If there was ever an NBA team that needed a good start to the regular season, it’d be the Memphis Grizzlies. After how last year’s campaign went - the one with the Ja Morant suspension and injury, the countless games lost due to a variety of ailments for other players - health and availability were the names of the game.
Until, unfortunately, they no longer weren’t.
Jaren Jackson Jr. is out for opening night on Wednesday for the Memphis Grizzlies against the Utah Jazz. And while he is far from alone - Luke Kennard, GG Jackson, and Vince Williams Jr. are also out - he is the most consequential absence for the team.
Kennard, Jackson, and Williams Jr. would all make up (in theory) a large portion of the best bench in the NBA. But they’re not the level of individual player that Jackson Jr. is. Jaren is an impact player - one that can change the course of any game on any night. The isolation scoring, the defensive intensity, the growth as a passer and ability to get to the rim across three levels...no other Grizzlies player can match that two-way production.
And yes, that reads correctly - NO other Grizzlies player.
Thankfully Ja Morant is healthy and can do pretty much anything he puts his mind to on a basketball court. Desmond Bane appears primed for a big season in his own right, and players like Brandon Clarke could very well bounce back in a big way even without Jaren on the floor. And Jackson Jr. figures to be back soon, per the Grizzlies - perhaps as soon as Saturday night’s home opener.
But Jaren also was supposed to be back before now initially...and yet, here Memphis is - once again staring down the barrel of a banged up roster while also facing an extremely difficult beginning to the season. Six games in the month of October - from the 23rd to the 31st! Six games! Not an ideal time to be down one of your very best players.
A slow start could mean the difference between a top-4 seed in the Western Conference and being on the outside of the NBA Playoff picture. And these early games could make a major difference come Spring. Here’s to hoping Jaren, and the rest of the injured reserve cavalry, gets back as soon as they can.
