The biggest story this season so far has been the emergence of the Memphis Grizzlies as a top tier team in the league. It’s impossible to attribute their success to one specific player, offseason acquisition or coaching maneuver. Ja Morant has arrived as a bona fide superstar at a very young age. Taylor Jenkins has emerged as one of the best coaches in the association. Desmond Bane is in the discussion for Most Improved Player. Jaren Jackson Jr. has made tremendous strides as a defender and rim protector, something he has struggled with heavily throughout his young career.
This team is exciting to watch. They get up and down the court, throw a ton of lobs, and play elite defense. They play each game with a chip on their shoulders as if no one in the world expects them to win. Ja Morant has had some monster performances against some of the marquee players in the league. It’s as if he is trying to make a point that he is the best player on the court at all time. Desmond Bane might be the walking embodiment of this team’s attitude, not backing down from anyone and repeatedly talking up his teammates to the media in his post game press conferences. He has made the case for Morant as the league’s top point guard and dangled the idea of considering Jaren Jackson Jr. as a Defensive Player of the Year candidate.
Just by taking a look at the numbers, Memphis should be considered a real contender and threat to not only come out of the western conference, but to win the title. The Grizzlies have the third best record in basketball, currently sitting at 35-18. They are top ten in both offensive rating and defensive rating. The other three teams who are top ten in both categories are the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks, the defending western conference champion Phoenix Suns and the Miami Heat, who many consider to be a legitimate contender this year. Usually a team with these numbers is considered a true contender, but are the Grizzlies going to be able to challenge more experienced teams come playoff time?
The biggest problem standing in the way of playoff success for this team is age. They are extremely young and inexperienced. Steven Adams is the only player with solid playoff experience and he has only played in 59 postseason contests. They are also the second youngest team in the league with an average age of 24 years old entering the season. To put their youthfulness in perspective, the youngest team to win a championship in the past 40 years was the 2014-15 Golden State Warriors who’s average age was 26.5 years old. There is zero precedent for a team this young winning a title.
The teams the Grizzlies will have to face to get to the Finals might cause us to press pause on all the hype. The Suns and the Warriors are the clear cut favorites in the West. The Suns have experience, talent and a perfectly built roster that seems to be unbeatable. The Warriors got Klay Thompson back and are looking as deep as any team in the league with guys like Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins taking massive leaps this year. The Jazz are also a team to consider in this conversation. They haven’t been successful in recent postseasons, but maybe this is the year they figure it out. They have the talent, there’s no question about that. The Lakers are going to be dangerous if they can get healthy and whole by the time the playoffs role around. Who knows? Maybe Kawhi Leonard and Paul George both return from injury in time for a playoff push for the Clippers. There are too many teams out there with more experience and more veteran leadership than the Grizzlies.
If the Grizzlies want any chance they need Dillon Brooks to come back strong. Brooks, who has battled with injuries all season long, is by far the best defensive player for Memphis. In his limited action (21 games), he leads the team with a Net Rating of 8.8. When he is on the court, he provides a lockdown wing defender and another high volume scorer (averaging 18.4 points per game) alongside Morant, Bane and Jackson Jr. He should be coming back after the all star break to give them a nice boost heading towards the playoffs. If he fails to be the player he has been for them in the past year and a half, they won’t do much come playoff time.
Although the Grizzlies have been a top tier team in the league, it’s hard to give them a real shot to win the title this year. The experience of other teams in the playoffs will be too much to overcome. The Grizzlies championship window may not be open this season, but they are going to be in the mix for years to come with this incredibly talented young core.
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