Grizzlies' Big Three: How Memphis Stacks Up in NBA's Roster Tiers

The "big three" has been considered the basis of what an NBA championship team needs for the last decade. LeBron James decided to take his talents to South Beach in 2010, forming the super big three of him, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh as NBA Superstars in their prime for the Miami Heat to start the wave of teams trying to mimic something similar.

The big three was around before LeBron James' free agency decision but it was always executed through trades and the draft (1980s Lakers and Celtics come to mind). Also, a couple of years prior to 2010, the Boston Celtics traded for Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett to pair with Paul Pierce to form a big three, leading to a championship in their first season together.

As for the Grizzlies, their big three was formed naturally through the draft in a three-year run that saw them draft Jaren Jackson Jr., Ja Morant, and Desmond Bane from 2018-2020. Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. were top-five picks and expected to be franchise staples while Desmond Bane had a surprise rise to become that level of a player after being drafted with the last pick of the first round in 2020.

With the Grizzlies having their big three in place, ESPN placed them in a decent position among the league's best.

9th Ranking as Prime-age talent

ESPN's list of NBA Big Three rankings was separated into 10 categories. The categories included (from top to bottom): Championship-ready, Best player on the planet, Elite with questions, Prime-age talent, League-led contenders, Rising young cores, Stuck in the middle, Age and injury questions, Promising but unproven, and Rebuilding.

The Grizzlies' core found themselves in the Prime-age talent group with the likes of the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Minnesota Timberwolves. The Knicks' core of Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby, and Karl-Anthony Towns and the Cavaliers' core of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, and Evan Mobley ranked ahead of the Grizzlies at 7th and 8th while Minnesota's core of Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, and Rudy Gobert ranked behind them at 10th.

The reason for the Grizzlies' ranking was directly due to the team's injury issues over the past two seasons for their big three. After the conclusion of the 2022-23 season when their big three finished the Lakers playoff series loss on the court together, Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, and Jaren Jackson Jr. have played 11 out of a possible 98 games together.

After playing nine games together last season that was sandwiched between Morant's 25-game suspension and his season-ending torn labrum surgery, injuries have limited them to only playing two games together this season. Jaren Jackson Jr. missed the first two games of this season then Ja Morant missed one game, and Desmond Bane went down after Morant returned.

The Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder were the two teams that ranked at the top of the list as the only championship-ready cores and ESPN mentioned the Grizzlies would've been battling with those two before the last year of events. The Grizzlies have a prototypical big three with a lead guard, wing, and big man so the opportunity for them to work their way back is apparent.

Desmond Bane is the oldest of the Grizzlies' big three at age 26, meaning the team has time to right the ship. Desmond Bane is back on the court now with Jaren Jackson Jr. and Ja Morant is expected back any week. The Grizzlies still have one of the NBA's best cores and the opportunity is in front of them to become what most people think they can be as perennial NBA championship contenders.