Memphis Grizzlies: 3 players who will lose minutes in JJJ’s return

Memphis Grizzlies F Kyle Anderson will have to return to the shadows

Kyle Anderson never had the size of Jaren Jackson Jr. while filling in for the big man. That said, he was never supposed to be the same type of player that Jackson was. Instead, Anderson was the poster child of a feisty small-ball lineup led by the Grizzlies.

And he did an incredible job in that role. From 2020 to 2021, Anderson improved in every statistical category.

• Points (+5.8 improvement)
• Assists (+1.3 improvement)
• Steals (+0.5 improvement)
• Blocks (+0.2 improvement)
• Rebounds (+1.6 improvement)

And that’s not the extent of the improvement that Anderson saw from year to year. He also became a more efficient offensive player, scoring at a higher rate on a relatively lower volume of jump shots.

In 2020-21, Anderson has scored on 34.1% of his 3-point attempts, a 6% increase from last season.

Unfortunately, he’ll be second in line to lose minutes, as he did see a significant jump in terms of minutes per game from last season. In 2019-20, he spent 20 minutes per game on the court. He saw that number jump to 27.5 this season, so he’ll be due for a cutback.