After winning 56 games in 2021/22 and 51 in '22/23, the Grizzlies were decimated by injuries in '23/24, with nearly all of their starters and top reserves affected by a health issue at some point over the course of the season. Most notably, point guard Ja Morant, who served a 25-game suspension to open the season, was able to suit up for just nine contests before sidelined by a season-ending shoulder injury.
Entering '24/25, the Grizzlies had reason to believe that a bounce-back year was on tap. They weren't bringing back all the key elements of those 50-win teams -- forward Dillon Brooks had departed in 2023 free agency, point guard Tyus Jones had been replaced by Marcus Smart, and center Steven Adams was traded at the 2024 deadline. But their core of Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Desmond Bane was intact, and they'd developed some intriguing young talent - including Scotty Pippen Jr., Vince Williams, and GG Jackson - to help fill those openings in the rotation.
Through February 5, the day before the trade deadline, it looked like the Grizzlies had picked up right where they left off. The team went 35-16 to open the season and held the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. Jackson was playing at an All-NBA level; Bane was having a strong year; the team had found a couple more quality youngsters in rookies Jaylen Wells and Zach Edey; Santi Aldama was having his best season; and while Morant hadn't quite regained his All-Star form or returned to full health, he was playing more often than not and was Memphis' second-leading scorer behind Jackson.
At that point, the Grizzlies made an interesting trade-deadline move, completing a three-team transaction that sent out Smart and Jake LaRavia and created more future spending flexibility for the team. In return, the club acquired Marvin Bagley and Johnny Davis, two players who wouldn't see regular minutes for a playoff team (Davis, in fact, never played for Memphis and was waived two weeks later).
While Smart's availability was inconsistent during his time in Memphis and LaRavia wasn't playing a major role, it was still unusual that the only trade-deadline move made by a No. 2 seed was motivated by future financial concerns and wouldn't help the team at all on the court. I don't think that's why things went south for the Grizzlies over the next couple months, but it wasn't exactly a vote of confidence from the front office in the team's short-term potential.
Memphis went 13-18 after the trade deadline, as a defense that ranked seventh until that point was just the league's 19th-best unit the rest of the way. The offensive drop-off was almost identical, with Memphis registering the fifth-best offensive rating prior to the trade deadline and the 16th-best mark after the deadline.
That second-half tailspin cost head coach Taylor Jenkins his job and nearly cost the Grizzlies a playoff spot -- a win in their second play-in game earned them the No. 8 seed and a matchup with the Thunder, who promptly swept them out of the postseason.
The Grizzlies have since retained former assistant Tuomas Iisalo, Jenkins' interim late-season replacement, as their permanent head coach and will at least enter the offseason with that newfound financial flexibility created by moving off Smart's multiyear deal in February. But for a team that won 21 more games in 2024/25 than it did a year earlier, it certainly feels like there are a lot of questions to answer this summer.
The Grizzlies' Offseason Plan
The top priority for Memphis this offseason will likely be working out an extension with Jackson, who has developed into one of the NBA's best rim protectors while coming into his own as an offensive weapon. But the team-friendly rookie scale extension that Jackson signed back in 2021, which expires in 2026, will complicate extension negotiations.
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