Who's surprising fans on the Grizzlies so far this season?

Following the Grizzlies' 45-point blowout of the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night, Jake LaRavia was chosen for the post-game interview after arguably his best performance of the season. He scored 18 points on 6-9 shooting and secured four rebounds, three steals, and three blocks in 23 minutes off the bench.

Coming off an impressive run during the second half of last season and carrying that momentum into Summer League play, LaRavia was expected to be a nice depth piece for the team with a chance to compete for some minutes. Offseason injuries to GG Jackson and Vince Williams Jr. placed LaRavia in position to play critical minutes to begin the season and he produced mixed results.

He has looked a lot better to begin this season than he did to begin last season but his minutes distribution didn't seem to match the production. However, as he and the team have gotten more comfortable, his offensive production and training camp hype about his defense has paid dividends in the Grizzlies' last six games.

Jake LaRavia is fourth on the team in minutes per game (26.5), shooting a career-high from the field (46.9%) and from three (34.6%), and averaging a career-high in rebounds (5.7) and assists (4) through 11 games. Dating back to the night the team declined his option for next season, LaRavia has been a combined +68 in his minutes on the court.

LaRavia hasn't been a net negative on the court since the team's October 30th home loss to the Nets when the team was a -1 in his on-court minutes. His high minutes have been a frustrating point for the fanbase but his on-court time has been a positive for the team this season.

He has been the player that the team described in training camp on the defensive end as he has notched a steal in five of their previous six games. He has been the ultimate glue guy who has made contributions to a little bit of everything.

The team has been better when Jake LaRavia is on the court this season and the numbers show that he deserves the time he's getting. After a rough first year and a half of his career, LaRavia is proving to be not only a player deserving of a roster spot but one who can contribute whenever his number is called.

The Grizzlies will have some tough decisions to make when the team is close to full health about who plays and who doesn't, and Jake LaRavia is making a case to stake a claim at playing time when that time comes.

Although he showed improvement as a player at the end of last season and in the Summer League, he has been a pleasant surprise for the Grizzlies' early season run.