The Memphis Grizzlies had a chance to accelerate their ascent at the top of the NBA in 2003, but that all fell apart because of a deal that involved Otis Thorpe. Back in 1997, the Detroit Pistons traded Thorpe to the Grizzlies, then based in Vancouver, for a conditional first-round pick.
The selection was protected, and the Grizz may only get the pick back if the ping pong balls come the draft lottery perfectly fall their way. In short, if Memphis lands the privilege to draft first, LeBron James would become a Grizzly.
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Unfortunately, the basketball gods had other plans. The Grizzlies slipped to second, handing Detroit control of the pick, which infamously became Darko Milicic.
Jerry West was beside himself
West took over the general manager duties for the Grizzlies in 2002, replacing Billy Knight. Of course, The Logo’s reputation precedes him.
As great a player as he was with the Los Angeles Lakers, his body of work as an executive was literally impeccable. He was the architect behind “Showtime” in the 1980s and masterfully bent over backwards just to bring Shaquille O’Neal and draft Kobe Bryant in the summer of 1996.
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His work was cut out for him in Memphis, but Jerry has the rare Midas touch that virtually turns anything he comes in contact with into gold. He eventually guided the Grizzlies to their first-ever postseason appearance in 2004, two seasons into his job.
But looking back, the franchise may have done more than be a playoff participant if not for the Thorpe transaction several years back.
“For a trade that, when you look back in history, was made for whatever reason, it was hard to imagine that a trade like that would’ve been made and not protect a team that hadn’t proven its worth yet. I’m not going to badmouth anybody, but that was an ill-advised decision,” West lamented, per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
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It’s understandable why the previous Grizzlies GM, Stu Jackson, decided to pull the trigger on that deal. The team was struggling, to say the least, and they needed a veteran presence like Thorpe on board. Thorpe, who won a championship with the Houston Rockets in 1994, often butted heads with then-Pistons head coach Doug Collins, so it was also an easy decision on Detroit’s part.
Of course, Memphis had a real chance to beat the odds in the 2003 draft lottery. They had the sixth-best chance of landing the first pick, but they somehow moved past Toronto and a couple of other teams to barge into the top three with Cleveland and Denver. When Russ Granik, the deputy commissioner, opened the envelope to show the Cavaliers’ logo, West was downtrodden.
“You’re sitting there scared to death that we’re not going to have our pick, and you’re begging, ‘Please let us have this pick.’ We all knew what was at stake for us. Then you see that you’ve moved up and your heart goes into your throat a little,” admitted the Hall of Famer.
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What if Memphis kept the second pick?
Drafting LeBron would have changed the franchise’s trajectory practically overnight, but having the second pick was not that bad, either. The Grizzlies could have gotten an impact player right away with that selection if not for that miscalculated decision in 1997. Carmelo Anthony, the consensus number two behind James, plus Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, were all ripe for the taking.
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West, unsurprisingly, would have zeroed in on one name had they kept that second-overall selection. Moreover, he wouldn’t have committed the same mistake the Pistons made.
“We really had a need for a backcourt player,” West said, “so obviously Dwyane Wade would have been right there. It was also Bosh and Carmelo? We would not have taken Darko Milicic under any circumstances. I went to see him play in Europe and he wouldn’t play the game because he knew I was there. I wouldn’t have drafted him.”
“If you just brought him in for a workout, with his size, he would have been a  mpressive workout. But at the end of the day, we would not have drafted him, I can assure you,” the 1969 Finals MVP added.
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Memphis won 50 games in the 2003-04 season and made the playoffs for the very first time in franchise history. Now, imagine a young, spry D-Wade starting with Jason Williams, Pau Gasol and Mike Miller, plus Bonzi Wells and Shane Battier coming off the bench!
Looking back, the Thorpe trade wasn’t just a lost transaction but a lost era. The ripple effect of that shortsighted decision in 1997 caused the Grizzlies to miss out on the most loaded draft class in league history. At times, there are damages that are just beyond repair.
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This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 5, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.