In the United States, it is Thanksgiving Eve (no, not a real thing, but work with me). On this day before the quintessential American holiday in which we stuff our faces and watch football all day, it felt like a great opportunity to reflect on where Memphis is at this stage of the season.
For on November 27th last year? The Memphis Grizzlies were free falling. The team was 3-13, struggling through the regular season slate without their superstar Ja Morant due to a league suspension. The Grizzlies were 0-8 at home in FedExForum, a place that had once been rocking with positive energy and home court advantage. The franchise was short on answers, and low on hope.
Fast forward 365 days. Memphis is 11-7, even with Ja Morant missing half those contests too (and he will once again be out tonight). The Grizzlies are back to winning at home (7-3 at home) and are scoring as effectively as they have the entire Ja Morant era. The team is keeping minutes low and pace high. And while the vibes aren’t as immaculate as they once were, things feel a lot more like those 2-seed seasons than the despair of 2023-2024.
That, in and of itself, is something to be thankful for. There’s always room for improvement - rotations continue to confound at times, the team turns the ball over too much. Yet despite any possible frustrations that may exist, the fact remains that this team is competing at a much higher level. It’s much more fun to follow this team because of the energy and attitude they bring to the court on a nightly basis.
Both of those items are reflected in the play of Jaren Jackson Jr., who is quite possibly an All-NBA candidate 18 games in to the young season. His defensive impact remains significant - he’s in the 80th percentile or better in both steal and block percentage per Cleaning the Glass. And his 75% shooting rate and the rim and 38% three point percentage makes him one of the most versatile scoring bigs in the entire league.
He has led the way in the absence of Ja Morant. But he isn’t alone. There are players who didn’t get contract extensions this offseason like Jake LaRavia and Santi Aldama who are both doing things to perhaps make Memphis regret that decision. There are former two-way contracted players like Scotty Pippen Jr. and Jay Huff that have earned full time NBA deals and have contributed to winning for the Grizzlies.
Brandon Clarke has looked like his old self on the defensive end especially. Marcus Smart is buying in to being a reserve in the best interest of the team as a rookie in Jaylen Wells lights up the league from downtown. And the likes of Zach Edey, Vince Williams Jr., and GG Jackson will eventually return to add even more depth.
It’s a much better position to be in than what the Memphis Grizzlies faced on November 27th, 2023. And that is something to be thankful for.
