The Memphis Grizzlies will head into the 2023-24 season with some high hopes. They've now won over 50 games in two consecutive seasons and have one of the more talented young rosters in the league, but while they'll be looking to replicate elements of their past couple of seasons, there are still some clear areas of improvement required and some burning questions they need to answer. Here are three of the most prominent of those questions.

3. Can they cope without Ja Morant?

Ja Morant's off-court behavior has left his team facing a difficult start to the season, with their star point guard to miss the first 25 games of the season through suspension. That's a pretty hefty chunk of the year, and with his return due for just before Christmas, the rest of his teammates will need to steer the ship for a couple of months.

At times last season, they did a decent job of that. During his ten-game absence for the first of his off-court, gun-related offenses, they went 6-3 during a relatively tough stretch of games without him – and that was after losing their first two. They've lost a couple of the players who helped to cover him in Dillon Brooks and Tyus Jones this season, but on the flip side they've got Marcus Smart and Derrick Rose to help out. The Grizzlies will be hoping to secure another top two or three finish in the Western Conference this season, and if they're to do so they'll need to find a way to keep the wins coming in without Morant at the helm.

2. Will they finally let their basketball do the talking?

For a while, the Grizzlies were a fun, young team with a whole lot of talent, but most would agree that last season, they switched from entertaining to a little annoying. Their unabashed confidence, which came despite having never achieved anything of note, stood in stark contrast to the way their more experienced opponents carried themselves, and put a target on their back which most of the league was probably happy to see the Lakers hit.

Granted, a lot of that chatter came from the mouth of Dillon Brooks, who has since been moved on. But he wasn't alone in his over-the-top confidence, and as it turned out, all that off-court chest beating didn't exactly translate to on-court success. As this young team gains experience, hopefully they will also develop an ability to let their basketball do the talking.

1. Can they get it done in the playoffs?

In the last two seasons, the Grizzlies have won a combined total of 107 regular season games – 56 in 2021-22 and then 51 last season. Both of those seasons have yielded second place finishes in the Western Conference, but unfortunately their regular season performance hasn't translated into the playoffs. Two years ago they beat the Timberwolves in six games before going down to the Warriors, while we all remember their six-game loss to the Lakers last season, and in particular the 40-point loss LeBron James, Anthony Davis and co inflicted on them in the close out game.

One series win and an 8-10 playoff record isn't a whole lot to show for two very good regular seasons, and harking back to 2021 that playoff record sits at 9-14. If the Grizzlies want to be taken seriously, at some point they need to perform the way they've shown their capable in the regular season in the playoffs. If 2023-24 ends the same way the last one did, questions about the capacity of this team to contend will be coming thick and fast. This is a big season for the Memphis Grizzlies, beyond just what they can do in their first 82 games.