Roster
| No. | Player | Pos | Ht | Wt | Birth Date | Exp | College |
| 3 | Shareef Abdur-Rahim | SF | 6-9 | 225 | December 11, 1976 | 1 | University of California |
| 23 | Pete Chilcutt | PF | 6-10 | 230 | September 14, 1968 | 6 | University of North Carolina |
| 33 | Antonio Daniels | SG | 6-4 | 195 | March 19, 1975 | R | Bowling Green State University |
| 30 | Blue Edwards | SG | 6-4 | 200 | October 31, 1965 | 8 | East Carolina University |
| 12 | Bobby Hurley | PG | 6-0 | 165 | June 28, 1971 | 4 | Duke University |
| 9 | George Lynch | SF | 6-8 | 218 | September 3, 1970 | 4 | University of North Carolina |
| 6 | Sam Mack | SF | 6-7 | 220 | May 26, 1970 | 3 | University of Houston |
| 44 | Tony Massenburg | C | 6-9 | 220 | July 31, 1967 | 5 | University of Maryland |
| 11 | Lee Mayberry | PG | 6-1 | 172 | June 12, 1970 | 5 | University of Arkansas |
| 40 | Ivano Newbill | PF | 6-9 | 245 | December 12, 1970 | 2 | Georgia Institute of Technology |
| 7 | Anthony Peeler | SG | 6-4 | 208 | November 25, 1969 | 5 | University of Missouri |
| 50 | Bryant Reeves | C | 7-0 | 275 | June 8, 1973 | 2 | Oklahoma State University |
| 5 | Chris Robinson | SG | 6-5 | 200 | April 2, 1974 | 1 | Western Kentucky University |
| 6 | Larry Robinson | SF | 6-3 | 180 | January 11, 1968 | 4 | Centenary College of Louisiana |
| 34 | Michael Smith | PF | 6-8 | 230 | March 28, 1972 | 3 | Providence College |
| 10 | Otis Thorpe | PF | 6-9 | 225 | August 5, 1962 | 13 | Providence College |
Transactions
-June 25/97: NBA draft held in Vancouver. With the 4th pick of the draft, the Grizzlies selected point guard Antonio Daniels from Bowling Green. With point guard Greg Anthony a free agent, it’s perceived that the 6-4, 195 pound guard fills a need. In the second round (52nd overall), the Grizzlies select Australian C.J. Bruton from Indian Hills CC and then sell his rights to Portland.
-July 1/97: Greg Anthony, Eric Leckner, Lawrence Moten, Chris Robinson and Aaron Williams become free agents.
-July 7/97: Sign Bryant Reeves to a six-year US$65-million rookie scale contract extension.
-July 12/97: Sign Chris Robinson to a contract.
-August 7/97: Acquire Otis Thorpe from Detroit Pistons in exchange for a first-round draft pick to be exercised at Vancouver’s discretion anywhere between 1998 to 2003. It turned out to be 2003. In order to create room under salary cap for Thorpe, who has two years remaining on a contract that pays $5.8-million (U.S.) in 1997-98 and more than $6-million in 98-99, the Grizzlies renounce their rights to free agent point guard Greg Anthony. In his 13-year NBA career, Thorpe had played for Sacramento, Houston, Portland and Detroit, where he averaged 13.1 ppg and 8.9 ppg in 96-97. Renounce free agent exception rights to Greg Anthony.
-August 11/97: Sign Antonio Daniels to a multi-year contract.
-September 9/97: Sign Marcus Brown to a contract.
-September 15/97: Sign Ivano Newbill to a contract.
-October 1/97: Sign Mark Hendrickson, Alan Ogg, Litterial Green and David Booth to contracts.
-October 8/97: Waive Eric Mobley and Mark Hendrickson.
-October 28/97: Trade Roy Rogers to the Boston Celtics for Tony Massenburg and a 2nd-round draft pick. Trade a 2nd-round draft pick to the Houston Rockets for Sam Mack. Waive Alan Ogg, Litterial Green and David Booth.
-January 12/98: Waive Doug Edwards and Marcus Brown.
-February 18/98: Trade Anthony Peeler to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Doug West. But West is scheduled to go into treatment for depression and alcohol abuse. Expected to take 3-5 weeks so won’t play rest of season. Trade Otis Thorpe and Chris Robinson to Sacramento for power forward Michael Smith and point guard Bobby Hurley. Both deals aimed at improving team defence. Thorpe was disgruntled and asked for a trade, repeatedly criticized substitution patterns.
-March 27/98: Sign Larry Robinson to a pair of 10-day contracts and later, for the remainder of the season.
Grizzlies 1997-98 Player Stats at basketballreference.com
Salaries
| 1 | Otis Thorpe | $5,700,000 |
| 2 | Blue Edwards | $2,300,000 |
| 3 | Antonio Daniels | $2,149,920 |
| 4 | George Lynch | $2,115,000 |
| 5 | Anthony Peeler | $2,012,500 |
| 6 | Bryant Reeves | $1,915,680 |
| 7 | Doug Edwards | $1,430,000 |
| 8 | Lee Mayberry | $1,320,000 |
| 9 | Eric Mobley | $1,178,000 |
| 10 | Tony Massenburg | $750,000 |
| 11 | Pete Chilcutt | $700,000 |
| 12 | Marcus Brown | $500,000 |
| 13 | Sam Mack | $455,000 |
| 14 | Chris Robinson | $325,000 |
| 15 | Ivano Newbill | $272,250 |
Season wrap
Thrown into the starting line-up rookie point guard Antonio Daniels had a miserable season. Grizzlies finish 19-63. Miss playoffs. Point guard Antonio Daniels, the 4th pick of the draft, was a total bust. Poor team defence. Costly fourth-quarter turnovers were the norm. Average attendance 16,108.