Things May Come Together Quicker Than Expected for the Memphis Grizzlies

When the Memphis Grizzlies initially drafted Ja Morant, it signified the beginning of a new era. But, the rebuild may yield results right away.

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Back in the summer of last year, the Memphis Grizzlies officially kicked into rebuild mode, drafting Ja Morant and Brandon Clarke in the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft. After years of ‘grit and grind,’ this marked a change in philosophy as the Grizzlies tried to get back to regular postseason contention. Factor in the rookie season that Jaren Jackson, Jr. was coming off, and it was easy to see the reason for optimism in Memphis. They had their nucleus of the future together, a strong foundation to build upon.

I thought it would take two years, at least, before the realization of that vision, though. The NBA’s Western Conference is absolutely stacked, making it hard to make up ground. But, the surprise of this season so far is that the Grizzlies are, in fact, putting themselves right in the mix in Morant’s rookie season.

A recent six-game winning streak puts the Memphis Grizzlies in the 8th playoff spot in the West for the time being. It started when they went on the road and whooped a damn good Los Angeles Clippers team, 140-114. Four different Grizzlies had 20+ points in that game. Not too surprising to see them follow that up with back-to-back wins over the Phoenix Suns and the Minnesota Timberwolves. But, knocking out the San Antonio Spurs and the Golden State Warriors was a bit different. Last night, they took out the Houston Rockets 121 to 110. Morant had 26 in that game. This team is capable of stringing together some wins.

Since Morant has returned from injury, he looks like a star. He’s averaging 18 PPG this season. Jackson is also averaging 18 PPG, and Jonas Valanciunas is averaging 15.2 PPG and 9.8 rebounds per game. Factor in the contributions of Dillon Brooks, Jae Crowder, and Clarke, and the Grizzlies have a lineup that can run with anyone right now.

This should be a fun team to watch down the stretch.

Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley

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