In the Memphis Grizzlies’ final preseason game, guard Ty Jerome strained his right calf, an injury that will sideline him for at least four weeks. The next day, the Grizzlies announced that guard Scotty Pippen Jr. needed surgery on his left big toe and ESPN reported that he’d be out for at least 12 weeks. Given that Ja Morant had missed the entire preseason because of a sprained left ankle, these developments were at least a little alarming.
And that’s just the backcourt. In late September, Memphis announced that center Zach Edey was recovering from surgery on his left ankle and could miss the first two months of the season. At the same time, they announced that big man Brandon Clarke needed to have arthroscopic surgery on his knee and would be reevaluated in six weeks. Jaren Jackson Jr. is back on the court after having surgery on his right foot, but he’s going to have to carry a heavy load.
All of this is to say that the lead-up to the 2025-26 season has been less than ideal for the Grizzlies. They have some interesting new pieces (Jerome, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cedric Coward), but they lost one of their core players (Desmond Bane) and they don’t have a ton of room for error in the West.
The State of Play
Last year: On the one hand, the Grizzlies finished with the league’s sixth-best net rating and, midway through March, had a 42-24 record. On the other hand, they struggled against elite competition, went on a tailspin late in the season, fired their coach (Taylor Jenkins) with just nine games left, fell into the play-in and got swept by the eventual champs in the first round of the playoffs. Memphis had a fascinating new offense but essentially abandoned it.
The offseason: A week after they were eliminated, the Grizzlies took the interim tag away from head coach Tuomas Iisalo. In mid-June, they traded Bane to the Magic for Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony (whom they would later waive), four first-round picks (including the No. 16 pick in the 2025 draft) and a 2029 pick swap. On draft night, they traded up from No. 16 to No. 11, sending the Blazers one of the picks they’d gotten from Orlando and two future seconds. At No. 11, they drafted Coward, a wing whose path to Memphis is inconceivable. At No. 49, they drafted guard Javon Small. In July, they renegotiated and extended Jackson’s contract (four years, $205 million, not including the $35 million he’ll make this year) and re-signed Santi Aldama (three years, $52.5 million) and Cam Spencer (four years, $10.4 million, team option). Their biggest free-agent addition was Jerome (three years, $27.7 million), but they also signed Jock Landale for the minimum and former No. 23 pick Olivier-Maxence Prosper on a two-way contract. They traded Jay Huff to the Pacers for a 2029 second-round pick and a 2031 second-round swap. Luke Kennard left for the Hawks in free agency.
Las Vegas over/under: 39.5 wins, per FanDuel Sportsbook
The Conversation
Grizzlies believer: Don’t make the mistake of overlooking the Grizzlies. I know they lost Desmond Bane and they’re banged up right now, but they were a top-three team in the West for most of 2024-25 and finished with 48 wins despite sort of falling apart late in the regular season. I’m not predicting they’re about to win the title or anything, but I won’t be surprised if they make the playoffs outright. I still think Ja Morant can play at an All-NBA level, and there are a lot of solid players on this roster. Ty Jerome was a Sixth Man of the Year candidate last season, Santi Aldama might be the most underrated player in the whole league and I think Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is going to look much better now that he’s no longer the only floor spacer out there. You’ll see development from Jaylen Wells and Zach Edey in Year 2, and I think there’s a chance that Cedric Coward is a winning player immediately. With Vince Williams Jr., John Konchar and GG Jackson II still in the mix, though, Coward will have a lot of competition on the wing.
Grizzlies skeptic: Yeah, the Grizzlies have a lot of guys. But they’re mostly just, like, guys. If they were in the East, that would be enough for a playoff spot. In the West, I don’t see it, especially with all of these injuries. For years, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Brandon Clarke have been their most effective frontcourt duo. Now, I’m guessing Aldama is going to have to be in that Clarke role (and be the lone big in some lineups). Jerome getting hurt right before the season is a gut punch, and losing Scotty Pippen Jr. at the same time is just terrible. When I think about the trajectory Morant was on in 2022-23, I get sad. I wish I could be as bullish on him as you are.
Grizzlies believer: I’m bullish on Morant, and I’m also bullish on Tuomas Iisalo getting the most out of him. You’re still going to see some of the movement patterns the Grizzlies used last year, but there will be much more on-ball and off-ball screens and they’re going to use their bigs as hubs. I know Morant isn’t coming off his most impressive individual season, but he averaged 27.6 points on 57.1% true shooting after the All-Star break. If you’ve somehow forgotten what a force he is when he gets downhill, he will remind you.
Grizzlies skeptic: Morant is only 26, so I’m not going to write him off. But he averaged a career-high 8.5 3-point attempts per game last year and made just 30.9% of them. More than half of those attempts were pull-ups, and he made just 28.6% of those. He turned the ball over more often than ever before, too. His highlights are still extremely cool, but I think it’s fair to be concerned. This is his prime, so, in theory, he should be putting it all together now.
Grizzlies believer: Let’s revisit the Ja conversation in a month or two. I bet you’ll be back on board. I also anticipate that your whole outlook on Memphis will have changed by then. When the Grizzlies’ defense slipped and they fired Taylor Jenkins, everybody lost their minds about them to the point that Jackson somehow missed out on All-NBA entirely and was relegated to the All-Defensive Second Team. People are still too down on them, but the pendulum can swing back just as quickly. One five-game winning streak — or a couple of wins against top-tier teams — should do the trick.
Grizzlies skeptic: If last year’s Grizzlies couldn’t beat top-tier teams, why should anybody expect this iteration to do so? I haven’t lost my mind, and those of us predicting that they’ll be in the play-in (again) aren’t haters. This is a good-but-not-great team in a tough conference, and it has already had terrible injury luck. The front office just traded its player development program’s biggest success story because it determined that the core didn’t have a high enough ceiling. Now is the time for the whole franchise to recalibrate. I’ll be patient as that happens, but I’ll keep my expectations reasonable.