Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman recently heaped high praise on big man Jaren Jackson Jr., according to Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal (Twitter link).
“I don’t think it’s even a debate,” Kleiman said. “I think he’s playing at a top 5 player in the NBA level right now. Definitely top 10.”
The 6’10” big man was just named to his second All-Star team this season. He’s also a two-time All-Defensive First Teamer and was named the 2023 Defensive Player of the Year. Should he keep up his performance for the West’s No. 2 seed, Jackson could earn another All-Defensive Team berth — and perhaps even his first-ever All-NBA team honor.
“Jaren is right at the heart of what we’re building here, and of course, it’s the utmost priority to keep him in that spot and continue to build around him,” Kleiman added, tweets Cole.
These comments could offer up a transactional hint at Kleiman’s thinking regarding the future of Jackson in Memphis. The Grizzlies now seem will likely to look to extend Jackson in the 2025 offseason.
There’s more out of Memphis:
- With the Grizzlies at last nearing full health, head coach Taylor Jenkins faces a happy problem — he needs to make some tough rotation decisions, notes Michael Wallace of Grind City Media. “We have depth, we pretty much have everybody back ready to go,” wing Vince Williams Jr. said. “Now, it’s just time to put all the pieces together and show how it all fits.” Williams, forward GG Jackson, and starting guard Desmond Bane both recently re-entered the 36-17 team’s lineup just in time. Jenkins has been trotting out an 11-player rotation for much of 2024/25 so far. His bench has gotten even deeper with the returns of Williams and GG Jackson. Wallace opines that only Ja Morant, Bane and Jaren Jackson are guaranteed significant run going forward. Other players’ minutes may be situational.
- The city of Memphis is angling to keep the Grizzlies in town for a good long while. According to Jonah Dylan of The Memphis Commercial Appeal, mayor Paul Young is hoping to ink the Grizzlies to a long-term lease with their longtime home court, the FedEx Forum, in the 2025 offseason. “We’re working toward getting to an agreement on the principals that go in a lease by the end of the summer,” Young said. Dylan writes that any extension seems likely to detail a strategy for a $550MM FedEx Forum renovation.
- In case you missed it, Kleiman recently explained why the Grizzlies, the No. 2 seed in the West, opted to carve out cap flexibility with their trade deadline maneuvering rather than bringing in more help for a postseason push.