After another mediocre season in Memphis, the Grizzlies are making significant changes throughout the organization.
It’s the start of what many expect to be a rebuild in Memphis, as they traded Marc Gasol to the Raptors at the deadline and a youth movement finally appears to be underway. To lead that effort, the Grizzlies want new leadership throughout the organization, as evidenced by a number of decisions made on Thursday.
Coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who was hired as the full time head coach last summer after taking the interim job early in the 2017-18 season, was relieved of his duties, while GM Chris Wallace and VP of basketball operations John Hollinger were reassigned to new roles within the front office, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Grizzlies dismissed coach J.B. Bickerstaff and reassigned GM Chris Wallace to a scouting capacity in the front office, league sources tell ESPN. VP John Hollinger will also move into a senior advisory role.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 11, 2019
Sources: The Grizzlies are promoting Jason Wexler to President, overseeing both business and basketball — and Zach Kleiman to Executive VP of Basketball Operations as the day-to-day lead on basketball matters. https://t.co/AWOekLnBF4
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 11, 2019
The team confirmed the moves later in the afternoon.
Grizz make front office restructuring official pic.twitter.com/lxLbOE4mN4
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) April 11, 2019
This comes hours after Wallace told the media Bickerstaff’s job was safe, as clearly someone above Wallace had different plans for the future of the organization.
Chris Wallace literally told the media this morning that J.B. Bickerstaff was safe. Now the Grizzlies are completely restructuring everything in their front office. Dysfunction has a distinct scent, I think.
— Jeremy Woo (@JeremyWoo) April 11, 2019
Moving forward, the Grizzlies will be looking for new leadership and it will be interesting to see who they tap for those roles entering an important summer for roster construction if moving towards a younger team is the goal. Before then, though, they’ll need to get everyone on the same page, because clearly there’s a disconnect within the organization right now.
