The Memphis Grizzlies are one of the deepest teams in the NBA. They showed this when their bench alone outscored the Houston Rockets 85-84.
It wasn’t even officially the bench unit either, as Jaren Jackson Jr. has been out, forcing Brandon Clarke into the starting lineup. So this begs the question: does Jaren Jackson Jr.’s return give the Grizzlies the best bench in the NBA?
It’s impossible to come up with a definitive answer to this, but they’re definitely in the running for that honor. The important thing that the Grizzlies bench has to differentiate them from other bench units is youth and potential.
If it isn’t the best now, the Memphis Grizzlies’ bench will be the best soon
For the sake of creating measurable statistics for this article, the bench unit that I’m going to be using as an example is as follows:
PG: Tyus Jones
SG: De’Anthony Melton
SF: Grayson Allen
PF: Justise Winslow
C: Brandon Clarke
Don’t look too much into the positions, I just framed it like a lineup to give a better look at these guys spread across a single stat sheet.
In terms of minutes played, these guys make up the Grizzlies’ second unit. While most benches of similar talent have a veteran presence, the Grizzlies bench has an average age of 23 years old, with each guy between 22 and 24 years of age.
Even without a distinct 6th man, these players have to be considered one of the best all-around 2nd units in the league. Yes, there are teams with former All-Stars coming off the bench, but the drop-off is very little when Jones, Melton, Brooks, Winslow, and Clarke are on the floor.
In fact, at any given moment, each of the aforementioned players can step up and look like an All-Star, at least for a game. We’ve seen at least one game this year from every single one of those guys where they score 20 points or more.
These players feel reliable. They may not have an extremely high ceiling, but you rarely see a poor performance out of any of these guys. There’s always somebody stepping up, and if there isn’t, nobody is slacking, they’re just not making a huge impact.
Regardless of whether or not they’re the best, they’re definitely up there. This bench is only improving too, so we should see some of these guys step into bigger roles as their careers progress.