The NBA announced its finalists for its awards. The Memphis Grizzlies are represented twice, by Ja Morant for the Most Improved Player award and Taylor Jenkins for the Coach of the Year award, despite having tons of deserving candidates for several other awards.

Jaren Jackson Jr. had a phenomenal defensive season while Desmond Bane took a massive step forward. The Grizzlies still got a good amount of recognition but those two are two of the biggest snubs for each respective award.

Morant gave flowers to Jackson and Bane, who weren't named as finalists. He also congratulated Jenkins for leading the Grizzlies to a strong season and being named a Coach of the Year finalist.

Related NewsArticle continues below
Grizzlies forward Marvin Bagley III, NBA Free Agency logo
Exclusive: Marvin Bagley III ‘keeping everything in perspective’ after Grizzlies sweep
Nico Harrison and Cooper Flagg in the middle of the graphic. Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis on each side of them. Mavericks logo and NBA Draft logo front and center.
The only Cooper Flagg trade packages Mavericks must consider

Morant does have legitimate cases for both of his teammates. Jackson was all over the defensive stats leaderboard, much like he was all over the court on defense. Bane nearly doubled his scoring output while becoming a starter and one of the team's key scorers. Memphis becoming a contender would not have happened without their improvements.

Although the Grizzlies' abundance of talent wasn't on full display on the NBA awards finalists, the group in place is a very impressive group. They won the second-most games in the league this season despite being one of the youngest teams in the league. Morant, Jackson and Bane could be the big three that get the Grizzlies into the Finals eventually.

The future is bright in Memphis. Eventually, the hardware will follow for Morant's co-stars.