Memphis had an up and down last season. It seems hard to believe now but the Grizzlies were indeed one of the best teams in the league by early February. They had a 35-16 record, but they collapsed during the second half of the season while seeing their coach Taylor Jenkins getting fired with only nine days remaining in the regular season.
Ja Morant missed 32 games but he was solid when he played. On the other hand, Jaren Jackson Jr. enjoyed the best 3pts shooting season of his career while he was very good as usual on the defensive end. When these two players shared the court, the Grizzlies were very good: 921 minutes | 120.05 Off.Rtg | 109.87 Def.Rtg | +10.18 Net/Rtg. However, the team wasn’t able to be consistent during the second half of the season and naturally they ended up being eliminated by OKC in the first round of the playoffs.
For this new season, Memphis decided to be more active in the offseason and stopped believing that their current core of players was good enough to win it all. They traded Desmond Bane to Orlando in a move thinking about the future as they received multiple first round picks in exchange. However, the Grizzlies still added some good players to their roster such as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Ty Jerome and Jock Landale.
Their coach Tuomas Iisalo has a very unique style of play, especially on the offensive end. Memphis was blazing fast and frenetic in the way they attacked their opponents via drives to the basket. Morant is not a big fan of this as he would like to have the ball more on his hands, but this style worked as Memphis was ranked #6 on offense last season.
The issue for this team could be on the defensive end. Zach Edey will miss the start of the season and the Grizzlies lack depth on the frontcourt behind Jackson Jr. Defense was the main reason why the team collapsed during the second half of last season and it could also be the reason why Memphis might not be playoff bound this season. That and Morant’s availability, as he has already gotten injured during the preseason…