The 2023/24 NBA campaign tipped off on October 24, making this the 12th day of the 177-day regular season. It’s early, in other words, so teams falling short of their expectations during the season’s first couple weeks shouldn’t be reaching for the panic button quite yet.
Still, the Western Conference is expected to be extremely competitive this season — when we ran our over/under polls on teams’ win totals in the weeks leading up to opening night, the benchmark for 11 of the 15 teams in the West was 44.5 or more victories. Only six Western teams will qualify for the playoffs outright and only four more will make the play-in tournament, which means one of those 11 clubs with high expectations for 2023/24 will be left on the outside looking in, not even a play-in team.
The margin for error in the West is thin, which doesn’t bode well for the Grizzlies, the NBA’s lone remaining winless team.
We knew Memphis might be in some trouble entering the season, with a few key players expected to be unavailable for a significant portion of the year. All-Star guard Ja Morant is serving a 25-game suspension, starting center Steven Adams is out for the season with a knee injury, and key frontcourt reserve Brandon Clarke is still on his way back from a torn Achilles.
Still, we didn’t expect the Grizzlies to begin the season 0-6, with losses to potential lottery-bound teams like Washington, Utah, and Portland. Again, it’s early, but Memphis is digging an early-season hole that might be tricky to climb out of.
In addition to being without Morant, the Grizzlies can no longer rely on steady backup point guard Tyus Jones, who was traded in the offseason, and newcomers Marcus Smart and Derrick Rose have been shaky so far. Jones has been the NBA’s perennial leader in assist-to-turnover ratio, but without him and Morant, the Grizzlies rank 26th in that category in the early going and have had trouble generating much offense at all — the club’s 102.9 offensive rating ranks dead last in the NBA.
Adams obviously isn’t the scorer or play-maker that Morant is, but his absence in the frontcourt has been just as deeply felt as Morant’s in the backcourt. Before Adams went down with his knee injury last season, the Grizzlies ranked second in the league in rebounding percentage and offensive rebounding percentage, with Adams leading that effort. However, they were 25th and 22nd in those categories the rest of last season, and are in the bottom half of the league’s rebounders again this fall.
The good news for the Grizzlies is that their stars – Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson – have looked great, and there’s no reason not to expect the same from Morant when he returns in December. But Memphis isn’t getting much from its role players, and the team needs to at least tread water until Morant is back in order to stay in the playoff hunt.
We want to know what you think. After winning over 50 games in each of the past two regular season, are the Grizzlies just off to a slow start this season? Will they turn things around and end up having a strong year? Or is this slow start a harbinger of things to come? Will the Grizzlies end up being the odd man out of the postseason from that group of 11 Western teams with playoff expectations?
Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section to weigh in with your thoughts on the Grizzlies.
The price Memphis will pay for Ja Morant’s continued idiocy with guns will be not making the Playoffs this year.
Bane and JJJ look good. They make it to play-offs and then threaten or beat one of the higher seeded teams.
Plenty of Centers out there who can fit in… if the KAT / Gobert experiment fails, then One of them or Mitchell in a 3 team with NYC. Thies wants out. Timelord. Vucevic. Top of mind.
Cant dig your way out when MEM is the only easy win in the west, and you will be so buried by the time the ship starts to right.
Try and not get swept by POR first….
The West is insane this season. I’d even put the Spurs over the Grizzlies as far as making the playoffs goes.
Not having Ja for 25 games is huge but not having Steven Adams for the season could be even worse. He’s such a big part of this team. On top of that Tyus Jones leaving and you didn’t really replace Dillon Brooks….
From last season your missing 4 key players, yes you added Marcus Smart but even if you had 3 of the 4 it would’ve taken time for Marcus to adjust.
Unless they make a trade I don’t see them making it.
JJJ is a nice defender but I don’t think he’s really all that. He gets postered far too often and offensively he doesn’t put up big enough numbers. Desmond Bane is great I really rate him and the fact he’s now having to handle the ball more he’s going to be more well rounded and become a better player. Then you have all these young kids which did great off the bench last year but when you need them to perform in bigger roles this year they aren’t really stepping up much.
So as for trades, I’d start at the biggest concern which is centre and look for something like Rob Williams or KAT/Gobert. If you can’t make something out of these three then I’d go younger and cheaper and look at James Wiseman.
Wiseman’s value would be next to nothing but he’s got all star upside. I like his well rounded offensive game next to JJJ who brings the defence. These two could be great together.
I’d then look at 3/4’s. JJJ can play minutes at the 5, Smart can play minutes at the 3, Aldama is also there but I think you need to get some kind of 6’7/6’8 3 and D forward to bridge the difference in size. Doesn’t have to be a big name just a role player or two even. Saddiq Bey could be an option, Patrick Williams, Royce ONeale, Bojan Bogdanovic, Nic Batum, Kyle Anderson and even TJ Warren all come to mind as somewhat possibly available.
Like even as a minimum,
I’d trade Kennard, Williams and LaRavia for Wiseman and Burks which then gives you an open roster spot for TJ Warren.
That’s just the minimum I’d be wanting to do.
If your expecting more then I’d target KAT and Anderson on the TWolves. KAT would pair nicely with JJJ who would provide the defence. Anderson may also want out having had some beef with Gobert in the past and Memphis need wings. Not sure you’d have enough peices to get that deal done without moving one of the core guys which comes with a huge risk in itself tho
No chance…
I’m still 50/50, they got a nice asset base to improve externally (tho they don’t often dip into it)
They have had the most 3’s in history of Nba made against um at a high % clip so far as well thru 6 games, that will even out
Go 9-10/10-9 the next 19 they gotta good shot still
They won’t make it unless Dallas decides to tank it or a top team gets riddled with injuries. The Grizz with Ja would be better than Portland and Utah. Rockets hired Udoka and brought vets with the intention of making playoffs. Grizz should be better than them. SAS is a young team but will get better through the season. They need to be better than those 4 and have a team get injured. I think OKC will make the playoffs so not taking them out.
Every season pundits pick on
Slow starting /undermanned rosters
This is no different
Plenty of depth and one big man away from a surge
Here’s a Poll:
How many of these arm chair pundits that
Enlighten us w their opines
Actually played round ball?
Few I’d guess based on y’all’s perceived confidences in conjecture