Memphis Grizzlies: nba FUTURES & BETTING ODDS

The Vancouver Grizzlies joined the NBA in 1995, along with the Toronto Raptors, becoming the NBA’s 28th and 29th franchises, and the first two NBA teams not based out of the United States. In the early days the Grizzlies were hampered by a stricter salary cap than the other teams had and a ban on either Canadian team to pick at the top of the draft. 

The Grizzlies selected massive center Bryant “Big Country” Reeves with their first pick and surrounded Reeves with veteran players and castoffs. Incredibly, the team suffered losing streaks of 19 games early in the season and 23 games late in the season as they struggled to a 15-67 record. 

Before their second season, the Grizzlies selected Shareef Abdur-Rahim with the third overall pick and Abdur-Rahim would almost immediately become their best player. But, there was little talent on the rest of the team and the Grizzlies actually had a worse record, 14-68, in their second season. After a 19-63 campaign in 1997-98, the Grizzlies selected Steve Francis with the second pick of the 1999 NBA draft, but Francis refused to play in Vancouver, causing the team to deal him in a massive 11-player trade. All told, in their first six seasons, Vancouver never even won 25 games, peaking at 23-59 in the 2000-01 season.

The product on the court was terrible and the team was struggling financially, so the team moved to Tennessee, hoping the Memphis Grizzlies odds would be better than the Vancouver Grizzlies.

If you bet on the Memphis Grizzlies in their first season, it would have fared no better than a bet on the Vancouver Grizzlies, but things did look up as Spanish rookie Pau Gasol was named NBA Rookie of the Year. The team also upgraded their front office when they hired legendary GM Jerry West, in addition to coach Hubie Brown. After an eighth consecutive losing season, Brown was finally able to turn the team’s record around in 2003-04, winning 50 games and making the franchise’s first playoff appearance. 

If you bet on the Memphis Grizzlies to win their first playoff series, or even if you bet on the Memphis Grizzlies to win their first playoff game, you would have to wait, as the Spurs swept the Grizz in four games. This started a trend, as the Grizzlies, now coached by Mike Fratello, won 45 games the following season, but were immediately swept out of the 2005 playoffs by the Suns. The Memphis Grizzlies odds to be swept three times in a row could not have been great, but Memphis was swept by the Mavericks in 2006. 

After the third postseason disappointment, the Memphis Grizzlies odds started to look like those of the old Vancouver Grizzlies again, missing the playoffs four straight seasons, while losing 60 games twice and 58 games once. 

GM Jerry West had retired and was replaced by Chris Wallace, who started adding talented, defensive-minded players. The most important figure in the Grizzlies odds changing to that of a playoff contender however, was Marc Gasol, whose rights were actually acquired when Memphis traded his brother Pau. In 2010-11 the Grizzlies finally broke through, after winning 46 games in the regular season, they stunned the Spurs in six games to win their first ever playoff series. 

Fans started to bet on the Memphis Grizzlies to make a run to the NBA Finals, but their Cinderella storyline was cut short in a heartbreaking Game 7 loss to the Thunder. A devastating Game 7 would end the Grizzlies 2012 playoff campaign as well, when they were ousted by the Clippers in seven. 

Finally, in the 2013 playoffs, the Memphis Grizzlies odds and fate would change as the team which went a franchise-best 56-26 in the regular season,  got revenge against both the Clippers and the Thunder, before falling to the Spurs in the Western conference finals in a sweep. It remains the franchise’s only trip to the conference finals. 

2014 saw even more Game 7 heartbreak, as the Thunder eliminated Gasol and the Grizzlies in seven yet again, as star center Zach Randolph was suspended for throwing a punch in Game 6. 

In 2015, the team led by Gasol, Randolph, and star point guard Mike Conley made another playoff run, knocking off the Blazers in five games, before falling to the Warriors in six games. That would be the franchise’s most recent playoff series victory, because in 2016, they were swept by the Spurs, who also knocked them out in six games in 2017. 

Both Gasol and Randolph left after the 2017 season, and the team’s seven year streak of making every postseason would be snapped. The team followed up a 22-60 campaign in 2017-18 with a 33 win season in 2018-19, and while the excellent Memphis Grizzlies odds to win the lottery did not  come to fruition the team landed the second pick and selected point guard Ja Morant out of Murray State. While the 2019-20 NBA season saw a suspension due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Grizzlies were invited to the Orlando bubble, and despite missing the postseason, they did comeback to beat the Golden State Warriors in a play-in game to reach the postseason in 2021. Even though they lost to top-seeded Utah in five games, you can bet on the Memphis Grizzlies contending in the near future with Ja Morant as the centerpiece of the franchise.  

Championships: None

Retired Numbers: None