Memphis Grizzlies: 5 biggest questions heading into free agency

No. 4: Will Kennedy Chandler be the only backup for Ja Morant next season?

If Tyus Jones and the Grizzlies are unable to come to terms on a new contract, who will serve as the backup for Ja Morant? Well, the only rostered point guard would be rookie Kennedy Chandler.

Morant has missed a significant number of games in the past couple of seasons, which makes the back-up position all the more important. Will Head Coach Taylor Jenkins entrust young Chandler with the keys to the offense if/when Ja Morant needs time off?

Tyus Jones staying in Memphis would be a low-risk, high-reward opportunity for Jones. He can put less punishment on his body, be on a winning team, and buy the Grizzlies a season or two of development before Chandler can comfortably take over as Morant’s wingman.

No. 3: Could we see the Memphis Grizzlies execute any sign-and-trades?

Unless the Grizzlies want to enter the Deandre Ayton or Miles Bridges sweepstakes, I don’t think we’ll see any blockbuster moves for the Grizzlies this offseason.

Internally, we could hope to get a little something in return for one or both Jones and Anderson if they decide they want to compete for a different team.

Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian, has laid out a few really compelling sign-and-trade scenarios that could net the Grizzlies a scoring wing or a three-point-shooting, back-up big man.

Of the two major free agents on the roster from last season, Anderson seems the most likely to move on. It’s not clear which teams may be angling to sign him, but he would be an asset to just about any playoff-bound team.

Anderson will probably want to go on a team where he can compete for a starting job or be a team’s sixth-man.

No. 2: Will the team look to move on from Dillon Brooks or Steven Adams?

Many will remember the Grizzlies moving on from Jonas Valančiūnas a year early when he was traded to New Orleans a year before his contract expired.

Zach Kleiman, the 2022 NBA Executive of the Year, could take a similar approach with one or both Dillon Brooks and Steven Adams.  Each player is entering the final year of their contracts and will become unrestricted free agents in the summer of 2023.

The Grizzlies may be able to get more value out of them if they wait until the trade deadline and a team that feels one piece away from making a serious push enters trade talks.

Both Memphis and Brooks need the Canadian to play really well from the top of next season to increase his value before hitting the open market.

Brooks needs to play better and more consistently to command a sizeable payday. The Grizzlies need him to do the same in order to get better trade offers and/or maintain their regular-season dominance in the NBA.

Adams may be a tough sell to rival teams on the trade market. He can’t and won’t shoot the ball outside of about five feet from the basket. His passing and rebounding are off-the charts great, though. His limited mobility is also a tough sell when players who can guard multiple positions are valued so greatly in this league.

The only scenario that makes sense would be to trade him if you can upgrade at the position and send him to a rebuilding team that will value his expiring contract. Someone like Indiana in a package for Myles Turner or Mo Bamba on the Magic.

No. 1: Will the Memphis Grizzlies make any blockbuster moves?

One blockbuster move that rests somewhere between a decent shot and really unlikely has been a move to acquire Kevin Durant. The trade chatter picked up some extra talk after an offshore site gave Memphis the second-best odds in the NBA to land arguably the greatest active basketball player in the world if he decides to leave Brooklyn this summer.

The idea of him leaving rested largely on teammate Kyrie Irving leveraging his power to force a trade out of Brooklyn. With Irving opting-in to his player option for next season, it seems really unlikely that Durant would request a trade at this juncture.

Bradley Beal, once thought of us a plausible target for Memphis, is reportedly going to re-sign with Washington on a max or super-max deal. Same goes for Zach LaVine and James Harden, to a certain extent.

If the Grizzlies do make a big move, it will almost certainly come in the form of a trade and that’s a long-shot proposition at best.