko for Z-Bo deal because he felt they were not getting the best end of the deal, I nearly fell off my chair. WTF? Darko has an expiring contract!

And it's Zach bleedin' Randolph, the man whom you traded Tim Thomas and the heart condition of Cuttino Mobley for! The fact that the Knicks took a look at Mobley's medical report and decided "Eff it, let's do anyway!" should have spoke volumes about their regard for him. Sterling vetoed it anyway.

Who would have imagined that Memphis had upped the ante by trading Darko for Quentin Richardson then trading Richardson for Zach Randolph again? That in itself is astounding. Thankfully (for Clippers fans at least) this deal reportedly will go through.

This deal is incredibly asinine for Memphis on more than one count:

1) The last two GMs to acquire Z-Bo were Isiah and Mike Dunleavy, is that not a red flag if I ever saw one?

2) The last two GMs to trade Z-Bo away were delighted just to get back expiring contracts. If that is not a massive red banner, what is?

3) They gifted their franchise power forward Pau Gasol to the Lakers for expiring contracts because they wanted to rebuild, then they acquire someone whose contract runs into 2011 like Gasol and costs less than $2m over two years less than Gasol's. Statistically, Z-Bo might look marginally better but Gasol is an All-NBA third team player while Z-Bo would struggle to make the All NBA 13th team.

4) They took on additional salary.

5) On a young team lacking veteran leadership, they acquired a renown locker room cancer.

Just 3) & 4) alone shows you how lacking in direction the Grizzlies are. In an earlier article, I wrote about the divergence between the Grizzlies and Thunder, in spite of their young talent and cap space. Well, the gulf just widened thanks to the Z-Bo trade.

To accentuate their woes, they drafted Hasheem Thabeet with their No. 2 pick. I think Thabeet can be a useful role player in the NBA but useful role players do not get drafted in the top 10, let alone the second pick.

In contrast, by dumping Z-Bo, the Clippers got an amazing boost in their arm. Now they can concentrate on developing Griffin without him having to compete for playing time with a petulant Z-Bo while positioning themselves as legit players in the 2010 free agent pool.

Honestly, if it weren't the Clippers, do you not think a core of Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, Al Thornton, Blake Griffin, and Chris Kaman would prove rather attractive for LeBron or Dwyane? In a big market no less.

Without getting carried away, an objective observer would have to believe the Clippers are in a better position compared to the Grizzlies. Even if no first tier free agent joins them, this core might be playoff bound, especially with the unfortunate demise of the Rockets and Suns.

As for the Grizzlies, I imagine most GMs would have Chris Wallace's number on speed dial.

Mitch Kupchak: Hey Chris, how's the going? Listen, you know I owe you one for Pau, in fact two for taking on Chris Mihm. I got something for you. Your team lacks three-point shooters.

Because I owe you, I can offer you a backup shooting guard who is known as the Machine because he loves to shoot the 3. Don't worry, I won't ask for anyone, just take him for the right to swap second round picks in 2012 or something. I owe you that much.

Donnie Walsh: Hey Chris, congrats on getting a 20-10 monster. I wonder if you finished rebuilding your front court cos I got a young athletic center for you. In fact, he used to play with Z-Bo, no chemistry issues there. How about it? Nah, not David Lee, Eddie Curry.

It may seem far fetched, but then again it is the Memphis Grizzlies. I never thought the day would come when Mike Dunleavy fleeces anyone but in Chris Wallace, he met his match.