As the NBA begins its crucial postseason stretch run after the All-Star break, the Memphis Grizzlies find themselves back in the thick of the Western Conference race after a fall from grace last season. While the reach to make a run for the top seed seems unobtainable with an eight-game deficit to the Oklahoma City Thunder with only 28 games remaining, the Grizzlies are in a fight to hold on to the number two seed.
The Denver Nuggets only trail them by 0.5 games, and the current fourth-seeded Houston Rockets only trail them by 2.5 games and have the tiebreaker over the Grizzlies if they finish with the same record after winning the season series 3-1. However, this is more pleasant to talk about than the 27-win team last season as they entered post-All-Star thinking about the draft after lengthy injuries to their stars.
The last two Grizzlies teams that found themselves in the position that this year's team is in were led by Ja Morant's offense and Jaren Jackson Jr.'s defense. Jaren Jackson Jr. won Defensive Player of the Year during the 2022-23 season, while Morant led the team in scoring with a 26.2 scoring average.
The offensive role has switched this season as the Grizzlies installed an unorthodox offense that has them among the league leaders in multiple categories with Jaren Jackson Jr. being the leader in scoring at 23.0 points per game. While Ja Morant is having a down year averaging 20.7 points, his defense has taken a step forward as he leads the league in points per possession given up when guarding in ISO situations.
Fewest Points Per Possession Given Up Guarding ISOs In The 2024-25 NBA Regular Season (Min. 15 Total ISO Possessions Guarded) :
— Stat Defender (@statdefender) February 18, 2025
1. Ja Morant — 0.32
2. LeBron James — 0.35
3. Ben Simmons — 0.39
4. Day’Ron Sharpe — 0.41
5. Dalano Banton — 0.47
6. Ja’Kobe Walter —… https://t.co/3ErykhjGrr pic.twitter.com/Wn3wFWEr8M
However, if the Grizzlies want to become true NBA championship contenders, they will need a better output from Morant on the offensive end of the court.
Utilize more Pick-and-roll attempts
Specifically, the Grizzlies will need to utilize more of Ja Morant and Zach Edey's pick-and-roll attempts as the 7'4" rookie can present a nearly unguardable presence rolling downhill with Morant. Ja Morant has always operated best from pick-and-roll, but the Grizzlies' offense doesn't utilize it much this season in their new system.
The Grizzlies rank last in the NBA on possessions they use the pick-and-roll at 10.6 per game (8.9% frequency). For comparison, the Grizzlies utilized the pick-and-roll at a 16.9% clip during Ja Morant's best season during the 2021-22 season, when he averaged 27.2 points on 49.3% shooting.
The Grizzles offense as a whole ranks much better than their previous seasons so there has to be a happy medium. Finding a way to get Ja Morant to return to his 2021-22 or 2022-23 form combined with the current Jaren Jackson Jr. is what they will need to officially etch themselves as a true NBA title contender.