Why the 2009 Draft Could Be a Franchise Changer for the T-Wolves and Grizzlies

The Minnesota Timber Wolves and the Memphis Grizzlies have been one of the more dysfunctional organizations in the NBA.

Both teams traded their top player off to playoff caliber teams; both of those teams went on to win the NBA Title the past two seasons.

The Timberwolves have faced many changes within the front office and management, which includes a vacant head coaching position that is hope to become filled soon.

The Grizzlies have faced trouble as well of putting people in the seats, and has not found much success of finding talent over the past decade, that is until recent memory.

Both of the organizations have gone through overhauls, and have faced seasons that have been disheartening over the past few years.

However, it seems as if both of these organizations finally are getting it.

Minnesota has been building around the dominance of the forward and center in Al Jefferson and Kevin Love.

Jefferson, a future All-Star, was wracking up the daily double-doubles before receiving his season ending injury. Love did not find much playing time at first, however did find his way into the lineup down the stretch, and did perform up to rookie status.

The Memphis Grizzlies has built the franchise around the talent of their guards.

Led by OJ Mayo, Mike Conley, and Rudy Gay, the scoring threat has been built on the offensive side, as the potential has shown there.

Yet, each team has needs. Minnesota needed to upgrade at the guard spot, while Memphis needed to get a big man down low.

With the second pick in the draft, the Grizzlies selected Hasheem Thabeet, center from Connecticut. The obvious choice at number two, Thabeet will bring the great defensive play to the Grizzlies who were one of the worst defensive teams in the league.

The Minnesota Timberwolves had the best draft by many beliefs, having four picks in the first round, three of them point guards.

Ricky Rubio and Johnny Flynn were back to back, fifth and sixth overall in the draft, while Ty Lawson was taken later in the first round, and was later dealt to the Nuggets for a future first round pick.

The draft was guard heavy, and the Wolves certainly filled the void with selecting two in the top ten.

Flynn could eventually be shifted to shooting guard, as he nearly averaged 20 points a game last season with Syracuse.

Rubio, however, is a great talent. At age 18, the organization will have a great amount of time to develop him.. Ricky is great stretching the ball down the court, making the plays without shooting the ball.

He also gained great experience in the Olympics against Team USA.

The 2009 NBA Draft showed a lot of promise, these two franchises as one of the winners. Both of these teams are young, athletic, and are soon ready to make the next step.

Prediction: Both of these teams will be contending for a playoff spot around the 2012-2013 season, as the talent they have will surely show up and lead them to new heights.

Matt Miselis is a writer for BleacherReport.com