Grizzlies urged to shakeup frontcourt rotation with one simple move

Fresh off an upset loss at home against the Toronto Raptors, the Memphis Grizzlies find themselves on the road Friday night taking on the Los Angeles Lakers in front of what is presumed to be a packed crowd at Crypto.com Arena.

Considering how poor the ball club has performed through their first 34 games of play, boasting a putrid record of 11-23, it's evident that they need to try and take care of business during these final 48 outings to simply thrust themselves into the playoff conversation, let alone the play-in picture.

To many, for the Grizzlies to accomplish such a task big rotational shakeups will be a necessity, and their upcoming bout against LA could serve as a time to experiment in this department as Joe Mullinax of the Locked on Grizzlies Podcast has suggested that coach Taylor Jenkins should consider thrusting a healthy Vince Williams Jr. into the starting lineup.

Grizzlies urged to thrust Vince Williams Jr. into the starting lineup

"As long as Vince Williams Jr. can go, my new starting five moving forward is Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, Marcus Smart, Vince Williams Jr., Jaren Jackson Jr.. You're punting rebounding to an extent or, the way that I would spin it and sell it, would be it's a commitment to team rebounding. Your team is not thriving in transition right now as it is and you can play with pace without having to play in transition. You can have accelerated sets. You can do things in terms of getting the ball across the court. You can still find ways to have transition opportunities while still crashing the defensive glass and limiting opposing opportunities for second-chance points. "

- Joe Mullinax

Mullinax would continue on to state that this tweak with Williams Jr. being slotted into the starting power forward position would provide the Grizzlies with "the best defensive frontcourt" in the entire league.

Of course, this is highly contingent on if the sophomore will be able to be active for Friday's contest, as he was inactive during their previous outing on Wednesday and is currently listed as "questionable" with a left foot soreness, though, based on his previous stints in the starting five, this proposed shakeup would have incredibly high upside potential.

On the season, Williams has seen seven starts and is posting averages of 6.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and a steal per game.

Though measuring in at just 6-foot-4, his stellar defensive play, astounding 7-foot wingspan, and elite hustle could make him an intriguing option to thrust into the team's starting four spot while his shooting abilities, although not elite by any stretch of the word, would allow the starters to have a five-out offensive scheme in place.