Vancouver Grizzlies
(8-42, last in the Midwest, 29 games back)
DRAFT PICKS: (No. 2, No. 51)

1999   D R A F T   C H O I C E S Round Pick Player Pos College 1 2 Steve Francis PG Maryland 2 37 Obinna Ekezie PF Maryland 2 51 Antwain Smith SF

T E A M   S T R E N G T H S Young Core (Abdur-Rahim, Bibby, Reeves) No. 2 pick in the draft for second consecutive season W E A K N E S S E S Defense (Especially a shot-blocker) Road woes (1-24 this season, 24-124 in franchise history) Shooting guard & power forward Team perception C H A N G E S Acquire veteran for No. 2 pick? N E E D S Shooting guard/power forward Outside shooting Reeves in shape N O T E S: Finished with the worst record in the NBA...lost 13 of its last 14 Only road win was a 93-89 double-OT victory at the L.A. Clippers on February 16. The Grizz would then lose its last 23 road games Offense: Finished in the bottom-10 in the league in scoring (88.9 - 24th), FT shooting (.717 - 20th), 3-pt shooting (.327 - 21st), rebounding (40.2 - 23rd) and turnovers (17.0 - last) Defense: Finished in the bottom-10 in the league in scoring (97.5 - 26th), shooting (.463 - 27th) and three-point shooting (.351 - 22nd) Abdur-Rahim was 4th in the league in scoring (23.0)...he averaged 22.3 ppg last year (6th)...he's signed through 2005 This will be the second straight year in which the Grizzlies will have the #2 pick...took Mike Bibby last year and he led all rookies in assists (6.5 - 13th in league) Bryant Reeves battled the bulge the whole year...he averaged 10.8 ppg and missed 25 games due to a knee injury Have won only 56 games in its four-year history Posted identical 2-15 records in both March and April Lost all 32 games in which they trailed entering the 4th period 0-18 when they allow 100+ F I R S T   R O U N D   P I C K S   I N   T H E   9 0 ' S 1995 - Bryant Reeves, C, (6) 1996 - Shareef Abdur-Rahim, F (3); Roy Rogers, F (22) 1997 - Antonio Daniels, G (4) 1998 - Mike Bibby, G (2) P L A Y E R S   B Y   P O S I T I O N Small Forwards Shareef Abdur-Rahim Pete Chilcutt Rodrick Rhodes J.R. Henderson Power Forwards Michael Smith Cherokee Parks Makhtar Ndiaye Centers Bryant Reeves Tony Massenburg Point Guards Mike Bibby Lee Mayberry DeJuan Wheat Shooting Guards Felipe Lopez Doug West Terry Dehere F R E E   A G E N T S 1999 Chilcutt Ndiaye Wheat 2000 Rhodes M. Smith Mayberry 2001 Parks

Information courtesy of Turner Sports