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

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 GRIZZLIES

2023-24 finish

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 was always going to be starting 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 turned into the Grizzlies drowning.

Starting with the just-before-opening-night announcement that Steven Adams would miss the entire season, virtually every mission-critical Memphian missed extended time. As The Ringer’s Zach Kram notes, last year’s Grizzlies used more players and more starting lineups 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 6-19. When, after a nine-game cameo, he tore the labrum in his right shoulder, all the Grizz could do was white-knuckle the remainder of the schedule and wait ‘til next year.

There were 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 rate as a pro. Jaren Jackson Jr. helped coach Taylor Jenkins somehow coax a near-top-10 defense out of a MASH unit. And while he didn’t surf the usage-efficiency curve quite as adeptly as Bane, Jackson too scored and facilitated at career-best clips in a role that required him to cook for himself; nearly 41% of his baskets last season were unassisted, and after Morant went down for the season, JJJ ranked fourth in the NBA in usage rate, behind only Joel Embiid, Luka Dončić and Jalen Brunson.

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

It also handed the Grizzlies the No. 9 pick in the 2024 NBA draft — a chance to take a swing at adding 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 mauling screener, dominant offensive rebounder and massive low-block target who could transform Memphis’ offense:

The theory of the case is clear: Get the injured guys healthy; pair them with the young guys; add in a giant; resume whooping that trick. But it’s not quite as simple as “re-spawn right back where you were before Ja’s suspension.”

Is Edey ready to immediately start at center on a championship contender? How quickly can JJJ get acclimated to a new frontcourt partner, and can he return to Defensive Player of the Year-level effectiveness? Is Brandon Clarke, who played just six games last season following a ruptured Achilles, ready to once again play like a premier backup big?

How does Memphis integrate Smart and Kennard, neither of whom have played much with Morant, once everyone’s available? (Also, I know Smart’s a “stretch-6,” but … is he basically a 6-foot-3 combo forward right now?) How congested will the half-court offense be when iffy shooters Morant, Smart and JJJ (just 32.6% from deep over the past four seasons) share the court with Edey? And if Jenkins downsizes to get more shooting on the floor — the Morant-Bane-Kennard three-guard lineup blitzed opponents by 91 points in 102 minutes two seasons back — how do the Grizz avoid getting sliced up on the perimeter and pounded on the boards?

Answering those questions requires getting everybody on the court … and there, again, Memphis is off to a rocky start. Williams and Jackson will both miss the start of the season. JJJ hasn’t played in preseason with a strained hamstring. And while Morant’s preseason premiere offered some thrilling reminders …

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

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

Best-case scenario

The return of Morant and the arrival of Edey transform a team that finished dead last in the NBA in points in the paint last season back into the one that led the league the previous four campaigns. The self-creation growth 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; ongoing development from youngsters Williams, Jackson, Pippen, Santi Aldama and Jake LaRavia give Jenkins fresh 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 picking up just where they left off when everything went haywire.

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-dominating effectiveness, and a higher-octane ethos making it tougher to play through the massive Edey down low. For as many intriguing pieces as he has to play with, Jenkins struggles to find consistent two-way lineups with enough shooting, point-of-attack defensive 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 play-in, fail to make the postseason, and find themselves facing even bigger questions heading into the summer.

Fantasy 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 makes him a high-floor pick in the third round. Bane ranks higher than Morant in my rankings, however Morant’s ADP is roughly six spots better than Bane’s. Bane gets the edge for me in category leagues because he’s more efficient and turns the ball over less. Morant is better suited for points leagues like 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, 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’ll be impactful in limited minutes. Edey is going in the ninth round, but I’d spend up to the eighth if you sense he won’t be available. — Dan Titus

2024-25 schedule

I’ve long been in the tank for the Grizzlies … and that is not going to change here! A 21-win leap sounds preposterous, but the last two mostly healthy iterations of this team we’ve seen won 56 and 51 games, and this one might be deeper than those. Lay that 47.5 out on a table; Super Grizz is about to dive off a ladder and splash it into oblivion.