Table of Contents
The 2024-25 NBA season is here! We’re breaking down the biggest questions, best and worst case scenarios, and fantasy outlooks for all 30 teams. Enjoy!
memphis brown bears
Final 2023-24
Off-season moves
-
Additions: Zach Edey, Jaylen Wells, Cam Spencer, Jay Huff
-
Subtractions: Ziaire Williams, Trey Jemison, Derrick Rose, Jordan Goodwin, Timmy Allen, Zavier Simpson, Jack White, Lamar Stevens, Yuta Watanabe (shit, the Grizzlies had so many players the last season)
-
complete list
The big question: Can they stay healthy and find the right balance?
Memphis was always going to start last season behind the 8-ball, with Ja Morant beginning a 25-game suspension. But the project of staying afloat until the superstar’s return quickly became the Grizzlies’ drowning.
Beginning with the announcement just before opening night that Steven Adams would miss the entire season, virtually every mission-critical Memphian missed an extended period of time. As Notes from Zach Kram of The RingerLast year’s Grizzlies used more players and more starting lineups than any team in NBA history – the result of 20 different players missing a absurd 577 total games.
When Morant debuted, Memphis was already 6-19. When, after a nine-game cameo, he tore the labrum in his right shoulder, all the Grizz could do was wait until next year.
There were Silver coatings. Forced to serve as the primary option in Morant’s absence, Desmond Bane averaged 23.7 points and 5.5 assists per game, both career highs, and maintained above-average shooting efficiency at by far his highest usage rate. as a professional. Jaren Jackson Jr. helped coach Taylor Jenkins somehow lift a near-top-10 defense out of a MASH unit. And while he didn’t navigate the use-efficiency curve As skilled as Bane, Jackson also scored and provided the best clips of his career in a role that required him to do his own cooking; nearly 41% of his baskets last season were unassistedand after Morant went down for the season, JJJ qualified four in the NBA in usage rateonly behind Joel Embiid, Luka Dončić and Jalen Brunson.
Memphis’ roster turnover resulted in Vince Williams Jr., a tenacious 6-foot-4 stopper with a 6-foot-11 wingspan who showed flashes as a scorer and complementary playmaker. He gave GG Jackson II, the youngest NBA playerover 1,200 minutes of reps to suggest his game translates to the NBA level, even if, at this point, he’s better suited for a reserve role. It gave Scotty Pippen Jr. a chance to show he could make an impact as a backup point guard on defense and at the table; He made the most of it and had good performances in the Summer League and preseason to earn a guaranteed contract.
It also handed the Grizzlies the No. 9 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, a chance to try to add an important piece to a 50-win team. They took the biggest piece on the board: 7-foot-4, 305-pound Purdue center Zach Edey, the kind of blocker, dominant offensive rebounder and massive low-blocking target who could transform Memphis’ offense:
The most efficient post option this preseason has been, you guessed it, Grizzlies rookie Zach Edey.
Patience and tact appear in the film. Good hands and wide capture radius. I’m not sure if doubling a pass is going to work against him – I’m willing to let him go, and quickly. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/DPujnoe8ZC
— Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) October 15, 2024
The theory of the case is clear: recover the health of the injured; pair them with the young ones; add a giant; resume shouting that trick. But it’s not as simple as “respawn right where you were before Ja’s suspension.”
Is Edey ready to start immediately at center for a championship contender? How quickly can JJJ acclimate to a new teammate in the frontcourt and return to Defensive Player of the Year level of effectiveness? Is Brandon Clarke, who played just six games last season following a ruptured Achilles tendon, ready to play again as a top reserve?
How does Memphis integrate Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard, neither of whom have played much with Morant, once they are all available? (Also, I know Smart is a “stretch-6” (but… he’s basically a 6-foot-3 combo forward right now?) How congested will the half-court offense be when questionable shooters Morant, Smart and JJJ (just 32.6% from deep over of the last four seasons) shares the court with Edey? And if Jenkins downsizes to get more shots on the floor, the Morant-Bane-Kennard three-guard lineup blitzed its opponents with 91 points in 102 minutes Two seasons ago, how do the Grizz avoid getting sliced up on the perimeter and hit on the boards?
Answering those questions requires everyone on the court… and there, again, Memphis is off to a rough start. Williams and Jackson will miss the start of the season. JJJ has not played in preseason due to a hamstring strain. And while Morant’s preseason debut offered some exciting reminders…
…also left early after spraining his ankle, and has been sidelined since with a “mild sprain.”
Both Morant and Jackson Jr. are expected to be ready for the first game of the season; This is obviously good. These restored Grizzlies have plenty of potential answers to the questions they’ll face in a loaded West. But they will need all hands on deck to find them.
The best of cases
The return of Morant and the arrival of Edey transform a team that ended last dead in the NBA in points in the paint last season again where led the league he former four campaigns. The growth in self-creation that Bane and JJJ showed makes them even more dangerous when, with Ja back, they don’t have to do as much. The returns of Smart, Kennard, Clarke and John Konchar give the Grizzlies a full complement of capable veterans to rely on; The continued development of youngsters Williams, Jackson, Pippen, Santi Aldama and Jake LaRavia gives Jenkins new legs to deploy in a faster paced offense. It all adds up to top-10 finishes on both sides of the ball, 50-plus wins and a deep postseason run — the Grizz picked up right where they left off when everything went crazy.
If everything falls apart
The disparate pieces never come together. The new offensive scheme is neither fish nor fowl, with the idea of a more fluid and decentralized attack that minimizes Morant’s effectiveness in dominating the ball, and a higher-octane spirit that makes it more difficult to play through the enormous Edey in the background. For as many intriguing pieces as he has to play with, Jenkins struggles to find consistent two-way lineups with enough shooting, defensive steel at the point of attack and rebounding to compete with the juggernauts of the West. Morant, Bane and/or Jackson miss an extended stretch and suddenly Memphis looks a lot thinner than we thought. The Grizz fail in the play-in, fail to make the postseason, and face even bigger questions heading into the summer.
fantasy twist
The Grizzlies are loaded with fantastic talent, starting with Jackson. JJJ is one of the most reliable defensive assets available, and his scoring and 3-point contributions make him a high-end third-round pick. Bane ranks higher than Morant in my rankings, however, Morant’s ADP is about six points better than Bane’s. Bane gives me an advantage in category leagues because he is more efficient and loses the ball less. Morant is more suited to points leagues as is Paolo Banchero.
I’ve been drafting Edey more aggressively as a late-round pick. Edey has the tools to be a good fantasy player: his blocks, rebounds, and shooting efficiency can help fantasy managers right away. Even if he plays 20-25 minutes a night, he profiles as a player who will make an impact in limited minutes. Edey will go in the ninth round, but I would skip to the eighth if you think he won’t be available. — Dan Tito
Calendar 2024-25
I’ve been in the Grizzlies tank for a long time… and that’s not going to change here! A 21-win jump sounds absurd, but the last two mostly healthy versions of this team won 56 and 51 games, and this one could be deeper than those. Place that 47.5 on a table; Super Grizz is about to jump off a ladder and throw it into oblivion.
