Memphis Grizzlies: 3 bold predictions for the 2020-21 season

3. The Memphis Grizzlies make the playoffs

Last season the Memphis Grizzlies surprised the entire league by positioning themselves in eighth place for much of the year, despite preseason expectations of being a bottom-five squad. Ja Morant was excellent to a surprising level, but he was not alone in elevating this team. Brandon Clarke was immediately helpful as a rookie, D’Anthony Melton and Tyus Jones were the league’s best bench backcourt and this team went 10-deep with useful players, a rarity for a rebuilding team.

While injuries and poor performance saw them fall to the play-in game and ultimately lose to the Portland Trail Blazers, it was an encouraging season that proved this team doesn’t need to wallow in the dregs of the league. They are ready to make an impact now.

The Western Conference will yet again be a difficult place, with the Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors ready to break into the field. The New Orleans Pelicans have an elite sophomore of their own. Can the Grizzlies expect to be the one to make it in?

The answer is yes. Almost the entire rotation is young and poised to take a step forward. Justice Winslow did not play a minute for Memphis last year and will give them a dimension they didn’t have before. Even rookie wing Desmond Bane could be a bench sniper cracking the rotation. They proved last year that their collective competitive fire is unique and will drive them even above their prodigious talent level.

This is not a team ready to contend for a championship, but it’s possible the combination of Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. are good enough to do so in their prime granted the right pieces are around them. The much lower bar of making the playoffs, while still difficult to reach, will be cleared by the Grizzlies in a season that shouts to the league this group is for real.

Prediction: 39-33, 8th in the Western Conference