Memphis Grizzlies: The best 3-man units breakdown

Thanks to injuries, the Memphis Grizzlies have had to roll out some interesting three-man lineups this season. Let’s look at the best lineups and their common denominator.

Looking at three-man lineups is a challenging task. Sometimes matchups influence how effective groups can be, both in a good way and a bad way. What analyzing three-man lineups does is allow one to understand what the common denominators are for success. Let’s do that for the struggling Memphis Grizzlies.

When you look at the top five three-man groups, one thing stands out immediately: Brandan Wright is in all five of them.

The reasoning for Wright’s success has largely been defense. All five of these lineups have a defensive rating under 100, which is already great in general. But given that the Memphis Grizzlies as a team have a defensive rating of 105.8, it’s impressive that Wright is able to make the team’s defense effective.

His rim protection has been surprisingly great this year. The lineups he is a part of are stopping opponents with unprecedented effectiveness in Memphis. He can slide around and force tough shots at the rim with unheralded skill, and because of his large frame and long wingspan, opponents can’t figure out how to put the ball in with him around.

Thaddeus Young is a victim here. He thought he could easily put in a layup, but Wright has other ideas:

That’s been the M.O. with Wright on the floor: good defense. But the team wouldn’t be effective in lineups with him on the floor if they couldn’t score. Thankfully, they can.

All five of the previously mentioned lineups have an offensive rating above 100. They slow the pace down, but they can still score effectively thanks to a high true shooting percentage. Three of the five group have a true shooting percentage over 55, which is great, and a low amount of turnovers.

Wright keeps these groups humming with his rebounding and passing. He’s a willing passer off the offensive rebound, and it makes easy shots like this possible for his teammates:

So Wright is part of the best three-man groups, but another common factor is a great offense with Tyreke Evans on the court. Four of the five best offensive group include Evans, and three of those units are the only Memphis Grizzlies units with an offensive rating over 110.

These groups frequently have high assists and high assists to turnover ratios. Evans finishes passes his teammates send to him, and he never turns it over; his 10.5 turnover percentage is a career-best.

He keeps the Grizz humming and scoring, something nobody else on the team seems to be able to do. His new role as the second unit point guard forces him into some situations where he can read the pick-and-roll, and he’s doing a great job with the decision-making in these situations:

That’s a great read and pass from a guy whos been more of a wing scorer throughout his career.

He’s still doing that too. His kiler instinct has never disappeared, and he can hesitate and attack the rim whenever he wants. No matter how many people are in the lane, he still attacks downhill for baskets:

Evans and Wright are the common members of many of the Grizzlies’ best lineups. Maybe they need to play together more often than they do now; they are the fourth-best net rating duo on the team.

Next: 2018 NBA Mock Draft: End of 2017 edition

The coaching staff is trying to get those two on the floor together, as they recently broke the 200 minutes mark sharing the court. The more they play, the more the Grizzlies may start winning and correcting their struggles.