3 adjustments the Memphis Grizzlies have to make without Ja Morant

Adjustment 2: Play through the starters

The hot-hand will be the biggest factor when it comes to picking who of these three will be your “go-to” guy on a game-to-game basis. Out of the three of Dillon Brooks, Jonas Valanciunas and Kyle Anderson, the most likely to catch fire is Dillon Brooks.

Dillon Brooks

Last season Brooks averaged 16.2 points per game, with currently is averaging 19.7 for the season thus far. Brooks is the only player currently healthy who can create off the dribble, however, his shot selection is rough at times with a lot of long twos and contested jump shots.

Out of players who played 50 games or more and shot more than 10 field goals per game Brooks was the eighth-worst in effective field goal percentage in the league last season per NBA.com/stats. Additionally, ESPN’s Kevin Pelton wrote when Brooks has played without Morant and Jackson his efficiency drops even lower.

"“With Jackson and Morant, Brooks’ 49% quantified shot quality (qSQ) as measured by Second Spectrum tracking ranked in the 12th percentile of all players with at least 100 shot attempts in terms of the expected effective field-goal percentage based on the location, type and distance of his shots. When Brooks played without them on the court, his qSQ dipped to 46%, fifth-lowest among qualifying players.”"

Brooks can be a force when he’s on fire, he’s unafraid of contact and he has an itchy trigger finger from three — dropping multiple 30 pieces on teams during his first couple seasons, despite being the third option for a lot of his career.

Dillon Brooks is your best bet when it comes to high scoring, but we must mention Kyle Anderson and Jonas Valanciunas.

Jonas Valanciunas and Kyle Anderson

Valanciunas is your traditional big men and post-up threat, it may not be as common as it uses to be but Valanciunas is still an efficient scorer.

In an era of small-ball lineups, Valanciunas has had a chance to score at will in the paint, in 15 games last season he had 20 points or more and had four 30 point games last season — having his way against small-ball centers like Montrez Harrell and Omari Spellman or younger centers like Wendell Carter Jr and Deandre Ayton.

Against teams’ second units and with teams running smaller center lineups, there are ways for the Grizzlies to have Valanciunas as your offensive hub for a handful of games and possessions during the season.

He’s a solid passer out of the post, averaging 1.9 per game, and has been a capable 3-point shooter in the past handful of seasons – shooting 35 percent on 1.3 attempts per game last season.

I would be remiss to not mention Kyle Anderson, he had a career-high 28 points in the game that Morant injured his ankle.

I’m not saying Anderson is about to be a 20 point per game scorer, but Anderson is a great playmaking forward there will be games where Slo’ Mo is the hot-hand and you go to him over Brooks or Valanciunas.

With Tyus Jones likely taking that starting position and the starters having to burden a heavier load, what happens to the bench? And does this sink the Grizzlies’ hope for a playoff push?