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2025 NBA Offseason Preview: Memphis Grizzlies

June 6th, 2025 at 9:13am CST by Luke Adams

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elements of those 50-win teams -- forward Dillon Brooks had departed in 2023 free agency, point guard Tyus Jones had been replaced by Marcus Smart, and center Steven Adams was traded at the 2024 deadline.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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Kings’ Jake LaRavia Discusses Free Agency, Memphis, More

June 5th, 2025 at 12:10pm CST by Rory Maher

Kings forward Jake LaRavia will be an unrestricted free agent this summer after having his fourth-year team option for 2025/26 — worth $5,163,127 — declined by Memphis last fall. The Grizzlies subsequently traded him to the Kings in February, and Sacramento will not be able to offer him a starting salary that exceeds the declined option.

According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, who recently interviewed LaRavia over the phone, several teams are expected to register interest in the 23-year-old when he hits the open market at the end of this month.

Here are a few highlights from Scotto’s conversation with LaRavia.

On what he’s looking for in free agency:

“The biggest thing, like scratch the money part, I want what everyone else wants, which is being on a team that’s really competing for a championship or a young up-and-coming team that’s ready to win. I love to compete. It’s one of the biggest reasons I enjoy playing basketball. You’re competing against the highest level of talent when you’re playing in a league.

“So being on a team that is competing for a championship and that needs a guy like me, a wing that plays both sides of the ball. I’m a defender who can shoot the three and can make plays. I do a little bit of everything. I’d love to see my role expand as I get more and more years in the league.”

On if he’s open to signing with a new team:

“Yeah, options are definitely open. It’s not like I have my mind set on one place. I’ve seen plenty of cases where it’s hard to turn down money at the end of the day. It’s a business.”

LaRavia says he quickly built a strong relationship with Doug Christie, who was Sacramento’s interim coach at the time but has since been named the team’s permanent head coach. Will Christie’s promotion impact LaRavia’s free agency?

“Yeah, for sure. I loved him being the interim head coach. I even told him in the interview that if you’re not hired, odds are I’m probably not going to re-sign Sacramento, but if you are, there would be more of a chance for me to go back to Sacramento. When I found out the news, I congratulated him. I’d love to play for Doug Christie.”

LaRavia’s reaction to Grizzlies executive vice president of basketball operations Zach Kleiman saying he made a mistake by declining LaRavia’s option and that the former first-round pick could’ve helped Memphis down the stretch:

“(Agent) Aaron (Reilly) sent that to me when it happened, and my fiancé sent that to me. I was appreciative that he said that. You don’t really see an executive make that kind of remark, so it shows the respect that he had for me and the relationship that we had. It means a lot for a GM to say something like that.”

LaRavia also discussed what he’s focused on improving this summer, his efficient third season, his time with Memphis, the Kings and their roster, what he brings to the table for a team, and more. The full interview with Scotto can be found right here.

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And-Ones: European Prospects, Extension Candidates, Dynasties

June 3rd, 2025 at 1:06pm CST by Luke Adams

As we outlined last month when we passed along the list of prospects invited to the NBA’s draft combine, a player who is invited to the combine and declines to attend without an excused absence becomes ineligible to be drafted.

Many of the prospects who were granted excused absences from the combine in Chicago were international players whose teams were still playing. According to Erik Slater of ClutchPoints (Twitter link), the NBA is holding pre-draft activities (measurements, drills, etc.) this week in Treviso, Italy for those players whose commitments overseas prevented them from traveling to Chicago.

That group, Slater says, includes Noa Essengue (who is playing in Germany), Joan Beringer (Slovenia), Nolan Traore (France), Ben Saraf (Germany), Hugo Gonzalez (Spain), Bogoljub Markovic (Serbia), and Noah Penda (France).

It’s unclear whether all of those players will be able to attend the event in Treviso, since some of their seasons still aren’t over. Essengue and Safar, for example, both play for Ratiopharm Ulm, which is currently competing in the semifinals of the Basketball Bundesliga playoffs in Germany. Game 2 of that series will be played on Wednesday.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • While the free agent class of 2025 isn’t particularly star-studded, there will be no shortage of veteran extension candidates to monitor this offseason, as Bobby Marks details for ESPN. Marks takes an in-depth look at which players seem likely to sign new deals in the coming months, including Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox, and Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr., and which players are longer shots for new contracts. That latter group includes players who would benefit financially from waiting, like Lakers guard Austin Reaves, and some who are unlikely to get an offer from their current team, such as Pelicans forward Zion Williamson.
  • Is it bad for business that the NBA’s age of dynasties appears to be over? Tania Ganguli of The New York Times considers that topic in an in-depth story open to non-subscribers.
  • Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report proposes a complex three-team deal involving the Celtics, Mavericks, and Nets that would save Boston a projected $230MM+, fortify Dallas’ backcourt, and send a pair of draft assets to Brooklyn along with mostly expiring contracts.
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Southwest Notes: Rockets, B. Williams, Grizzlies, Jackson

May 31st, 2025 at 1:19pm CST by Luke Adams

League sources who have spoken to Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports expect the Rockets to explore trading the No. 10 overall pick in next month’s draft. As O’Connor writes, while a move up or down is possible, a trade could also mean moving out of the first round altogether, either as part of a package for an impact player or in exchange for future draft assets, similar to what San Antonio did last year with the No. 8 overall selection.

Reed Sheppard, the No. 3 overall pick in 2024, played an extremely limited role for a deep Houston team this past season, even though the front office was repeatedly said to be very high on him. A similar fate could be in store for this year’s 10th overall pick if the Rockets hang onto that selection, O’Connor notes.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

  • With Kyrie Irving‘s recovery from ACL surgery expected to extend well into 2025/26, the Mavericks will be seeking backcourt help this offseason. However, Brandon Williams – an unsung hero for the banged-up team during the second half of ’24/25 – is preparing to reclaim an increased role if necessary, writes Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News. Williams, who averaged 15.4 points and 4.1 assists in 24.2 minutes per game across 13 March and April appearances, told Curtis on Friday that he’s well on his way to being fully recovered from an oblique strain that affected him at the end of the season. “Working out every day. Just taking it one day at a time,” Williams said. “Trying to stay sharp on a few things. My ball-handling, shooting, all those types of things. Being the point guard and having everybody just jell together earlier than later in the season.”
  • Within a preview of the Grizzlies‘ offseason open to non-subscribers, Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron digs into what an extension for Jaren Jackson Jr. might look like and explores the idea of Memphis trading using Brandon Clarke‘s $12.5MM salary to trade for help on the wing. In that scenario, Gozlan writes, Memphis could use its room exception to target a big man.
  • Keith Smith of Spotrac also previews the Grizzlies‘ offseason and covers similar ground, though he takes a closer look at what wing options might be available for the team in free agency using the room exception or non-taxpayer mid-level, depending on whether Memphis operates under or over the cap.
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T.J. Shorts To Join Panathinaikos Unless He Gets NBA Offer

May 25th, 2025 at 10:41am CST by Rory Maher

Free agent point guard T.J. Shorts, who was named to the All-EuroLeague First Team in 2024/25 as a member of Paris Basketball, is finalizing a multiyear contract with Greek powerhouse Panathinaikos, confirms Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com.

The Greek reporter Sotiris Vetakis was first to break the news (via Twitter) of Shorts landing with Panathinaikos, adding that the deal will contain an NBA out clause.

Aris Barkas of Eurohoops also hears Shorts is expected to sign with Panathinaikos, but states that the agreement is still tentative because the 27-year-old wants to leave open the possibility of signing with an NBA team. The Grizzlies reportedly have legitimate interest in Shorts, who played under head coach Tuomas Iisalo in both Germany and France.

It remains to be seen what type of contract Memphis might be willing to extend to Shorts, but it’s hard to envision it being as lucrative as Panathinaikos’ offer, Barkas observes. Still, a couple of years ago Shorts said it would be a “dream” to play in the NBA one day.

Despite his diminutive stature — he’s listed at 5’9″ and 161 lbs. — Shorts has been highly productive in Europe since he went undrafted out of UC Davis in 2019. In 33 EuroLeague contests this season with Paris (27.1 minutes per game), he averaged 18.7 points, a league-best 7.5 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 1.1 steals, with a shooting slash line of .499/.415/.732. He was recently named back-to-back MVP of France’s top basketball league.

Panathinaikos is also believed to be interested in a reunion with former NBA lottery pick Georgios Papagiannis, according to Urbonas. The Greek center, 27, has played seven years with Panathinaikos, last suiting up during the ’22/23 campaign. He has spent the past two seasons with Fenerbahce (Turkey) and AS Monaco, respectively, and is represented by the same agent as Shorts, Barkas notes.

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Cade Cunningham Earns Salary Bump With All-NBA Nod

May 23rd, 2025 at 6:20pm CST by Luke Adams

As a result of earning a spot on the All-NBA Third Team on Friday, Pistons guard Cade Cunningham will see the value of the five-year, maximum-salary rookie scale extension he signed last summer increase by a projected total of nearly $45MM.

Cunningham’s contract included Rose Rule language. The Rose Rule allow players coming off their rookie scale contracts to receive salaries worth more than 25% of the cap in year five if they make an All-NBA team during the season (or two of the three seasons) before their extension goes into effect. Players can also qualify by being named Most Valuable Player or Defensive Player of the Year.

Cunningham’s 2025/26 salary will now be worth 30% of the cap instead of 25%. Based on the NBA’s latest cap projections, that means his five-year deal will be worth $269,085,780 instead of $224,238,150.

[RELATED: Maximum Salary Projections For 2025/26]

Cunningham was one of four players to sign a rookie scale extension that included Rose Rule language last summer. Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley, who was named to the All-NBA Second Team on Friday, had already earned a bump to 30% as a result of winning the Defensive Player of the Year award. His five-year deal will look identical to Cunningham’s.

The other two players who signed Rose Rule rookie scale extensions – Magic forward Franz Wagner and Raptors forward Scottie Barnes – didn’t receive any end-of-season awards, so their new contracts will begin at 25% of the cap and will be worth $224,238,150 across the next five seasons.

Meanwhile, Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. would have qualified for a designated veteran extension – also known as a super-max contract – if he had earned a spot on any of this year’s three All-NBA teams. However, he finished 17th in total voting, with 55 points, falling a little short of the required threshold. Clippers guard James Harden beat him out for the final Third Team spot with 68 points (Twitter link).

As a result, Jackson won’t be super-max eligible this offseason. That means in order to extend him, Memphis will likely need to give him a raise on his 2025/26 salary of $23,413,395 via renegotiation.

Without a pay bump, Jackson’s maximum extension would be worth $146,848,813 over four years, which may not be enough to convince him to sign. If the Grizzlies renegotiate next season’s salary to give him a raise, they would be able to offer up to 140% of his new ’25/26 salary in that first year of an extension.

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Details On NBA’s Playoff Bonus Money For 2024/25

May 23rd, 2025 at 9:14am CST by Luke Adams

The pool of bonus money for NBA playoff teams this season is worth approximately $34.7MM, according to Kurt Badenhausen and Lev Akabas of Sportico.

The top six teams in each conference earn bonuses based on their regular season records, while the 16 playoff teams also receive a chunk of money from the playoff pool, increasing the value of their payout with each series win. That bonus money is divvied up among the players on each club’s 15-man roster.

Teams eliminated in the play-in tournament aren’t entitled to any of the playoff bonus money, even if they had the seventh- or eighth-best regular season record in their conference.

The breakdown for 2025’s playoff pool money is as follows (rounded to the nearest thousand), per Sportico:

Regular season achievements:

  • Best record in NBA (Thunder): $869K
  • No. 1 seeds in each conference (Cavaliers, Thunder): $761K per team
  • No. 2 seeds (Celtics, Rockets): $609K per team
  • No. 3 seeds (Knicks, Lakers): $456K per team
  • No. 4 seeds (Pacers, Nuggets): $372K per team
  • No. 5 seeds (Bucks, Clippers): $288K per team
  • No. 6 seeds (Pistons, Timberwolves): $204K per team

Postseason achievements:

  • Teams participating in first round (all 16 playoff teams — the 12 listed above, plus the Magic, Heat, Warriors, and Grizzlies): $466K per team
  • Teams participating in conference semifinals (eight teams): $568K per team
  • Teams participating in conference finals (four teams): $951K per team
  • Losing team in NBA Finals: $3,803,000
  • Winning team in NBA Finals: $8,805,000

A team that makes a deep playoff run will cash in on more than one of the bonuses listed above.

For example, if the Thunder win the championship, their payout from the playoff pool would be worth more than $12.4MM in total — that amount would include their bonuses for posting the NBA’s best record, claiming the West’s No. 1 seed, making the first round, making the conference semifinals, making the conference finals, and winning the NBA Finals.

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Southwest Notes: Mavericks, Wells, Grizzlies, Biberovic

May 22nd, 2025 at 10:41pm CST by Rory Maher

The Mavericks are a prime example of how quickly things can change in sports, writes Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com. The team had been lambasted for trading Luka Doncic and then repeatedly botching the public messaging in the aftermath of arguably the most shocking deal in NBA history, but now there’s suddenly reason for optimism after Dallas won the draft lottery and the right to select consensus top prospect Cooper Flagg.

“Our lives today have no resemblance to the way our lives were before last week,” said CEO Rick Welts. “It’s really quite extraordinary. Just walking around town. Getting high-fives from the doormen at my apartment building when they were looking away when I’d walk by before. … The excitement around this for our fans is just unbelievable. I can’t imagine a more dramatic change in fortune than what we’ve experienced.”

Here are a few more notes from around the Southwest:

  • The Mavericks will host Alabama center Clifford Omoruyi and Obinna Anochili-Killen for pre-draft workouts next week, sources tell Grant Afseth of DallasHoopsJournal.com. As Afseth notes, Dallas currently only controls one selection — No. 1 overall — in next month’s draft, but GM Nico Harrison has a history of making trades involving second-round picks. Omoruyi comes in at No. 80 on ESPN’s big board, while Onochili-Killen is unranked, so it’s possible neither player will end up being drafted.
  • Grizzlies wing Jaylen Wells was recently named to the All-Rookie First Team. The Sacramento native has repeatedly surpassed external expectations over the years, per Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee (subscriber link), going from a 5’6″ freshman in high school to Metro Player of the Year as a senior. Wells started his college career at Division II Sonoma State before transferring to Washington State for his junior season, and wound up being selected No. 39 in 2024 after impressing in the pre-draft process. Now he’s been recognized as one of the top rookies in his class.
  • Draft-and-stash prospect Tarik Biberovic continues to impress with Turkish club Fenerbahce, which is in the EuroLeague Final Four, according to Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Biberovic was selected No. 56 overall in the 2023 draft by the Grizzlies, who hold his NBA rights.
  • In an interview with Antonis Stroggylakis of Eurohoops, sharpshooter Biberovic discussed the possibility of signing an NBA contract with the Grizzlies. “Right now, I don’t think too much about the NBA and all the rumors that are talked about,” Biberovic said. “I told all my agents and everyone who’s dealing with this topic to stop. Because I have a very important weekend. Everything I was working for this year and my whole life will be summed up in this. I don’t want any distractions.”
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NBA Announces 2024/25 All-Defensive Teams

May 22nd, 2025 at 1:07pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has officially announced its All-Defensive teams for the 2024/25 season (Twitter links).

The teams are determined by a panel of 100 media members, with players receiving two points for a First Team vote and one point for a Second Team vote.

There were no unanimous First Team selections this year, but Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley came close, having been named to the First Team on 99 ballots (Twitter link). He was selected to the Second Team on the 100th ballot, for a total of 199 points.

The honorees are as follows, along with their point totals:

First Team

Second Team

The NBA adjusted the voting rules in 2023 to allow All-Defensive ballots to be positionless. Up until that point, each team consisted of two guards, two forwards, and a center.

Despite the lack of positional requirements, this year’s teams are reasonably well balanced — while Mobley, Green, Zubac, Jackson, and Gobert all serve as defensive anchors for their respective clubs, Mobley, Green, and Jackson spend much of their time on the court playing forward rather than center.

It’s the ninth time that Green has made an All-Defensive team and the eighth time that Gobert has earned the honor. Jackson and Mobley have each been recognized multiple times too — it’s the third time Jackson has made the cut and the second time for Mobley. However, Daniels, Dort, Thompson, Zubac, Williams, and Camara have never been named All-Defensive players before this season.

Among the other players who received votes, Knicks forward OG Anunoby came closest to cracking the top 10, having been named to the First Team on two ballots and the Second Team on 45 ballots for a total of 49 points. An additional 13 players received at least one vote, but none of them had more than 18 total points.

That group of players who missed the cut includes Heat big man Bam Adebayo, whose streak of five straight All-Defensive seasons has come to an end.

Players were required to meet the criteria of the 65-game rule in order to qualify for All-Defensive consideration. The full voting results can be viewed here (Twitter link).

As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, Dort has earned a $500K bonus for making the First Team this season. In addition to increasing his earnings for this season, that will bump Dort’s cap hit for 2025/26 from $17,722,222 to $18,222,222, since the bonus will now be considered likely to be earned next season.

Conversely, after missing out on All-Defensive spots this season, Derrick White and Jaden McDaniels will see their cap hits for next season reduced by $250K and $431K, respectively, Marks adds (Twitter link). Those bonuses, which had been considered likely after the duo earned All-Defensive nods in 2024, won’t be earned this season, which means the Celtics and Timberwolves will each receive a tax variance credit and both bonuses will be considered unlikely for 2025/26.

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NBA Announces 2024/25 All-Rookie Teams

May 20th, 2025 at 1:04pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has officially revealed its All-Rookie teams for the 2024/25 season (Twitter links). The First Team is made up the top two picks in the 2024 draft, a pair of Grizzlies, and this season’s Rookie of the Year, while the Second Team is heavy on centers.

A panel of 100 media members selected the All-Rookie teams, with players earning two points for a First Team vote and one point for a Second Team nod. The 10 players who made the cut, along with their corresponding point totals (Twitter link), are as follows:

First Team

Second Team

There are no real surprises on the First Team. Castle was the recipient of this season’s Rookie of the Year and was also the only player to be unanimously selected to the First Team, but fellow Rookie of the Year finalists Risacher and Wells weren’t far behind him. Edey and Sarr played significant roles for their respective teams and also finished in the top five in Rookie of the Year voting.

Among the members of the Second Team, Ware and Buzelis finished sixth and seventh in Rookie of the Year voting, while Missi, Clingan, and Carrington became starters for their respective teams in their first NBA seasons.

Carrington just narrowly edged out Jazz guard Isaiah Collier, who received one First Team vote and 50 Second Team votes for a total of 52 points. Carrington technically showed up on fewer overall ballots, but gained the slight edge because he was selected to the First Team by three voters (he was named to the Second Team by 47).

A total of 23 players showed up on at least one voter’s ballot, with Jazz forward/center Kyle Filipowski, Pistons forward Ron Holland, Lakers forward Dalton Knecht, and Suns wing Ryan Dunn rounding out the top 15 vote-getters — they, along with Collier, would’ve made up a hypothetical All-Rookie Third Team if the league recognized 15 players like it does for All-NBA.

All-Rookie is one of the few awards that doesn’t require players to meet the 65-game minimum and certain minutes-played thresholds. Risacher, Edey, Ware, Buzelis, and Clingan each would have been ineligible for consideration if that rule applied to All-Rookie voting.

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