3 Players from recently eliminated playoff teams Grizzlies could pursue this summer

1. Jusuf Nurkic

Though he may not have the scoring touch of a Jonas Valanciunas or the athleticism of a Nic Claxton, Jusuf Nurkic is someone who provides teams with high-end rebounding and sturdy and strong efforts on the defensive end all while setting hard screens left and right.

In other words, everything that the Grizzlies could use from their center position once guys like Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, and Jaren Jackson Jr. are back in the fold at full strength.

Phoenix may have underperformed based on preseason expectations, as they were trounced via sweep in the first round of this year's postseason, but Nurkic found himself once again having a rather productive campaign while manning the middle out in the valley of the sun.

Through 76 games played (second-highest mark of his career), the veteran managed to post solid per-game averages of 10.9 points, 11.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.1 blocks while shooting 51.0 percent from distance and sported a stellar defensive rating of 108 along the way, the sixth-highest rating in the entire association per Basketball Reference.

While the means of landing Nurkic would be far more challenging compared to the other two players mentioned on this list considering he's still under contract with Phoenix through 2026, there's a strong argument to be made that he'd be by far the best fit out of all three, as he's still in the prime of his career at 29 (unlike the soon-to-be 36-year-old Love) and has proven to be a consistent and dependable contributor (unlike the still very raw Bamba).

In the event that the Grizzlies want to make a splash on the trade market to address their starting center slot, it should go without saying that they should dial up the Suns to inquire about Nurkic's availability.

At a reasonable cost, he could be an ideal successor for the now-departed Steven Adams at the starting five spot.