The Warriors are moving on to the Western Conference finals but they anticipate the Grizzlies will be making plenty of deep playoff runs in the future. Draymond Green and Stephen Curry offered high praise to their vanquished opponent after Friday’s decisive Game 6, Sam Amick of The Athletic relays.
“That’s a group of young guys who — obviously, you get to the business side of things, and you’ve got to keep that together — but that’s a group of young guys that are hungry,” Green said. “They are talented. They are athletic. They got it. You know, it will be good to see their progression over these next few years and where they can take it, because that’s an incredible young team. You know, they can be special. They can be really special.”
“There’s definitely an understanding that they made us better. I’m sure we made them better,” Curry said. “And who knows what happens down the road, but they will be here for a long time just because they have a lot going for them. So, definitely respect.”
We have more on the Grizzlies:
- Desmond Bane, who scored 25 points in Game 6, battled lower back soreness during the postseason. He put the blame on himself, Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal tweets. “I pride myself on being healthy, and getting hurt, kind of tweaking my back at a time like this kind of shows me that I probably got to do more in the offseason to be able to withstand the long minutes and long season,” he said.
- After Game 5, there was a sense that the ball moved better without Ja Morant on the floor. Games 4 and 6 showed how much the Grizzlies missed their All-Star point guard in crunch time, Cole writes. It all suggests there’s another level they can reach when he’s to the floor, if they find more outside shooting.
- Signing Morant to a max rookie scale extension will be the highlight of the summer, Bobby Marks of ESPN writes in his Grizzlies offseason guide. Morant’s backup, Tyus Jones, is eligible to sign a four-year $55.8MM extension until June 30 and bringing him back should be another offseason priority, either on an extension or a new free agent deal. The Grizzlies also have two first-round picks in the upcoming draft.
- The Grizzlies might also look for an upgrade at center. Rudy Gobert, Myles Turner and Jakob Poeltl could be potential targets, HoopsHype’s Yossi Gozlan speculates in his offseason preview.
What more outside shooting does he need?
Big fan of Ja but worried he’s going to develop Derrick Rose type injuries with his play style. Nice to see he’s getting better at the 3 with each game though.
He needs to be in the gym everyday during the off season and work on his defense. Grizzlies are worse on defense when he is on the floor. Right now he is another harden all offense and no defense. He needs to prove to everyone his maturity instead of mouthing off to other NBA teams get in the gym and improve.
Instead of mouthing off to other teams, lol alright pops
Can be said for many young players. The players that improve to become legends are the ones that have the drive to improve everyday to be even better. like it or not Ja has a hole in his game on defense but being young he can improve. Curry had a big hole in his game with his defense and has improved every year. I can say the same thing about Poole he needs to work on his defense in the off season.
I still cant believe Desmond Bane fell as low as he did. I had him going 17th to Minnesota, and thought he might even go a couple of picks higher depending who was on the board to either Boston or Orlando, and then felt there were potentially multiple spots he could have ended up in the early 20s
I also have always really liked Tyus Jones. He has a really high basketball IQ, and just does so many of the right things, and is a lot better than his size. He almost never turns the ball over too. His brother is also really good/smart on both ends. They obviously had the right upbringing.
2 of the smartest bball players ever, Bird & LeBron, had very rough upbringing. That has nothing to do with it. I def agree that Tyus is a really good pg tho. Memphis probably has to chose bw him & Melton this off-season. As much as I love Melton & what he gives Memphis I’d sacrifice & trade him to keep Tyus if possible… I’m def calling bs on you liking Bane that much as a prospect outta TCU but I could be wrong lol
I posted my list here at the time, but I could go find it and do it again. I had 3 slightly different ones prepared at the time too, but the only 1 I’ve seen since then was my original rough draft, which has a completely different last 10 picks of the 2nd round. The 1st round is mostly the same on that one though, although I experimented with the first few picks at the top of the draft in each version. The other ones I thought were saved to a website where you can create your drafts, but those pages apparently expire…
Melton is super important for them defensively. I’d have to take a closer look at the roster again to say they should move him
Not sure why you fixated on upbringing. I simply said both brothers seem to do the right things, thereby saying they had the right teachers
Bane was the classic so under-rated he’s still under-rated guy at the draft-
He gotta lotta hype the last couple days (more than any player really) and was “everyone’s sleeper in the 20’s” at the end. He started the draft process with a Rd 2 grade by most pundits
Think he was hurt pretty bad this last series, didn’t feel he wanted to extort his back in many directions than upright, true warrior never complained just went out and performed- Mem got a good one there , he was their best player Rd 1 and arguably the entire playoffs
MEM is young, yes, but they can’t get complacent. They still lost in 6 to a lower seeded team (and were on their way there before Morant was hurt). So there should be some urgency this offseason. Once Morant’s extension kicks in, cap space will be a thing of the past, and the luxury tax will be a factor in every significant decision. The obvious place to upgrade is on the wings, but it’s less about position than skill set. A 2 way starter who’s a secondary facilitator and a high end scoring option would be ideal. Unlike a lot of teams in their situation, they have the resources to get it done.
They should go get Beal or Spida? Seems like JBrown would be the best fit for what you’re looking for but I mean the type of guy you’re looking for them to acquire rarely ever comes available & would also be pursued by numerous other teams if/when they do. Adding to their squad with logical, responsible moves (the Melton/Carter trade immediately comes to mind, also the Adams/Ziaire for JoVal/Murphy deal) has worked extremely well for them so far. Their gm just got the hardware to prove it. Adding a talented guy like Beal or Jaylen would obv have to be considered if it was possible but it would mean losing guys like Dillon & either Clarke or Ziaire too most likely. That might look nice on paper but this is a different team without Dillon. He does a lot for them
Yes. MEM has done well with their approach to building around their two stars (JM and JJJ). They now have a deeper young core, with more internal upside. They don’t NEED to change a thing. IMO, that’s the exact time to make a foundational move. From strength, before you need to do it, when you can be selective, and before the league imposed parameters start being hostile, vs friendly, to their current approach. Of course, the right guy has to be available, and the team’s culture, on and off the court, needs to be considered as with any deal.
I actually didn’t like the Valanciunas/Trey Murphy for Adams/Ziaire Williams deal at all for Memphis. Didnt think that was a good fit with what they had, and felt like they would have been better off with Valanciunas being a primary option off the bench, and Trey Murphy being a good option as a 3 and D wing they could use
I completely agree. I like Adams defense, but at his salary and how good JVal is offensively in comparison to Adams, I wanted them to stay pat. As for ZW and Murphy, who’s to say that ZW wouldn’t have been there at 17? I was rooting for them to take Moody over ZW, just didn’t see ZW being that high on the draft board. And if ZW was really their guy they probably could’ve traded on draft night instead of before and having to include JVal. Depending on where the LAL pick ends this year (like 90%+ MEM will be getting a 2nd), that could make the trade even worse. Not saying I knew LAL was going to be this bad, but for MEM you gotta make the protection on that pick very minimal like top 3 only.
Wish Ja would’ve been healthy all series to see how they really stacked up. Even though they did play well in the games he missed, they definitely could’ve used another closer. Bane’s back injuries took him out of the equation a bit also.
It surely does get late quick in the NBA-
I wonder if Memphis regrets not pushing some chips last deadline- Not a bash, but this is the weakest Western field we have had in 25 years, an opportunity might have already been missed
It does. For a team with a young superstar, the most fertile window to move the needle closes with the expiration of that star’s RSC.
I wondered the same about the deadline for MEM and every other contender that didn’t make a move, but only in retrospect (after seeing how buyer favorable the deadline market was). Going back to the off season, I was surprised that MEM didn’t just keep Patrick Beverley. They have young version of him in Melton, but can you really have too many elite perimeter defenders heading into the playoffs?
Agree, your reply post above 0n best time to make a deal is when you have everything in order is spot on
I almost felt like that coulda been this last trade deadline for Mem (tho right player might not have been avail)
Still props to Mem, ledger wise this was still {somewhat} a clean up year as they finally washed Rondo Gasol and Dunn’s money. I wonder if there’s a little hesitancy in building too quick as they have seemingly been thru a pretty bad past 5~7 yrs ledger/cap wise.