The slowness of the NBA offseason is even slower for a team like the Memphis Grizzlies, who have their full roster under contract. Also, they likely have their regular season starting lineup in place with the return of four starters from a team that started two rookies who made the All-Rookie first team last season.
Despite trading a huge piece of that starting five with Desmond Bane, the addition of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope adds the perfect plug-and-play player to a lineup with Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. as the primary scorers and playmakers. The Grizzlies' offseason wasn't flashy to the general public, but one writer believes their new starting five is among the best in the NBA.
Continuity plays a huge part in the Grizzlies' starting lineup
Due to injuries and lineup tinkering, the Grizzlies' primary starting five of Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, Jaylen Wells, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Zach Edey only played 25 games together last season. However, that lineup was efficient when paired together as they produced a net rating of plus-27.1 in 499 total possessions.
When excluding Desmond Bane from the equation, the four returning starters produced a net rating of plus-21.9 in 215 possessions. Some good news for the Grizzlies is that lineups including returning bench players Scott Pippen Jr. and Santi Aldama produced net ratings of plus-26.8 and plus-37.9, respectively, when paried with the other four starters.
NBA Writer Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report did a power ranking of NBA teams by their starting five and surprisingly ranked the Grizzlies in the top 10 at number nine. His reasoning behind the high ranking stemmed from the positive net rating of the returning starters and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope getting a bump in production with the added playmaking of Ja Morant that he didn't have in his disappointing season with the Orlando Magic last season.
Fellow Bleacher Report writer Grant Hughes pinpointed Caldwell-Pope as a riser for the Grizzlies because of the spacing and playmaking the Grizzlies will provide for him. While hearing the Grizzlies' new starting five out loud doesn't sound like a top-10 unit, the potential of Zach Edey and Jaylen Wells taking a developmental step forward makes it sound intriguing.
Adding a player with the defensive acumen and three-point prowess of Caldwell-Pope could make the Grizzlies' starting five more dangerous than last season. They ranked just above Western Conference rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and San Antonio Spurs, for a potential top-10 unit in the NBA.