Memphis Grizzlies: Ranking their projected starting five

Starter No. 2 Jaren Jackson Jr.

Jaren Jackson Jr. is the future of the Memphis Grizzlies, as well as modern NBA basketball — a 6’11”, shot-blocking, 3-point shooting, switchable defender. Jackson averaged 17.4 points per game, 4.6 rebounds per game, and 1.6 blocks per game in the 19-20 season.

The two biggest improvement areas are his rebounding numbers and foul rate, Valančiūnas makes up for Jackson’s poor rebound rate, but when it comes down to crunch time, you’d want Jackson at center. If your center averages less than five rebounds they better be good at boxing out (like the Lopez brothers.)

The other issue is that Jackson fouls at an unsustainable level. Jackson fouled 4.1 times per game, making the possibility of a Jackson at center line-up close to impossible if he’s close to fouling out in every game — making Valančiūnas so important.

The health is also a concern, Jackson has amassed a concerning amount of lower-body injuries during his short NBA career. It’s a long and diverse list of lower-body issues, from quads to knees to most recently a meniscus tear. Jackson has missed a total of 39 games, (25 percent total) in two seasons playing 156 games total.

The Grizzlies just have to hope Jackson can stay healthy and reduce his fouls, because we’ve seen flashes of the best-case scenario of what Jackosn could be. A sharpshooting 6’11” defensive savant, similar to an Anthony Davis or Kevin Garnett – the future of what the NBA “big man” will look like and the perfect star next to Ja Morant.

Starter No. 1 Ja Morant

The face of the Grizzlies is Ja Morant. After a Rookie of the Year campaign of averaging 17.8 points per game, 7.3 assists per game while still carrying the injured Grizzlies to the NBA play-in game is nothing short of spectacular.

Morant isn’t perfect, the three-point shot can use some work and his defense isn’t anything special, yet – that’s why Dillon Brooks is so important to this starting line-up.

But, Morant changed the narrative of the Grizzlies within his first months of playing, from a tanking rebuilding team, into a playoff contender. Morant is the head of the snake when it comes to the Grizzlies, and in his first year, he’s shown the maturity to lead a team that’s older than him, with a willingness to get down and dirty on defense.

There is a lot to work on before Morant can become an elite point guard. As mentioned he shot 33 percent from the arc and turned the ball over 3.3 times per game, while struggling with his man-to-man defense.

However, Morant is just coming off his rookie season, the sky is the limit for the Grizzlies and that opinion is solely based on what NBA fans and pundits alike saw in 74 games of a 20-year-old Ja Morant.