Grizzlies: 3 players who can break into 2021-22 starting five

The Memphis Grizzlies had a 2020-21 season that brought something to Beale Street that hadn’t been seen in a while — stability. Despite the fact that Jaren Jackson Jr. was injured throughout the season and Taylor Jenkins was shuffling through different lineups, it seemed like Memphis learned a lot about themselves.

Ja Morant re-established himself as the leader of this team, Dillon Brooks became the team’s alpha dog, and Jonas Valanciunas became the most reliable guy in the lineup. Unfortunately, JV would be shipped off but for the remainder of the team, everybody knows their role going forward.

Still, this team has a handful of players with unknown roles as we get deeper into the 2021 offseason. As a result, I’m going to go over three players who can break into the 2021-22 starting lineup.

Ziaire Williams is the most obvious selection to break into the Memphis Grizzlies’ starting five

I thought I’d give Ziaire Williams the shortest slide since he seems like the obvious choice here. Williams was the Grizzlies’ 10th-overall pick — the player that they traded away Jonas Valanciunas and took on two huge contracts to bring to the roster.

Williams is just 19 years old right now and his game has a long way to go. Even so, they wouldn’t have taken him at the 10th spot if they didn’t want him to have a huge role going forward.

In all likelihood, the Grizzlies will start the year with Dillon Brooks at the shooting guard spot and Kyle Anderson at the small forward position. This won’t last long though, as the long-term plan is likely to insert Williams into the starting lineup at the two-guard position and shift Dillon Brooks to his natural position.