Grizzlies faced with ‘big question’ regarding major offseason trade
By Mark Nilon
The Memphis Grizzlies have undoubtedly had a busy NBA offseason what with their savvy free agency signings and, of course, their splashy trade for veteran guard Marcus Smart. GM Zach Kleiman’s decision-making has been deemed so impressive, in fact, that Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey went about and gave the organization a highly respectable “B” grade.
However, in his analysis, the seasoned writer did broach the subject of one particular concern he has about the club’s offseason endeavors, as he seems unsure about how the Grizzlies will be able to replace the defensive efforts and intangibles of the recently departed, Dillon Brooks.
"“Disregarding the price, though, it’s not hard to see why Memphis pushed multiple chips in for Smart. He’s bigger than Jones and far more versatile defensively. And while his shot has been wildly inconsistent throughout his career, he’s willing to get threes up and can run an offense. Having him on the books will make it much easier to survive Ja Morant’s suspension,” Bailey wrote.“The big question for Memphis may be: How does it replace Brooks’ defense? Smart will certainly do some of that, but he may not be quite as well suited to defend 3s and 4s, especially as he enters his 30s.”"
Last season, Brooks had a highly impressive campaign, particularly from a defensive perspective as he earned himself his first All-Defensive team selection.
As a result of his productivity, the forward earned himself a rather lucrative new pay-day with the Houston Rockets to the tune of four years, $80 million, thus leaving the Grizzlies with a glaring hole within their rotation at the wing.
Bailey suggests this departure could prove to have a rather sizeable impact on their defensive efforts, particularly at the forward slots.
Though Marcus Smart is a three-time All-Defensive selectee and a former Defensive Player of the Year, his 6-foot-3 frame makes it hard to believe he’ll be able to cover such positions, at least on a regular basis.
Perhaps head coach Taylor Jenkins will look to run more zone schemes and heavily utilize switches between Smart and reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Jaren Jackson Jr., but the concerns regarding what to do in an effort to replace Dillon Brooks’ positional abilities on the less glamorous side of the ball are certainly warranted.
That said, what should be comforting to most Grizzlies fans is the fact that they didn’t rank as the third-best defensive unit solely based off their former wing’s efforts, thus boding well for their chances of remaining an overall pesky bunch on the less glamorous side of the ball in 2023-24.
