The Memphis Grizzlies have used more players than most NBA teams to this point in the season. At 20-20, the Grizzlies have maintained .500 basketball without Jaren Jackson Jr. by using a rotating merry-go-round of players.
But this couldn’t last — it never does in the NBA.
As expected, Taylor Jenkins has narrowed down the rotation to significantly fewer players. While we saw upwards of 12 guys playing in previous games, we’re seeing a maximum of 10 players on the court in recent games.
In fact, in the past handful of games, we’ve seen a very distinct lineup from Taylor Jenkins.
What does the Memphis Grizzlies point guard position look like in a narrowed-down lineup?
The point guard position is the first spot that we’ll be looking at. Fittingly, this is probably the most cut-and-dried position discussion of them all.
The point guard is Ja Morant. This hasn’t changed at all and it won’t change unless Morant is injured, traded, suspended, or anything else under the “unable to play” umbrella. He’s the Grizzlies key franchise player and will be the point guard for this team for a long, long time.
Backing him up, you’ll find Tyus Jones. He’s not the flashiest player and he has a relatively distinct ceiling, but he can keep the offense going while Morant is on the bench.
He only plays 20 minutes per game, but has shown that he can make a huge impact if Morant is having an off-day. We saw this in a 20-point performance where Jones was on fire for the entire afternoon.
Other than that, there aren’t any more players who belong in the point guard position. There are a few guys that can play point forward, but the two pure point guards on this team have already been listed. Those are the only players who are getting minutes at the one.
The two-guard spot gets a little bit more interesting though.