The Memphis Grizzlies’ floor and ceiling in 2021

The Memphis Grizzlies are not at the bottom of the league and they’re not at the top of the league. They can’t seem to escape having a record around .500, taking home a win for every loss they receive. They’re not stuck; they just can’t get going without Jaren Jackson Jr.

But this isn’t a team that has hit its ceiling quite yet in 2021. In fact, this team has shown glimpses of potential, but ultimately has fallen short when they need to step up. It’s not a lack of talent causing this, it’s just a matter of the stars not aligning quite yet on Beale Street.

This begins with the Grizzlies struggling to shoot the ball. To start the year, Memphis was actually one of the better shooting teams in the league in terms of percentage. But as they shot the ball more frequently, this would begin to dwindle. They now sit as a relatively average team from the 3-point line with their star player only knocking down 20% of his long-range shots.

The Memphis Grizzlies have the potential to be a great team

Despite struggles, the Grizzlies have shown that they are one of the most capable teams in the league, knocking down a few NBA powerhouses already this year. When everything in clicking in Memphis, there are few squads who can knock down Ja Morant and his supporting cast.

But that’s the odd thing about this team: they’ve swung to the other side of the pendulum this year, too. We know better than to call this team bad, but we’ve seen some performances that can only be described as ugly. There was a three-game span where we saw the Grizz take two 31-point losses, signifying to us that Taylor Jenkins’ team is good, but vulnerable.

At the end of the day, it’s hard to locate where this team stands. Today, I’m going to try to identify this team’s floor and ceiling as we go forward in 2021.