National Basketball Association

NBA 2K17: Playing GM of the Memphis Grizzlies for five years

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Can I turn the Memphis Grizzlies into a championship team within five years in NBA 2K17? Let’s check out the results.

My objective in this piece is to take over for Chris Wallace as the general manager of the Memphis Grizzlies. I will try to do what he hasn’t been able to, win an NBA Championship. By taking control of team activities, which include training, free agency, game plan, and drafting, I will do my best to engineer a team that can overcome the best the NBA has to offer. This is a video game, but the goal will be to keep it realistic. This means that some ground rules will be needed so I don’t take advantage of 2K’s sometimes unrealistic offers and trades.

I also wanted to make some other quick notes as to how I will approach running the Grizzlies:

Next: Year 1

Year 1

Preseason Plan

This is the only season where I wont be in charge of the decisions that had been made in the previous off-season. I’m going to stick with what Chris Wallace did and hope it works in year one. I will consider a small rebuild if things start out slow, but I know the window to win is now with Mike Conley, Marc Gasol, and Chandler Parsons hitting their primes either currently or the upcoming seasons. I did make one off-season move and unfortunately cut Andrew Harrison to make room for Mario Chalmers. I think Chalmers filled in nicely last year with the Grizzlies and I prefer him backing up Conley over Wade Baldwin IV at the moment. Harrison did have potential, but I don’t see him making a real impact with the team now or in the future. My goal for the first half is to see how some of the younger players can play against the poor teams to see who I should play when the playoffs hit and what players will make an impact with future teams.

Midseason Overview

Going into the All-Star break in year one, Memphis had a 29-29 record and was the eighth seed in the Western Conference. I knew going in that the bench was weak and Chalmers wasn’t going to be enough to bolster it, but I thought we would still be contending with the best teams in the west. Since we weren’t contending, I decided to do a semi-rebuild and traded seasoned veterans in Zach Randolph and Tony Allen away to try to get some assets and younger guys that can grow with the team.

I ended up trading Zach Randolph to the Blazers for Myers Leonard and a lottery protected first rounder in the 2017 draft. The trades brings youth and a first rounder that could be an asset down the road. Tony Allen was tougher to trade away because of how much I like his game, but also because teams were declining many of my offers. Luckily I was able to trade him and a 2018 second round pick for Marcus Morris of the Detroit Pistons. Morris is a nice combo forward on a good contract that could help backup Parsons while also filling in at power forward until we find a replacement for Randolph. No Grizzlies made the All-Star Game, but Wade Baldwin IV and Deyonta Davis did make the Rising Stars Challenge.

Postseason Overview

Year one came to an end with a disappointing 39-43 record and a ninth place finish in the Western Conference. Obviously not where I would have liked to the team to finish, but with some development and acquisitions in the upcoming offseason, the team could definitely reach the playoffs next year and maybe make a run at the Warriors. Looking into the team stats, I noticed our defense and rebounding were below average. The stat that I felt really needed to change was the team leading the league in turnovers per game.

2K Year 1 Grizzlies

Season Notes:

Next: Year 2

Year 2

Offseason Review

I had to resign or replace my whole staff except for trainer to start the offseason. I decided to move on with a new coaching staff since last year didn’t go as planned and David Fizdale isn’t a highly rated coach in 2K17. I went as all in as I could with my new staff. I hired one of the top scouts and assistant GMs in hope of making my job easier with bringing in and scouting talent. I first offered David Blatt my head coaching job since he had potential to still become an effective head coach in the league, but at the last second decided to hire William Goodrich. Goodrich had solid ratings in both defense and offense as a coach and had potential to become even better.

After not being satisfied what was left with on the board for my only first rounder, the 29th pick acquired from Trail Blazers trade, I decided it was best to trade it. The Clippers were willing to swap their first rounder in 2018 for the 29th pick which was a good deal considering we still had the 31st pick in the draft. I did decide to use the pick to take Myles Bridges out of Michigan State who looks to bring rebounding to the small forward position and could complement Chandler Parsons in the future.

Going into free agency, I knew I wouldn’t be able to go after any big name free agents since I had no salary cap room. Because of this I picked up both team options on Jordan Adams and Jarell Martin and extended a qualifying offer to JaMychal Green. I knew the focus would be using my exceptions to gain some veterans who would improve the team weaknesses we had discovered in the previous season. I decided to target three players early on who were Leandro Barbosa, Ersan Ilyasova, and Iman Shumpert. While most teams were going for the big name free agents, we were able to sneak in cheap deals in which they all signed. Barbosa brings a point guard mentality to the shooting guard position that helps ball movement, while Shumpert should help our defense. Ilyasova provides some nice depth and can shoot with deep range.

Grizzlies Off-Season trades in Year 2

After those three signings and JaMychal Green accepting our qualifying offer, we had a roster of 18 with varying talents. The next goal was to trim the team down and pick which talents we needed by making a few offseason trades that helped the team instead of just dumping players for free. Getting Martin for a second rounder was essentially a move to get roster space for a player that wouldn’t make the team if he wasn’t moved.. Trading Chalmers was actually a priority of mine since he was one of the main issues with our turnover problem and Baldwin IV was starting to develop into a better option. Getting a first rounder for him, albeit from the Warriors, is a clear win and could be a future asset to gain an even better player. I debated the Thaddeus Young move for awhile, but the Pacers were selling low so I shipped some post depth and a first at a chance to have a more complete starting lineup again and not have to rely on power forward by committee.

Midseason Review

Going into the All-Star break, the Grizzlies had a 34-24 record and were fourth in the conference. That record was partially because of the trade that led to Avery Bradley becoming the new shooting guard. I had to trade Myles Bridges, Marcus Morris and the Clippers’ 2018 first rounder to acquire Bradley. Letting Tony Allen go last year was tough, but by bringing in Bradley who has a similar style of play with a potentially better offensive boost in 2K than Allen helps ease the pain of trading him. The deal also gave us a better option that Shumpert starting at shooting guard and Bradley could be the future of the team in the shooting guard position for awhile.

Postseason Overview

Luckily, the season ended with a hot streak and we finished 45-37 and got the fifth seed in the playoffs. Facing defending MVP Russell Westbrook and the Thunder was going to be a tough start for my first run in the playoffs. I game-planned accordingly and made Bradley shadow Westbrook the whole series. We pushed it to a Game 7 that ended up in overtime where we lost 117-115. Bradley held Westbrook in check, but Cameron Payne went off for 16 points per game and carried the weight of the team to that first round victory.

With Goodrich as coach, the team ran a slower style of play that led to the second lowest points per game, but also the lowest points against. The team still ranked low in rebounding, but I knew the acquisition of Young wasn’t going to help that and was hoping instead we could raise our points per game. Adding Shumpert, Barbosa, and Bradley did help our team however as we went from leading the league in turnovers per game to the second lowest.

Year 2 Grizzlies Stats

Season Notes:

Next: Year 3

Year 3

Offseason Review

This offseason went by quick as I didnt have to make any changes to the staff and we had no picks use in the upcoming draft. Our first duty was bringing back Wade Baldwin IV on his team option. Thaddeus Young declined his player option, but our No. 1 goal was to bring both Young and Bradley back at whatever price it took. In free agency I targeted players that would improve scoring and rebounding and came away with signing Michael Beasley, Boban Marjanovic, Robert Covington, and Ish Smith to cheap multi year deals. Avery Bradley came back with a 4 year deal costing us $111.29 million which may have been a lot, but we needed him back if we were going to contend. We missed out on Young although, but signing a similar player like Beasley to an extremely cheaper deal, felt like a better option for our cap flexibility in the future.

Midseason Review

Year three started out rough with a poor 20-24 record, but when the Heat gave us an offer that was very intriguing, we decided to make some moves. Their team was struggling and wanted to ditch Justice Winslow’s expiring contract while also offering Hassan Whiteside for Mike Conley essentially. Knowing I needed a point guard if I accepted this deal, I decided to see if we could make a three team deal in which I would ship Marc Gasol for a point guard. After spending more time than I wouldve liked looking for the right deal, I finally came upon the Raptors, who had just traded Jonas Valanciunas for Jordan Clarkson. They needed a center to replace Valanciunas and also had an aging veteran who had a large deal similar to Gasol’s that wasn’t going to cost much to get. This veteran was the Grizzlies; former point guard, Kyle Lowry.

Justice Winslow

The deal ended up being Marc Gasol, Robert Covington, Iman Shumpert, Mike Conley, and 2019 Warriors first for Hassan Whiteside, Trey Burke, Justice Winslow, and Kyle Lowry. Losing Gasol and Conley was tough, but I feel like if the Grizzlies are in a similar scenario in three years, one of those guys may be shipped away. If I wasn’t trying to win the championship, I would’ve rather rebuilt the whole team, but since the goal is to win, I needed to take a risk. The deal helped soften the blow of losing Young in the off-season by allowing us to play Parsons at power forward and open up our offense more. Beasley wasn’t offering enough of an offensive punch to cover up his lack of defense and rebounding. The deal also ended up propelling us to a 32-26 record at the break and a seventh place position in the Western Conference

Postseason Review

All the momentum and excitement of the big deal didnt last long as we limped into the playoffs with a 46-36 record that got us only the eighth seed. Playing the Trailblazers, still led by Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, we were eliminated in five games. Our starting lineup all averaged double figures, but playing Parsons out of position may have led to too many mismatches for opponents to take advantage of. We still finished in the bottom five for points per game, top five for points against, and below the league average for rebounds per game. One new problem that I felt needed to be addressed was that we were bottom three in bench points.

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Season Notes:

Next: Year 4

Year 4

Offseason Review

Another year of not having to find staff or having any draft picks made the first part of the offseason easy once again. The easy part ended fast, though, as Whiteside and Winslow decided to test free agency, but being able to pick up the team option on the quickly developing Wade Baldwin IV helped soften the blow of potentially losing two starters. The plan for free agency was to keep Whiteside and Winslow, as I wasn’t going to lose Conley and Gasol for one year rentals. As luck prevailed, I was able to keep the whole team together again and both Whiteside and Winslow signed long-term deals to stay with the Grizzlies. With the development of Deyonta Davis, I decided not to pursue any new free agents and move him into the starting power forward slot. By moving Chandler Parson to the bench, I think we could improve our bench scoring while also having some flexibility with multiple different lineups.

Midseason Review

I was worried going into the All-Star break that I would have to blow this team up. We were 23-28 and I was considering moving Parsons and his expiring deal, but after a seven-game win streak to precede the break, the decision was to keep moving forward with this roster. The 30-28 record got us to sixth in the conference while also giving the Grizzlies their first All-Star in four years, Kyle Lowry. I decided to up the role of Baldwin IV in hopes our low assists numbers at the break would rise. For the most part, I liked what the seven-game win streak hinted at and wanted to keep rolling with this team. If they get hot now, why couldn’t they get hot in the playoffs?

Wade Baldwin IV

Postseason Review

Unfortunately we didn’t stay very hot. We finished with a 43-39 record and got into the playoffs as the seventh seed. Our first round game was against the Demarcus Cousins led Kings and proved that Sacramento Kings is a one man team. Whiteside shut down Cousins and we swept the Kings in the first round. Round two was against the Clippers who I have been waiting to beat for some time now. After going down two games because of Blake Griffin’s 28.4 points per game, I decided to have Whiteside cover him whenever he was on the floor. That helped a little bit as we got the series to six games, but we couldn’t overcome the deficit and got bounced in the second round.

For the third straight year we finished in the bottom five for points per game and top five for points against, but improved in rebounding with help from Deyonta Davis becoming a key contributor in the post. Giving Baldwin IV significant minutes didn’t help our assists numbers but we ranked first in the league in least turnovers per game. Our bench still struggled even after moving Chandler Parsons to the sixth man role.

Season Notes:

Year 5

Offseason Review

This year we still didn’t have to sign any staff as I had signed them to four year deals in the first offseason. We did decide to use the 20th pick in the draft on Thomas Skinner, a center out of Iowa. Not only was he best overall available, but he provides interior defense and rebounding which would help with the likely departure of Deyonta Davis.

Going into free agency, my number one priority was re-signing Davis, but with my cap already near the ceiling, I knew he would most likely be gone. I ended up being about three million per year short of where I needed to be and had to settle with signing Rajon Rondo and Georges Niang as two end of the bench role players. The team definitely did not improve in free agency, but there was nothing we could do.

Midseason Review

After another poor start of 13-18, I decided with it being my last year. I would use all my assets to bring the championship to Memphis. With my cap being too high to bring in a big contract, I knew I would have to trade one big contract in a deal blockbuster deal. The contract I picked ended up being Kyle Lowry’s because I thought he was the most expendable. With the growth of Wade Baldwin IV at point guard, we could use Lowry and assets to acquire a better post player than what we currently had on the roster. That player ended up being Kristaps Porzingis along with Kyle Anderson. Now I know the Knicks may never trade Porzingis, but my offer was pretty solid and this was the last chance to win the championship and complete my five years by bringing the trophy home to Memphis.

Kristaps Porzingis

By the time we got to the break, the team had rebounded to become 31-27 and currently hold the sixth spot in the conference. The team seemed to move the ball better without Lowry at the point since Baldwin IV wasn’t as much of a shot taker, but rather more of a distributor. Porzingis fit in well with Whiteside as he could roam more and get perimeter shots with Whiteside sitting in the lane.

Postseason Overview

The year didn’t finish as well as I had hoped for however. The Grizzlies finished 45-37, earning the sixth seed in the west. Playing the Karl-Anthony Towns led Minnesota Timberwolves in round one actually turned out pretty solid. Porzingis ate up the Wolves, whereas Towns struggled, leading to the Wolves getting eliminated in six games. The next round looked to be tough facing the defending champion Dallas Mavericks. After going up two games to one, I thought the Grizzlies might have a fairy tale ending to my run as the general manager. Instead the Mavericks came back and beat us in six games ending my hopes of having a parade in Memphis. The final three games were tough to look at with too many players missing a majority of their shots and turning the ball over more than I would have liked.

Season Notes:

Next: Conclusion

Final Overview

As I expected going into this, the Western Conference was going to be easy to tame and the Grizzlies have a good team that still needs improvements. I would have possibly changed a few moves looking back, but as a GM you have to keep moving forward. I think this will actually somewhat represent the Grizzlies options in these upcoming years as they still need to improve the team if they want to help their odds of winning the title, but all they need to do is make the playoffs where anything can happen.

5-Year Notes: