The Memphis Grizzlies are picking up the pace with their search for a new head coach. Who is the best among six candidates?
It has been six weeks since the end of the 2018-19 regular season for the Memphis Grizzlies, which also marks the same amount of time they have had a vacancy at the position of head coach. It is relieving to see the Grizzlies taking their time in making a final decision, but even so, there are plenty of questions that will be asked once a head coach is named.
The six candidates to date include Alex Jensen, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Jarron Collins, Igor Kokoskov, Nate Tibbetts, and Adrian Griffin, respectively. To summarize the field, not one candidate immediately sticks out amongst the bunch. Only Kokoskov owns NBA head coaching experience, but he is coming off of a miserable 19-63 season with the Phoenix Suns.
While the Memphis Grizzlies could certainly add more names to the mix, it is clear that they want to roll the dice on an up-and-coming coach with player development in their background while being able to connect with the team’s youth. Defense is also a common theme, which is nice to see the culture staying alive in that regard, but the offensive side looks to be a continuous mystery.
The 2019 NBA Draft is less than one month away, so it is time for the Grizzlies to make progress on their search for a head coach. It is now crunch time. While it is good to see them take their time in finding the right candidate — unlike this time one year ago — there remains plenty of risk in gambling on a candidate that will be raw with the head coach title.
Who will it be? Or rather, who should it be? The crew at Beale Street Bears has made their armchair picks regarding the best head coach candidate to lead the Memphis Grizzlies into their next era. Do you agree with any of the selections?