Memphis Grizzlies 2019-2020 Season Outlook
September 17, 2019By: Dave Furtado, Head Basketball Analyst
Our team by team offseason analysis rolls on here at Tailgate Sports. In this installment we’ll be taking a look at one of the more interesting teams in the Western Conference, the Memphis Grizzlies.
Key Additions: Josh Jackson, Grayson Allen, Jae Crowder, Andre Iguodala
Key Subtractions: Mike Conley, Chandler Parsons
Draft: Ja Morant, Brandon Clarke
The Grizzlies are coming off of what was a disappointing, yet not surprising season. Memphis was clearly entering a rebuild going into 2018 and it showed with their performance on the floor. They confirmed the commitment to getting younger when they dealt longtime center Marc Gasol to the Toronto Raptors at the trade deadline. As for the future, it looks fairly bright for Memphis. They were able to re-sign the return in the Gasol trade, center Jonas Valanciunis, as well as bringing in former Phoenix top pick Josh Jackson. Jackson has been something of a disappointment to this point in his young career, while Valanciunas has established himself as a solid big man in the league.
Despite these two additions, the Grizzlies did suffer one major loss. Longtime point guard Mike Conley was sent to the Utah Jazz in exchange for Grayson Allen and Jae Crowder among other assets. Allen has the potential to be a solid bench scorer, however he is still immature and hasn’t been able to find a real foothold in the league. Crowder is a decent player, but as far as the future of the team he likely doesn’t have a major role if anything.
One area of the offseason in which the Grizzlies did well, was the draft. They had the second overall pick and used it to select Murray State point guard Ja Morant. Morant is an electric talent and one of my favorite players from this draft class. His explosiveness and ability to play above the rim as a point guard is akin to the likes of Russell Westbrook, and a young Derrick Rose. The sky is certainly the limit for Morant and he should be the center of the Grizzlies for years to come. Later on in the first round the Grizzlies made a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder to acquire the 21st pick. Memphis went on to take Gonzaga forward Brandon Clarke with this pick, and that choice is an absolute slam dunk (pun intended) of a choice. Clarke is an elite athlete as evidenced by him leading the nation in blocked shots a season ago. The knock against Clarke is his short arms and still developing jumpshot, these things likely caused him to slide into the second half of the first round. Despite his shortcomings, Clarke is an elite athlete and someone who many had ranked as a top 10-15 player in this draft class, and getting him at 21 could very well be a steal for Memphis.
Final Outlook on the Memphis Grizzlies
To be completely honest, the Grizzlies are most likely going to be awful this year. However there is certainly a plan for the future, and for that Grizzlies fans should be excited. With exciting names like Ja Morant and Brandon Clarke in the fold the Grizzlies should be a fun team to watch in 2019. Memphis has a solid young core, however they are extremely young and inexperienced, and this is going to cause most of if not all of their struggles for the upcoming season. As for their record, my prediction is that the Grizzlies will finish with a record of 19-63.
