The Memphis Grizzlies and Jaren Jackson Jr. are about to embark on an interesting offseason of negotiations ahead of his unrestricted free agency status in the 2026 NBA offseason. Jaren Jackson Jr. was the team's most reliable player throughout the regular season as Ja Morant battled various injuries that limited him to only 50 games played.
However, a March ankle injury to Jaren slowed his trajectory of making an All-NBA team, causing him to miss five games. What made matters worse is the Grizzlies' 6-10 record in their final 16 games after Jaren returned from the injury, which hurt his chances of securing a supermax contract extension eligibility.
The second half of the Grizzlies' season was somewhat a gift and a curse. The curse of it was well-documented due to their struggles and subsequent fall in the standings without veteran leadership to help steer them back in the right direction. The gift was trading their only veteran at the trade deadline helped their offseason strategy in case Jaren didn't make an All-NBA team, which happened.
Memphis would not have been able to extend Jaren without trading Smart
Grizzlies' general manager Zach Kleiman inquired about roster upgrades during the NBA trade deadline, but ultimately settled on salary-dumping Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia for cap space. Marvin Bagley III and Johnny Davis were in the trade for Smart and LaRavia as expiring contracts to create flexibility if the Grizzlies needed it to extend Jaren Jackson Jr.
With one year remaining on his contract, the Grizzlies wouldn't have been able to renegotiate Jackson Jr.'s deal while over the salary cap, which they were with Marcus Smart's $20 million salary. While initially trying to use Smart's contract to gain a win-now piece, the team opted to secure their star forward's future, thus putting the pressure on their core three players of Morant, Bane, and Jackson Jr. to be the team leaders.
That gamble didn't pay off for the 2024-25 season for a number of reasons, including injuries and a front office-coaching malfunction. However, Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. both will be 26 years old when next season begins, and Desmond Bane will be 27 years old.
With the NBA's landscape shifting more to the dynamic duo rather than the big three model, Bane could be the player used to execute a move for multiple players that fit around the star duo. The team still has the flexibility to run it back with all three for another season as well, and they can thank trading Marcus Smart at the deadline for creating that kind of roster flexibility.