Tuomas Iisalo's first year as the Grizzlies' full-time head coach will be very interesting to evaluate once the season comes to a close. While Iisalo has been heavily criticized, and there are valid complaints, he has dealt with one of the toughest situations in the NBA this season.
Tuomas Iisalo's rotation patterns are problematic due to the fact that he does not play the most talented players enough. Beyond just playing time, Iisalo has had issues optimizing his best players. A prime example was Jaren Jackson Jr., who already looked dominant on offense in his first three games with the Utah Jazz.
However, despite some issues with game management and optimizing key players, Iisalo has not been put in the best position due to untimely injuries.
Iisalo has been severely limited by injuries
One of the biggest points of emphasis from Tuomas Iisalo when he took over as the interim head coach last season was using Edey's screening ability more and overall expanding his role. The Grizzlies played really well on both ends of the court when Edey returned this year. However, Edey suffered a stress reaction and hasn't played since December.
Edey's injury has had a very clear impact given how well he fits Iisalo's system and the two-way impact he was already showing in his second season. Another factor to consider is how little the Grizzlies' main guards in their rotations have played. Ja Morant, Scotty Pippen Jr., and Ty Jerome have played just a combined 35 total games.
For context, the Grizzlies have only 24 more games this regular season. Even though the Grizzlies likely wouldn't have made a deep run, the previous roster before the trade deadline likely would've been good enough to make the playoffs at full strength.
Development will define the rest of Iisalo's time in Memphis
All signs point to Tuomas Iisalo being the head coach for the Grizzlies next season. Given that the Grizzlies just fired Taylor Jenkins late last season, the team will very likely not want to make another coaching change so fast. However, even though the Grizzlies are very likely to miss postseason play altogether, these games still matter significantly for developing young players.
The Grizzlies look vastly different since the trade deadline, and they are still missing key players. Despite Iisalo being responsible for plenty of losses this season, the Grizzlies' current situation has bought him some time. Now will be the opportunity for Iisalo to develop more young talent on the roster and raise the floor of the team going into next year.