From October to February, the Memphis Grizzlies looked like a team that could make some noise in a wide-open Western Conference. They were as high as the second seed at one point, and this was despite the fact that Ja Morant missed time due to injury. Unfortunately for the Grizz, things went south quickly.
Coming out of the All-Star break, Memphis went almost two months without beating a team with a winning record. Morant was openly frustrated with the new offense that took the ball out of his hands and prioritized movement and cutting. The team’s struggles led to Taylor Jenkins being fired with less than two weeks left in the season and the promotion of assistant Tuomas Isialo to interim coach.
Memphis did make it out of the play-in but was promptly swept by the OKC Thunder in the first round, a series Morant didn’t even finish because of a hip injury. The first-round sweep leaves the Grizzlies with one playoff series win with their core of Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Desmond Bane. With the team looking for a new head coach and a lot of uncertainty with the roster, everything is on the table for Memphis.
Everything should be on the table for the Grizzlies, including moving on from Ja Morant
Morant’s availability has been spotty for each of the last three seasons. From serving suspensions to shoulder injuries, he has not been able to get back to his 2022 form. He hasn’t finished two of his last three playoff series and played through a serious hand injury in the other. He is still a subpar three-point shooter, and his rim numbers this year were some of the lowest of his career.
Morant thrives in a pick-and-roll-heavy system, and he struggled with a more free-flowing scheme that Memphis ran this season. They closed the year running more pick and roll, but the results were still not good enough. Take a look at this graphic.
The Grizzlies’ offensive rating post All-Star break and post-firing Jenkins remained about the same. They ranked 16th in the category from the All-Star break to the day he was fired. In the nine games after Isialo took the helm, they moved to 15th. Things really hit rock bottom in the playoffs, though, as Memphis currently ranks last out of all 16 playoff teams with a 97.4 offensive rating.
The Memphis Grizzlies must finally consider trading Ja Morant
The Grizzlies showed an alarming lack of poise for a battle-tested playoff team against the Thunder, losing by 51 in game one, blowing a 29-point lead in game three (Morant didn’t finish the game), and blowing game four down the stretch as well. Yeah, their superstar didn’t finish the series, but even with Morant, the struggles were evident.
Memphis has to decide whether or not it wants to double down on this core with a new voice at head coach or completely reset. Morant is eligible for an extension this offseason, as is Jackson Jr., whose price tag will only go up if he makes an All-NBA team.
With one playoff series win with this core group, will general manager Zach Kleiman be patient, or is he fed up with this current iteration? He has said that he won’t ever move Morant, but it has to be something to consider given the point guard’s lack of availability and flaws. Things could get interesting for the Grizzlies this summer.