Memphis Grizzlies: What if Jaren Jackson Jr. never got hurt?

The Memphis Grizzlies have been good, but different without Jaren Jackson Jr.

It’s important to remember that the Grizzlies have actually improved upon their results from last season without their second-best player so far. Jaren Jackson Jr. was definitely a big loss, but that doesn’t mean that this team didn’t improve. They’ve shown off their depth in big wins throughout the entire season.

But the team has suffered in certain areas without JJJ.

Most notably, the Grizzlies took a sizable step back in field goal percentage. The numbers won’t be able to tell the full story as to how significant this is, but in 2020-21, the Grizz rank 15th in the league in field goal percentage as opposed to their 7th rank in 2019-20. They did this despite a 1% jump in 3-point shooting.

That said, the Grizzlies have actually increased their point per game total, keeping a relatively stable number from last season. With an efficient player like JJJ out, you have to assume that they’re missing out on a step forward that they should have seen this year.

Despite the fact that the numbers aren’t overly depressing, there hasn’t been any sort of drastic improvement from year to year. At 21 years old, Jackson is incredibly young and should develop into a big player in the future.

His development was cut short, and the Grizzlies are stagnating because of it. But what if he was never injured at all?