The Thing Jaren Jackson Jr. must do to be back in DPOY conversation

The NBA's end-of-season awards are held in high regard, and the Grizzlies have a couple of past winners, including the most recent being Jaren Jackson Jr., winning Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) in 2023. Also, Jaren Jackson Jr. finished in the top 5 in voting for the Defensive Player of the Year award in 2022 and made back-to-back first-team All-Defensive teams while leading the league in blocks per game in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons.

Last season, he finished 10th in blocks per game, averaging 1.6, a far cry from the 3.0 he averaged during his Defensive Player of the Year campaign. The path back to competing for the DPOY seems straightforward, as working to get his blocks back up would help, but other factors are at stake to get his name back to the top of the candidacy list.

Winning Matters

Before last season began, the NBA implemented a new minimum game threshold for award winners and All-NBA team eligibility, with 65 games played as required. Jaren Jackson Jr. played the most games (66) for the Grizzlies in one of the most historical injury-riddled seasons for a team in NBA history.

Although the team could've technically shut Jaren down earlier, many people felt like he and the team pushed for him to get to the 65-game threshold to compete to make the All-Defensive second team. However, he missed making both All-Defensive teams and being a finalist for the DPOY award. The leading cause for that? Winning!

As the Grizzlies figure to make it back to the upper echelon of the Western Conference, Jaren remaining healthy for 65 games is not only a must, but most of the team's core making to or close to that threshold will help his case.

Playing next to a true center

Jaren was at his best when Steven Adams was a starter next to him in the frontcourt during his two All-Defensive first-team seasons. Also, Brandon Clarke was his running mate off the bench as the Grizzlies played a lot of lineups and frequently closed games, with those two sharing the frontcourt together.

Jaren isn't the best rebounder and isn't built to withstand the constant physicality of other opposing centers throughout the long stretch of an NBA season. He is good at roaming on the defensive end, like a free safety in football, and picks and chooses his spots on the offensive end when Ja Morant shares the court with him.

Inserting the 7'4" Zach Edey into the lineup next to Jaren will allow him to perform the same way he performed when Steven Adams was his frontcourt mate. Furthermore, having a healthy Brandon Clarke, who missed nearly all last season due to a torn Achilles, back to full strength helps when the Grizzlies go to their bench.