The Anatomy of A Rebuild in the NBA

Jacque Vaughn and Rob Hennigan

Synergy is defined as teamwork that will produce better results if each person have the same goal individually. To the Bakers out there, it’s just like making a cake, they are certain measurements, different type of ingredients, a variety of instructions, basically, it’s a process to create one cake. It takes time to bake a cake right, and even for the first time, it’s not going to come out right the first time, so, the process must be tried again, alter a few things to get it the way it should be. This analogy goes for managing a basketball team, there is payroll, scouts, drafting, free agents, the list can go on and on for a management staff, but, what about after having a All star or superstar caliber type of player, in the grasp of being contenders, but coming up short? The Orlando Magic is at this crossroad, and Memphis Grizzles, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Oklahoma City Thunder has been at this point before, the following will review what trades, drafts, and free agents was made, and seeing if there was improvement among the way.

Memphis Grizzlies (22-60) 07-08

Marc Gasol

Blockbuster trade on February 1, 2008 involving Pau Gasol and 2010 2nd round draft pick(Devin Ebanks) to the Los Angeles Lakers for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Marc Gasol, and 2008 and 2010 first round draft pick (Donte Green and Grevis Vazquez).

June 26, 2008, drafted Kevin Love, Donte Greene

Knowing what they know now, they could have took a chance with Love, especially if they were going with the big frontline with two post players.

3 team trade, Memphis received Darrell Arthur, Houston recieved Donte Greene and Sam Young (2nd round pick- 2009) and Joey Dorsey, and Portland recieved Nicolas Batum. 

Traded Brian Cardinal, Jason Collins, Kevin Love and Mike Miller to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Greg Buckner, Marko Jaric, O.J. Mayo and Antoine Walker.

Management felt it was time to pass the keys over to Mike Conley with this transaction on February 19, 2009 As part of a 3-team trade, the Memphis Grizzlies traded Kyle Lowry to the Houston Rockets; the Houston Rockets traded Rafer Alston to the Orlando Magic; the Orlando Magic traded Brian Cook to the Houston Rockets; and the Orlando Magic traded Adonal Foyle, Mike Wilks and a 2009 1st round draft pick (DeMarre Carroll) to the Memphis Grizzlies.

This trade was saving money for because there was another big acquisition in the Horizon, July 9, 2009: As part of a 4-team trade, the Memphis Grizzlies traded Greg Buckner to the Dallas Mavericks; the Dallas Mavericks traded Jerry Stackhouse and cash to the Memphis Grizzlies; the Dallas Mavericks traded cash to the Orlando Magic; the Dallas Mavericks traded Devean George and Antoine Wright to the Toronto Raptors; the Orlando Magic traded Hedo Turkoglu to the Toronto Raptors; the Toronto Raptors traded Kris Humphries, Nathan Jawai and Shawn Marion to the Dallas Mavericks; the Toronto Raptors traded a 2016 2nd round draft pick to the Memphis Grizzlies; and the Toronto Raptors traded cash to the Orlando Magic.

July 17, 2009: Traded Quentin Richardson to the Clippers for Zach Randolph 

Zach Randolph

at the time, not many people thought this a trade would turn out the way it did, talented Power forward, but a hot-head attitude came with him. 

On September 10, 2009, they signed Allen Iverson, i believe a attempt to sale seats at the FedEx forum, and it didn’t last long, with him being waived November 17, 2009. 

July 13, 2010: Memphis signed Free agent Guard Tony Allen

Solid pickup, to shore up their perimeter defense

January 4, 2010: As part of a 3-team trade, the Memphis Grizzlies traded a 2012 2nd round draft pick (Tornike Shengelia) to the Philadelphia 76ers; the Memphis Grizzlies traded Xavier Henry to the New Orleans Hornets; the New Orleans Hornets traded a 2013 2nd round draft pick to the Philadelphia 76ers; and the Philadelphia 76ers traded Marreese Speights to the Memphis Grizzlies.

This was also a smart move to help shore up a 3 man rotation upfront with Randolph, and Gasol

July 24, 2012: Traded Dante Cunningham to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Wayne Ellington.

Ellington gives them someone to shoot the ball off the bench in contrast to Tony Allen

Minnesota Timberwolves

They had to rebuild after Kevin Garnett, he never once came out and said I want a trade, he wasn’t happy with not being competitive and being to the Western Conference once back in 2003-2004 losing to the Los Angeles Lakers, the rumors build up he was going to be a Celtic at the trade deadline, at first he did not want to go, but as the summer hit, Ray Allen was traded to Boston and on

July 31, 2007: Traded Kevin Garnett to the Boston Celtics for Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Al Jefferson, Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair, a 2009 1st round draft pick (Wayne Ellington) and a 2009 1st round draft pick (Jonny Flynn).

Minnesota made the decision to give the guy who gave his Heart and Soul to that Franchise, the rebuild started on 

June 26, 2008:Traded Greg Buckner, Marko Jaric, O.J. Mayo and Antoine Walker to the Memphis Grizzlies for Brian Cardinal, Jason Collins, Kevin Love and Mike Miller.

Kevin Love

They grabbed the UCLA stud in Kevin Love, in college, he was known for his rebounding ability, he was a solid post game player, now, you can see Love expanding his game all the way out to the perimeter

Drafted Nikola Pekovic in the 2nd round (31st pick) of the 2008 NBA Draft.

Someone did they notes when scouting this talent, a brute inside the paint, netting 13.6 PPG and 7.1 RPG so far this season. 

June 24, 2009:Traded Randy Foye and Mike Miller to the Washington Wizards for Oleksiy Pecherov, Darius Songaila, Etan Thomas and a 2009 1st round draft pick 

Well, this trade netted them a first round pick 

Ricky Rubio

June 25, 2009: Drafted Ricky Rubio in the 1st round (5th pick) of the 2009 NBA Draft. 

The management went guard crazy this draft, also drafting Jonny Flynn, and Ty Lawson, which Ty Lawson was traded for a 2010 1st round draft pick for the Denver Nuggets. 

June 23, 2011: Drafted Derrick Williams and Donatas Motiejunas in the First round,Traded Jonny Flynn, Donatas Motiejunas and a future 2nd round draft pick to the Houston Rockets for Brad Miller, Nikola Mirotic, Chandler Parsons and a future 1st round draft pick.

They can admit the strike out on Parsons, Motiejunas is talented, but still trying to find his niche, but, can’t really blame them, Derrick Williams was highly touted, and don’t hear much about him, well, expect for trade rumors. 

December 14, 2011: they signed Jose Barea as a Free agent from Dallas, good spark off the bench

June 26, 2012: Traded 2012 1st round draft pick in Terrence Jones to Houston for Chase Budinger and Lior Eliyahu

Budinger is someone who spread the floor, and score, which Houston has a stud in Parsons, whom Minnesota drafted, so they had to make room for Parsons. 

Oklahoma City Thunder

There was this huge debate who to take for the Portland Trail Blazers with the number pick in the draft, Greg Oden or Kevin Durant, everyone will put on their Hindsight glasses, and at the Time, Greg Oden was supposed to be the the next big thing, some people was comparing him to David Robinson, nice hands around the basket, strong, agile, and you couldn’t blame them for taking that type of Talent, and with Kevin Durant who was a 6’10 SG, draw comparisons to Tracy McGrady, can create his own shot, but some worry about his scrawny frame and could he put up with the physical nature of the NBA wings. 

Kevin Durant

June 28, 2007: Drafted Kevin Durant in the 1st round (2nd pick) of the 2007 NBA Draft. 

Drafted Carl Landry in the 2nd round (31st pick) of the 2007 NBA Draft.

Drafted Glen Davis in the 2nd round (35th pick) of the 2007 NBA Draft.

Traded Carl Landry to the Houston Rockets for cash and a 2008 2nd round draft pick.

Traded Ray Allen and Glen Davis to the Boston Celtics for Jeff Green, Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West and a 2008 2nd round draft pick

July 11, 2007: Traded Rashard Lewis to the Orlando Magic for a 2009 2nd round draft pick. Seattle also received a trade exception from Orlando.

The Thunder management knew how to draft, Carl Landry, and Glen Davis are solid NBA players, but they felt that they wanted to go into a different direction, trading two All Stars in Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis.

July 20, 2007: Traded a 2009 2nd round draft pick  to the Phoenix Suns for Kurt Thomas, a 2008 1st round draft pick and a 2010 1st round draft pick. Phoenix also received a trade exception from Seattle.

This trade below, seem to get rid of dead weight and push room for the future since they were playing Jeff Green and Kevin Durant often in the frontcourt

February 21, 2008: As part of a 3-team trade, the Seattle SuperSonics traded Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West to the Cleveland Cavaliers; the Chicago Bulls traded Joe Smith, Ben Wallace and a 2009 2nd round draft pick (Danny Green) to the Cleveland Cavaliers; the Chicago Bulls traded Adrian Griffin to the Seattle SuperSonics; the Cleveland Cavaliers traded Shannon Brown, Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes and Cedric Simmons to the Chicago Bulls; and the Cleveland Cavaliers traded Donyell Marshall and Ira Newble to the Seattle SuperSonics.

Russell Westbrook

June 26, 2008: Drafted Russell Westbrook in the 1st round (4th pick) of the 2008 NBA Draft. 

Drafted Serge Ibaka in the 1st round (24th pick) of the 2008 NBA Draft.

Not too many experts had Westbrook going here, many thought that Brook Lopez would go here. Many was surprised that The Thunder picked him at the time when a proven Lopez was available The Scouting staff was doing their homework on Serge Ibaka, a player from Congo, who had amazing leaping ability, so, certain the Management was oozing with the potential he had and the believe that he would be worth a shot since as many call it, taking the gamble on Westbrook going over Brook Lopez.

February 19, 2009: Traded a 2009 1st round draft pick (Taj Gibson) to the Chicago Bulls for Thabo Sefolosha.

Solid move for the Management, have to add perimeter defense to the roster, and the player is pretty good at doing that. 

June 25, 2009: Drafted James Harden in the 1st round (3rd pick) of the 2009 NBA Draft.

Few experts thought for sure was to pick Ricky Rubio with this pick, and put Westbrook at 2 guard slot, but Harden could flat out score, played at Arizona State, many mock drafts sought him to be a Manu Ginobili type of player. 

December 22, 2009: Traded Peter Fehse to the Utah Jazz for Matt Harpring and Eric Maynor.

The VCU guard help shore up the back-up spot for the PG position, while Westbrook is more a scorer, Maynor is a player who looks to distribute the ball. 

June 24, 2010: Drafted Eric Bledsoe in the 1st round (18th pick) of the 2010 NBA Draft.

Drafted Craig Brackins in the 1st round (21st pick) of the 2010 NBA Draft.

Drafted Quincy Pondexter in the 1st round (26th pick) of the 2010 NBA Draft.

Traded Craig Brackins and Quincy Pondexter to the New Orleans Hornets for Cole Aldrich and Morris Peterson.

Traded Eric Bledsoe to the Los Angeles Clippers for a future 1st round draft pick.

This shows how great this Management is great at drafting players. Eric Bledsoe is having great season this year with the Clippers, and Quincy Pondexter is still contributing to a Memphis Grizzles team. 

February 24, 2011: Traded Jeff Green, Nenad Krstic, cash and a 2012 1st round draft pick (Fab Melo) to the Boston Celtics for Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson.

Traded Morris Peterson and D.J. White to the Charlotte Bobcats for Nazr Mohammed.

Management needed to shore up their frontline, and beefed it up with adding Kendrick Perkins, and Nazr Mohammed, solid trades. 

March 21, 2012: Signed Derek Fisher as a free agent.

Management added Fisher for championship experience, and with Maynor being hurt. 

June 28, 2012:Drafted Perry Jones in the 1st round (28th pick) of the 2012 NBA Draft.

Low risk pick, since Jones slipped from Lottery status, so, this is worth a gamble. 

October 27, 2012: Traded Cole Aldrich, Daequan Cook, James Harden and Lazar Hayward to the Houston Rockets for Jeremy Lamb, Kevin Martin, a future 1st round draft pick, a future 1st round draft pick and a future 2nd round draft pick. 

James Harden

They had to make a decision on Harden or Ibaka, they could not have 4 players tying up the cap room, this was a really smart trade, Harden wants to get paid, he deserves near max money. Kevin Martin comes back, and he provides the scoring punch that Harden did, just can’t create for others, and also, that contract is an expiring, talented prospect in Jeremy Lamb, on top of that, get some draft picks that this management proves they can scout and grab talent. 

To break this down, Here is the Memphis Grizzlies record following the Pau Gasol Trade

2008-2009- 24-58

2009-2010- 40-42 

2010-2011- 46-36(Lost to Oklahoma City Thunder 4-3 in the NBA Western Conference Semifinals)

2011-2012- 41-25 (Lost to Los Angeles Clippers 4-3 in the Western Conference First Round) *Lockout Season*

2012-2013- 18-7

Minnesota Timberwolves After trading Kevin Garnett

2007-2008- 22-60

2008-2009- 24-58

2009-2010- 15-67

2010-2011- 17-65

2011-2012- 26-40 *Lockout Season*

2012-2013- 13-11

Oklahoma City Thunder(Seattle Supersonics) after trading Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen

2007-2008- 20-62

2008-2009- 23-59

2009-2010- 50-32 (Lost to Los Angeles Lakers 4-2 in the Western Conference 1st Round)

2010-2011- 55-27 (Lost to Dallas Mavericks 4-1 in NBA Western Conference Finals)

2011-2012- 47-19 (Lost to Miami Heat 4-2 in NBA Finals) *Lockout Season*

2012-2013- 21-5 

J.J. Redick

In relation to Orlando, they traded a Superstar in Dwight Howard who led the Magic to six playoff berths during his tenure, one trip to the Finals, notching the Franchise only win reaching the promised land. Otis Smith took the approach through free agency and trades, Rob Hennigan at this point at time stated he will rebuild through the draft and player development. Memphis acquired their centerpiece thru trade in Zach Randolph, and renovated his career here, they traded Kyle Lowry to open up the slot for Michael Conley. Memphis centerpiece of the rebuilding trade was Marc Gasol. The trades for the Memphis Grizzlies built their success. Minnesota on the other hand, the trades their management did kept them in mediocrity, but a draft day trade grab them Kevin Love, and also choose pick Ricky Rubio, this is the same year they drafted Jonny Flynn and Ty Lawson. Oklahoma City relied heavily on drafting, and player development, honestly, some say luck with getting Kevin Durant, the injury to Greg Oden only makes it look worse, taking a gamble on Russell Westbrook, picking Serge Ibaka, and drafting James Harden, give credit to their scouting staff. Otis Smith top picks were Courtney Lee, and J.J. Redick, the other picks didn’t pan out so well, but so far Hennigan stuck gold on Andrew Nicholson for being a 19th pick, Harkless is young, and will see how Jacque Vaughin and his staff develop him. DeQuan Jones was a undrafted rookie, and stole the show during preseason, and Kyle O’Quinn tough nosed player, all these players has seem play time. So if Hennigan and company hit two of three of these categories of rebuilding: Drafting, Free Agency or Trades, Orlando could be back to it’s winning ways that sooner than others thought. Developing draft picks and draft day trades or Trade deadlines could be his strength. His first decision that is approaching fast is what to do with J.J. Redick.  Would love to see Redick finish his career here in Orlando, but many of the Magic Nation knows he’s in his prime and would for him to get a shot at a title again, he;s in the last year of his contract, since Orlando decided not to waive him before August 8th. This is year one for Hennigan and his staff, so, after a trading a Superstar, stop looking at what we have now, and judge his decisions and transactions when his four years is up. Look at these three teams above, Success is not built overnight.