Memphis Grizzlies 2024-25 season preview: Ja Morant and the most intriguing contender |Max Sporty|

The 2024-25 NBA season is here! We break down the biggest questions, best and worst case scenarios and fantasy prospects for all 30 teams. Enjoy!

MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES

2023-24 end

Offseason 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 (holy crap, the Grizzlies had so many players last season)

• Complete roster

The Big Question: Can they stay healthy and find the right balance?

Memphis will always start last season behind the 8-ball, with Ja Morant starting a 25-game suspension. But the project of staying afloat until the return of the superstar quickly became the Grizzlies drowning.

Starting with the just-before-opening-night announcement that Steven Adams would miss the entire season, nearly every mission-critical Memphian has missed extended time. Like Zach Kram of The Ringer noteslast year’s Grizzlies used more players and more starting lines than any team in NBA history – the result of 20 separate players missing an absurd 577 total games.

By the time Morant debuted, Memphis was already there 6-19. When, after a nine-game cameo, he tore the labrum in his right shoulder, all the Grizz could do was blank the rest of the schedule and wait until next year.

There was silver linings. Pressed into duty as a 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 on by far his highest usage as a professional. Jaren Jackson Jr. helped coach Taylor Jenkins somehow coax a near-top-10 defense out of a MASH unit. And while he was not sailing the utilization efficiency curve just as adept as Bane, Jackson also scored and facilitated at career-best rates in a role that required him to cook for himself; almost 41% of his baskets last season were unassistedand after Morant went down for the season, JJJ lined up fourth in the NBA in usagebehind only Joel Embiid, Luka Dončić and Jalen Brunson.

Memphis’ roster featured Vince Williams Jr., a tenacious 6-foot-4 stopper with a 6-foot-11 wingspan who has shown flashes as a complementary scorer and playmaker. It gave to GG Jackson II, the youngest player in the NBAmore than 1,200 minutes of reps to suggest his game translates to the NBA level — even if, at this point, it’s best suited for a backup role. It gave to Scotty Pippen Jr. a chance to prove he could make an impact as a defense-and-table-standing backup point guard; he made the most of it, turning in strong Summer League and preseason performances to earn a guaranteed deal.

It also gave the Grizzlies the No. 9 pick in the 2024 NBA draft — a swinging opportunity to add a big 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 spot-up screener, dominant offensive rebounder and massive low-blocking target who could transform Memphis’ offense:

The theory of the case is clear: Heal the wounded fellows; pair them with the young children; add giant; start over shouting that trick. But it’s not as simple as “reborn right back to where you were before Ja’s suspension.”

Is Edey ready to start right away at center on a championship contender? How quickly can JJJ acclimate to a new frontcourt partner, and can he return to Defensive Player of the Year-level performance? Is Brandon Clarke, who played just six games last season after a torn Achilles, ready to play as a premier backup big man again?

How does Memphis integrate Smart and Kennard, neither of whom played much with Morant, once all are available? (I also know the a “stretch-6,” but … is he basically a 6-foot-3 combo forward now?) How congested will the half-court offense be when lackluster shooters Morant, Smart and JJJ (only 32.6% from deep over the past four seasons) share the court with Edey? And if Jenkins shrinks for more shooting on the floor – the Morant-Bane-Kennard three-guard lineup has attacked opponents with 91 points in 102 minutes two seasons back – how do the Grizz avoid being cut up on the perimeter and pounded on the boards?

Answering those questions requires getting everyone on the court … and there, once again, Memphis is off to a rocky start. Williams and Jackson will both miss the start of the season. JJJ did not play in preseason with a strained hamstring. And while Morant’s preseason premiere offered some exciting reminders…

… he also exited early after rolling his ankle, and has been sidelined since with a “gentle twist.”

Both Morant and Jackson Jr. are expected to be ready for the season opener; this, obviously, is good. These restored Grizzlies have many possible answers to the questions they will face in a loaded West. But they will need all hands on deck to find them.

Best case scenario

The return of Morant and the arrival of Edey transforms a team that finished dead last in the NBA in points in the paint last season back in the one that led the connection the previous four campaigns. The self-creative growth that Bane and JJJ have shown 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; continued development of youngsters Williams, Jackson, Pippen, Santi Aldama and Jake LaRavia gives Jenkins fresh legs to deploy in faster 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 are picking up right where they left off when it all went wrong.

If everything falls apart

The disparate pieces never quite come together. The new offensive scheme proves neither fish nor fowl, with the idea of ​​a more fluid and decentralized attack minimizing Morant’s ball-control efficiency, and a higher octane atmosphere making it more difficult to play through the massive Edey down low. For as many interesting pieces as he has to play, Jenkins struggles to find consistent two-way lineups with enough shooting, point guard steel and rebounding to compete with the monsters out West. Morant, Bane and/or Jackson miss an extended stretch, and suddenly Memphis looks a lot thinner than we thought. The Grizz sputter to the game, fail to make the postseason, and find themselves facing even bigger questions heading into the summer.

A fancy spin

The Grizzlies are loaded with fantasy talent, starting with Jackson. JJJ is one of the more reliable defensive assets available, and his contribution to scoring and 3s make him a high-floor pick in the third round. Bane is higher than Morant in my rankings, however Morant’s ADP is about six spots better than Bane’s. Bane gets the edge for me in category leagues because he is more efficient and turns the ball over less. Morant is better suited to dot links like Paolo Banchero.

I drafted Edey more aggressively as a late pick. Edey has the tools to be a good fantasy player – his blocks, rebounding and shooting efficiency can help fantasy managers immediately. Even if he plays 20-25 minutes a night, his profile tracks to a player who will be effective in limited minutes. Edey goes in the ninth round, but I’d spend up to the eighth if you feel he won’t be available. — And Titus

schedule 2024-25

I’m in the tank for the Grizzlies for a long time … and that won’t change here! A 21-win jump sounds absurd, but the last two mostly healthy iterations of this team we’ve seen won 56 and 51 games, and this one. could be deeper than those. Put that 47.5 on a table; Super Grizz is on dive off a ladder and splash it into oblivion.