3 teams that are clearly worse than Grizzlies despite their records

When healthy, the Memphis Grizzlies are without question a club worthy of being in the conversation of legitimate championship contenders.

Led by superstar Ja Morant, All-Star Jaren Jackson Jr., budding star Desmond Bane, and defensive stalwart Marcus Smart, Taylor Jenkins' core rivals virtually any other team in the league and, considering three of the players mentioned helped guide them to 107 wins from 2021-22 through 2022-23, they've already proven to be one of the game's truly elite squads.

Of course, 2023-24 has not played out like their last several seasons have due, in large, to injuries. Through 67 games played, as a result of their unfortunate health-related issues, Memphis has now officially broken the record for most players used by a team in a single season and has a lowly record of 23-44 to show for their misfortunes.

Grizzlies still better than many teams with higher winning percentages

Despite what their lacking successes may suggest up to this point, even amid such turmoil the Grizzlies have proven themselves to be a better-than-advertised bunch and, in many ways, are a superior club compared to some that may boast more desirable winning percentages.

In specific, there are a few organizations that hold a better record than Memphis but, when push comes to shove, should be considered the inferior unit.

3. Utah Jazz (28-37)

The Utah Jazz are the epitome of an average team from a production standpoint.

While they may rank within the top 10 in scoring per game they do so while shooting just 47.0 percent from the field (19 in the league) and 36.0 percent from distance (18 in the league) all with their core of Lauri Markkanen, Jordan Clarkson, John Collins, and Collin Sexton remaining largely intact throughout the year.

In a modern game predicated on guard play and proper floor spacing, the Jazz have opted to stockpile their main rotation with a plethora of big men which creates a bit of a rotational redundancy.

On top of this, it's not as if their size up front has made their interior defense all that menacing, as they're still letting up a whopping 51.9 points per game inside the paint.

This was something the Grizzlies took complete advantage of during their last outing back in November where they poured in 58 of their 105 total points between the rim and free-throw line, all while shooting at a tremendous 64.4 percent clip.

The Grizzlies may not be as successful as Utah in the win-loss department, but at least their rotation is more evenly filled out with players possessing complimentary games -- Ex. Jaren Jackson Jr. is the proven two-way star; Scotty Pippen Jr. is a set-up artist; GG Jackson is becoming a spark plug scorer off the pine.