For the last two seasons, the Memphis Grizzlies have been a force in the Western Conference. With Ja Morant at the helm of their success, the Grizzlies looked to be a youthful team that would be contending at the top of the West for many years to come. Just over a week of the 2023-24 NBA season has passed and now, all of these thoughts have been thrown out the window.
The early part of a new season for every single team in the league is about learning their identity and integrating new faces, new additions, into their rotations. Some teams may find more success than others, but usually, adjustments are made in order to find success. This is especially true for winning organizations.
That has not been the case with the Grizzlies though, as they find themselves as the only team yet to win a game this season at 0-5 overall. Three of these losses have been by single digits, but Memphis hasn't lost any of these games, they truly got beaten in all of them.
When they won 56 games during the 2021-22 season, the Grizzlies ranked fifth in offensive rating and fourth in defensive rating. During the 2022-23 season when they won 51 games, the Grizzlies ranked just 15th in offensive rating, but 2nd in defensive rating.
Tough, hard-nosed defense has always been the name of the game for Memphis and this has directly impacted the success they've been able to find on offense. If you need proof of this, look no further than the way they've run in transition through the years, pushing the pace of play and getting easy opportunities at the rim. So far this season, the Grizzlies' defense has been abysmal, leading to them having the worst offensive rating in the league.
With 77 games remaining on their schedule, there is not necessarily a reason to panic. We've seen countless teams get off to slow starts in a season and eventually even things out.
However, this may not be the case with the Grizzlies, especially given that their hardships are not lingering. The problems this team faces are in large part due to indefinite changes.
Impact of Ja Morant's suspension
Ever since he was drafted second overall by the Grizzlies in 2019, Ja Morant has been the face of this franchise. Morant was the 2019-20 NBA Rookie of the Year and he's been an All-Star each of the last two seasons due to his ability to impact the game in more ways than one for his team.
Whether it is scoring at the rim, dishing out assists to his teammates, or soaring over everyone to grab rebounds, Morant is just one of those mesmerizing talents on the basketball court that does something special every single game.
Nobody has ever questioned Morant and his impact on this team on the court. His drama off the court, however, is what is worrisome for the Grizzlies. This is especially true since Ja did not appear to learn from his mistakes last year.
After serving a small suspension for flashing a gun at a camera in a Denver nightclub, Morant was then seen in a live video with yet another firearm just about a month later. The NBA decided to hit Memphis' All-Star with a 25-game suspension to begin the 2023-24 season, leaving the Grizzlies without their top talent.
The good news for this organization entering the season was that the Grizzlies have found success without Morant on the court through the years. Memphis went 21-7 without their star point guard during the 2021-22 season, and then they went 12-10 without him last season.
The difference between those two seasons and this season is the fact that the Grizzlies had Tyus Jones and Dillon Brooks, two experienced veterans who understood their roles. Jones and Brooks left in the offseason, as the Grizzlies had hoped that some of their youthful talents would be able to step up into larger roles
So far, this front office has been severely mistaken.
Without Jones, the Grizzlies have no steady, reliable play from their backcourt, and Brooks' lost value has negatively impacted Memphis defensively. Heavily changing a roster that had won over 100 games the last two seasons while Morant faced a suspension may have doomed the Grizzlies.
Ja Morant's absence shows flaws in Grizzlies' offense
Other key factors in Desmond Bane, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Marcus Smart remain on the Grizzlies' roster, but the fact of the matter is that this team does not have an identity right now. Everything always flows through Ja Morant and he's always been the guy to lead Memphis on the court, especially offensively.
Jackson is more of a factor defensively and can be predictable at times on offense, especially since he tends to play more out on the perimeter instead of utilizing his size on the interior. Smart has always been looked at as a solid facilitator, but he can have trouble creating opportunities for himself on offense.
Bane is truly the only player on this roster right now who can consistently average over 20 points per game and he showed flashes of his All-Star potential last season. The problem with the former first-round pick is that he always found success playing off of Morant, leaving opposing defenses to make a decision on who to potentially take away. This was especially true in transition, as both Bane and Morant run the court really well.
Teams have been able to really focus their defensive attention on Bane with Morant not being available. This has led to Bane not being able to get hot and lead the Grizzlies offensively in big moments. Even though he still leads Memphis in scoring at 24.6 points per game, which is also a new career-high for the moment, Bane has seen constant pressure and has had a tough time being his team's top scoring option late in games.
Outside of Bane, the Grizzlies really don't have any other electric scoring options, which is why Memphis has become incredibly predictable on the offensive side of things without Morant.
Grizzlies' lack of interior depth
It's quite surprising to see the Grizzlies rank 22nd in defensive rating right now, giving up an average of 118.0 points per game to their opponents, the seventh-worst mark in the league. Jaren Jackson Jr. is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year and Marcus Smart, who the team added in the offseason, won this award during the 2021-22 season. A team with two of the best defenders shouldn't rank amongst the bottom-tier teams in the league on that end of the floor.
Aside from missing Morant, whom the Grizzlies very clearly need offensively, Memphis is struggling to stop their opponents from getting the shots they want. Despite surrendering just 42.8 points per game to their opponents in the paint, the best mark in the NBA right now, the Grizzlies are allowing teams to make 24.2 two-point shots per game, the highest out of any team in the league. It's also worth noting that the Grizzlies are giving up 8.8 offensive rebounds per game.
As great of a defender as Jackson is in terms of blocking shots, this does not mask the fact that the Grizzlies do not have a true center right now due to injuries. Veteran big man Steven Adams recently underwent season-ending right knee surgery before the year began and Brandon Clarke is still recovering from an Achilles injury he suffered in March. Clarke is not expected to be available until the calendar flips over to 2024.
Memphis is vulnerable on the interior and even though teams aren't finding a lot of success scoring against the Grizzlies in the paint, that is not stopping them from getting there. Whether it is driving and kicking the ball out for open threes or creating second, third, and fourth opportunities on the offensive glass, opposing teams have dissected this vulnerability the Grizzlies have inside.
When will the Grizzlies turn things around?
To say time is running out for the Grizzlies to turn things around is a major overreaction at this point. It's not going to happen, but Memphis could begin the season 0-20 and still hypothetically be able to get back to where they were a season ago as a 50-win team. The NBA season is a roller coaster ride for many organizations and unfortunately for the Grizzlies, everything that could have gone wrong is crashing and burning at the same time.
With this said, there does need to be a sense of urgency from this group moving forward because the Grizzlies have just looked flat and uninterested. Energy, hustle, and effort are the three words that have defined head coach Taylor Jenkins' tenure with this organization. The task of getting this team to buy in and flip the script falls on his shoulders and only his shoulders, as this is still a talented team.
Looking ahead, there is no better opportunity for the Grizzlies to seize the moment and let the rest of the NBA know that they are back from their extended offseason break than during the inaugural in-season tournament.
Memphis finds itself in West Group A next to the likes of the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers, and Utah Jazz. The Suns and Lakers are two teams with title aspirations, as the Jazz and Blazers are younger teams looking to prove that they can be competitive and possibly earn a spot in the play-in tournament.
Both the Suns and Jazz will visit Memphis as part of group play, as the Grizzlies will hit the road to play the Blazers and Lakers. While it seems unlikely right now, the Grizzlies can certainly come out of nowhere to win this group if they can slow things down and fully lock in defensively.
If this Grizzlies team needs any added motivation other than the fact that they haven't won a single game yet, it is that they are playing in the very first NBA In-Season Tournament and can secure a bonus by making a deep run.
There are no easy games in the NBA nowadays, especially with the talent gap between teams shrinking immensely. The Grizzlies find themselves in a hole they dug themselves and while Morant will still miss the next 20 games, this team has everything they need to recover. At this point, it is up to them to figure things out, especially if they plan on making it back to the postseason.
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