Grizzlies Notes: Expectations, Conley, Brooks

As the 2018/19 regular season nears, the Grizzlies are eager to show that last season’s disastrous 22-60 showing was an aberration, writes Teresa M. Walker of The Associated Press. Longtime general manager Chris Wallace is pleased with an offseason that saw the club add Kyle Anderson in free agency and Jaren Jackson Jr. in the draft, indicating earlier this week that he expects Memphis to get back in the postseason picture.

“I’m very confident we’ll be back in the thick of things in the Western Conference, and we’ve had a lot of success against these teams over the years,” Wallace said. “We’ve done well in the playoffs against some of the top teams in the West. I think we can continue that after a year on the sidelines. We’re raring to get back into the playoffs and be a real factor again.”

Here’s more from out of Memphis:

• Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley was limited to just 12 games last season due to heel and Achilles issues, but he has been medically cleared and is pain-free during training camp, Walker writes for The Associated Press. “You’d be hard pressed to find a bigger free agent signing than us bringing Mike Conley back healthy,” new head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said this week.
• Conley isn’t the only Grizzlies player who’s feeling better heading into the 2018/19 season. As Peter Edmiston of The Memphis Commercial Appeal details, there are virtually no health concerns in Memphis at the moment, with oft-injured forward Chandler Parsons also taking part in every session during training camp. Edmiston also passes along a few more takeaways from the Grizzlies’ first week of camp.
• The battle for playing time at shooting guard for the Grizzlies figures to be fierce , with Garrett Temple, MarShon Brooks, and Wayne Selden among the club’s options. Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com takes a closer look at the situation, observing that Dillon Brooks – who played primarily at small forward last year but could shift more to the two with Anderson in the mix – can’t afford a sophomore slump if he wants to retain a key role in Memphis’ lineup.