There’s a hallway within FedExForum, right outside the Memphis Grizzlies' practice court, lined with the official team photo from every season since the organization moved here. All the coaches, all the players, all the seasons — good and bad — are there in chronological order, all the way up to this current era of the franchise.

On those walls is the reality of the modern NBA, where the faces and names inevitably change no matter how important they may have been at one point or another. Lorenzen Wright and Jason Williams give way to Shane Battier and Pau Gasol, then to the Core Four era and ultimately to this version of Grizzlies basketball, with too many coaches and role players in between.

It is nonetheless jarring these days to look at the team photo from two years ago, when the group led by Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. first broke through, won 56 games and then its first playoff series together. A then-healthy Brandon Clarke is there, too. Santi Aldama is pictured, with Ziaire Williams, both rookies, and John Konchar was in his first year on a standard NBA contract.

Other than that, most of the supporting cast is elsewhere now — Kyle Anderson, De’Anthony Melton, Tyus Jones, Dillon Brooks, and in just the past week or so, Steven Adams and Xavier Tillman Sr. That’s half of the team’s playoff rotation in 2022 gone following this year’s NBA trade deadline, and it underscores why this moment is a particularly crucial one for Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman.

His initial attempt to shuffle the supporting cast around the team’s young stars didn’t take well. But much like the players who were supposed to be on the court leading Memphis this season, Kleiman is getting a mulligan to build a legitimate title contender around Morant, Bane and Jackson.

That is no longer a thought floating beneath the surface as the Grizzlies play out the string of this injury-destroyed season. It is the primary goal of whatever happens between today and the beginning of next season, one articulated early and often by Kleiman when he appeared in front of reporters Friday in the aftermath of dealing Adams, Tillman and second-year forward David Roddy.

The Grizzlies are preparing for an active offseason, one that likely will include their highest draft pick since selecting Morant five years ago and the pursuit of a new starting center to replace Adams. Biding their time is no longer an option. Not with Morant, Bane and Jackson locked into contracts together for only two more seasons after this one. Not with the rare chance to pick — or trade — in the lottery. Not when this is only going to get harder once Jackson is due a max contract in two years like Morant and Bane just got.

“What we’re doing is being very intentional about what we see as a championship window that has opened,” Kleiman said.

The only word missing there is “again.”  What they’re doing is being very intentional about maximizing this championship window — again — because the initial attempt at reimagining the roster didn’t go as hoped.

Memphis leaned in too much on adding cheap supplements to the roster through the draft, and Kleiman admitted as much after last season. Until the past couple of months, Aldama was the only decent hit from that foray, while the likes of Williams, Roddy and Jake LaRavia mostly underwhelmed. Too many roster spots were being taken by developmental players who weren’t developing fast enough. The diminished depth caught up with the Grizzlies earlier this season as they struggled mightily during Morant’s 25-game suspension.

GIANNOTTO: At NBA trade deadline, Memphis Grizzlies punt on this season as a big decision awaits

But the addition of Marcus Smart last offseason was also the beginning of a course correction in the midst of Morant’s off-court issues and just about the worst injury luck imaginable. The Grizzlies started seeking out veterans, and Kleiman indicated Friday they could do so again in the coming months.

The emergence of Vince Williams Jr. and rookie GG Jackson also has helped dull the pain of the higher-rated draft misses and made the carnage of this season seem oddly redeeming. Both have been suddenly — and perhaps shrewdly — signed to affordable contracts, and it has allowed Kleiman to look toward other needs besides the organization's perpetual search for a viable wing.

"This offseason was definitely a major driver of this trade deadline," he said. "We want to be in a position where we have flexibility, whether it’s draft or trade, to put this team in a position to go out and really compete at the highest level."

In that way, nothing has really changed for this team from the path it’s on after this trade deadline, and the path it set out on two years ago after that initial burst of success.

The core is in place and set to take up a large chunk of the Grizzlies’ payroll. It’s now up to Kleiman and the front office to win around the margins, to figure out the value moves under the constraints of the NBA salary cap and luxury tax system that will turn next year’s team photo into a memorable one.

You can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Mark Giannotto via email at mgiannotto@gannett.com and follow him on X: @mgiannotto

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: NBA trade deadline: Memphis Grizzlies get mulligan to build contender