Grizzlies Refuse to Sink out West with Mike Conley, Chandler Parsons Signings

The Memphis Grizzlies' offseason playbook looks like something straight out of Monty Python. Where once the Grizzlies looked to be dead in the dangerous waters of the NBA's Western Conference, they're now getting better...and better.

Within the first 24 hours of free agency, Memphis agreed to terms with Chandler Parsons (four years, $94.8 million, per The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski) and Mike Conley Jr. (five years, $153 million, per ESPN's Marc Stein). Both will be max contracts, with Conley's doubling as the largest pact in NBA history to date.

Team owner Robert Pera took notice:

For Conley, the difference between what he'll earn in Memphis and what he could've taken home elsewhere might've been enough to seal the deal for the Grizzlies. According to ESPN's Tim McMahon, the most anyone else could've offered was $114 million over four years.

In Parsons' case, Memphis' hiring of David Fizdale as head coach and J.B. Bickerstaff, formerly of the Houston Rockets, as an assistant put Tennessee's team over the top.

"I really believed in Coach Fiz," Parsons told McMahon via text message. "Nobody in the league has coached better wings than him. I trust [assistant coach J.B. Bickerstaff] with my life. They have nobody like me, and their veteran, experienced players are a perfect fit with me."

Among those who could also fit with Parsons: Eric Gordon. According to Pacers reporter Scott Agness, Gordon will soon decide between the Grizzlies and New York Knicks:

Either way, it's clear that Memphis won't sink quietly into the cellar out West, not after the way its 2015-16 season ended.

The Grizzlies succumbed to injury after injury (after injury after injury), until they'd cycled through an NBA-record 28 different players on their roster. Conley's strained Achilles cost him the final month-and-a-half of the year. Marc Gasol's broken navicular bone put him out for the last two.

Without that duo in tow, Memphis barely crossed the finish line with its playoff spot intact. For their efforts, the Grizzlies were ground up by the San Antonio Spurs in a first-round sweep, losing by an average of 22 points per game.

But rather than bottom out—as they seemed keen to do after dealing away Courtney Lee and Jeff Green at the trade deadline—the Grizzlies have bounced back.

Lance Murphey/Associated Press

They've retained Conley, one of the best two-way point guards in the league and a franchise staple since drafting him fourth overall in 2007. They've added Parsons, a versatile wing who has the ball skills to ease Conley's creative burden and the shooting ability to unclutter the floor for Gasol and Zach Randolph down low.

All this, after loading up on young talent in the draft, from Vanderbilt guard Wade Baldwin IV and Michigan State big man Deyonta Davis to Serbian swingman Rade Zagorac and Chinese center Wang Zhelin.

Not that the Grizzlies can now rest easy. Gasol, at 31, might not be the All-Star he once was coming off a tricky foot injury. Conley will have to keep a close eye on his heel going forward. And Parsons, who will be raking in well over $20 million per season in the River City, has seen his last two campaigns ended by knee surgeries.

As SB Nation's Tom Ziller noted, the Grizzlies now have significant money tied up in a physically tenuous trio:

"

Memphis has $340 million committed to three dudes who combined to play 23 games after the All-Star Break last season (incl. playoffs).

— Tom Ziller (@teamziller) July 1, 2016"

Meanwhile, the rest of the West could be as treacherous as ever, depending on how the other free-agent dominoes fall. Kevin Durant, Al Horford, Harrison Barnes and Pau Gasol are among those who could swing the balance of power one way or another.

With all that, the Grizzlies might still be a step (or several) behind the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Clippers when this summer's mad game of musical chairs has reached its end. The Portland Trail Blazers, Houston Rockets, Utah Jazz, Minnesota Timberwolves and New Orleans Pelicans might even be in Memphis' mix.

But after committing $110 million to Gasol last summer, the Grizzlies weren't about to lay down and die. Instead, they've steeled themselves for another all-out melee in 2016-17, with some room for improvement—courtesy of in-house upside, another increase in the cap next summer and more contracts due to come off the books—in the years to come.

Josh Martin covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Cap information via Basketball Insiders.