Reflecting on the 1998 NBA Draft: Choices and consequences

Pierce thought he would be picked higher than tenth, with the second pick being his expected destination.

After a stellar college career at Kansas, Paul Pierce was excited to get drafted with a high draft pick in the 1998 NBA Draft, but he fell to the tenth pick. That selection was held by the Boston Celtics, a team he "despised" during his formative years.

While Pierce would come to love Boston, he thoroughly thought he would be joining the Vancouver Grizzlies, the team with the second overall pick. He was denied the chance to join Vancouver because the team selected Mike Bibby. The point guard's agent, David Falk, took the flak from Pierce for what happened.

"He pulled a power move; he went up to the GM. I forgot who the GM was at the time, but it was in Vancouver. And he went up to the office and told them they were going to pick Mike Bibby at #2 instead of me, which caused a domino effect," Pierce said on The Opinionated 7-Footers podcast.

Pierce would have been a good fit with the Grizzlies

While Bibby was solid for the Grizzlies for three years, he did not reach the same heights as Pierce did in his career. The point guard did not make an All-Star game in his career, while Paul was a ten-time All-Star, a Finals MVP, and a four-time All-NBA player.

Pierce would have been the superstar Vancouver was waiting for. He could have stayed with the franchise beyond the move to Memphis. He would have been a perfect building block for the team because he was a go-to scorer who did not need an elite supporting cast to be productive.

The team could have been built around him, like how the Celtics remained competitive with Paul as the focal point. They managed to get some big trades in with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, but that was due to smart drafting and building up assets to trade for those superstars, something that Memphis could have done with him.

Pierce ended up having a Hall of Fame career

Unfortunately for the Grizzlies, they missed one of the three Hall of Famers in the class. They could have picked Pierce, Dirk Nowitzki, or Vince Carter, but selecting Bibby was understandable. The former Arizona standout was among the best collegiate players, so there was merit to the selection.

Thankfully, the Grizzlies have improved their selections over the past three decades. The current team's building blocks are all Grizzlies draftees: Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Desmond Bane. These make Memphis stand out and compete against the best teams in the NBA.

Related: Grizzlies Face Complex Roster Decisions After Releasing Mamadi Diakite