Memphis Grizzlies: 3 players with most to prove with Jaren Jackson Jr. returning

Memphis Grizzlies F Kyle Anderson’s role will shrink drastically

Even though it hasn’t been so direct, Kyle Anderson is the player who has filled in at the power forward position in Jaren Jackson Jr.’s absence. His elevated role has paid off exponentially, as he is seeing career-high numbers in almost every category on this team.

As a starter with 27.3 minutes per game, Anderson is averaging 12.3 points per contest, 3.7 APG, and 6.0 RPG, all career highs. It has been his best year, without a shred of doubt.

That said, he’ll be losing a significant amount of minutes when Jackson Jr. returns to the court. Primarily, we might only see him at the four spot when JJJ is on the bench, which shouldn’t be very frequent.

Instead, he’ll likely find himself competing for more minutes as a small forward for the Grizzlies. This means that his competition will shift from JJJ and Brandon Clarke to Dillon Brooks and Justise Winslow.

He has proven that he can be an extremely effective power forward for this team over the past few months, but he’ll need to prove that he can be just as efficient as the small forward spot if he wants to maximize his minutes going forward.