3 Preseason stories Grizzlies fans should be watching closely

The NBA Preseason is underway, and the Memphis Grizzlies have five games to ramp up for a highly anticipated regular season. After media day, the team spent three days in Nashville, TN, for training camp because of renovations in the FedEx Forum before returning to Memphis for an Open Practice to the public.

The team's five preseason games include three road games against the Dallas Mavericks, Chicago Bulls, and Indiana Pacers. The team's home preseason slate will consist of matchups against the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat. The fanbase should be excited about the team's potential this season, and the anticipation begins with the preseason games.

1. Injury Management

How the Grizzlies manage injuries and rest players with an injury history should be closely monitored. The Grizzlies typically play their starters in the preseason, so the available players are expected to get some run during the exhibition games. Considering all of the injuries last season, players will need to play to shake off the rust and avoid injury risk simultaneously.

Jaren Jackson Jr. suffered a minor hamstring injury on the first day of training camp that appears not to be serious. However, it wouldn't make sense to rush him back to play preseason, especially considering he was the main cog last season, playing the most games for the team (66 of 82). Chemistry will be important to develop, so it shouldn't be ruled out that he won't return for any preseason games as long as he is back to 100%.

Last season, Marcus Smart suffered an abdominal injury during training camp, and the team decided to hold him out the entire preseason. That backfired because he was new to the team; therefore, the chemistry was being developed as the team started playing regular season games. Jackson Jr. knows how to play with everyone except Zach Edey, so it wouldn't hurt the team too much if he sat out the entire preseason.

2. The New Offense

The Grizzlies' biggest concern over the past couple of seasons has been the effectiveness of the half-court offense. The team has struggled when the pace is slowed down due to stagnant offensive sets that reared their ugly head, especially in clutch time of games when the ball is stopped in Ja Morant's hands, and everyone else stands around.

The Grizzlies' eventful offseason included the rearrangement of coach Taylor Jenkins' coaching staff as the team added six new assistant coaches, including Toumas Iisalo, who was considered a "European offensive mastermind" while coaching in Paris. Iisalo took Paris to the EuroCup Finals the past two seasons and won the Eurocup title in 2023 with the greatest offensive rating ever (126.8).

The team welcomes that level of execution to a team with the talent to be much better on the offensive end of the floor. It also helps that the team added 7'4" Zach Edey, who dominated in the paint in college, averaging 25.3 points in his final season. Having a big who can get an easy bucket inside helps a struggling half-court offense.

3. The Rotation

How coach Taylor Jenkins manages his rotation will answer many questions about how the Grizzlies will replace GG Jackson to begin the season. Seeing the minute distributions throughout the preseason of players like Jake LaRavia, John Konchar, Jaylen Wells, and Scotty Pippen Jr. will show who has the upper hand to get playing time on opening night.

Replacing GG Jackson and Vince Williams Jr. will be important to help the team avoid another slow start. Having the starters set and healthy can offset it, but the bench can't have a drastic drop-off if the team wants to get out to a quick start this season.