Memphis Grizzlies
Ja Morant has already transcended himself into being in the top-tier of point guards in this league through just two seasons and with a ton of other young talents around him in Jaren Jackson Jr., Desmond Bane, Dillon Brooks, Brandon Clarke, Ziaire Williams, and others, this Memphis Grizzlies team is only going to trend upwards in time.
Last season, the Grizzlies surprised everyone by not only beating the Golden State Warriors to claim the 8-seed in the Western Conference but then they went on to win Game 1 of their first-round series against the Utah Jazz, a game that took place in Salt Lake City.
Very few teams in the NBA over the last handful of seasons have been able to win a game against the Jazz in Utah and this young Memphis Grizzlies team did so in the playoffs! Ja Morant was also spectacular in this series, as he averaged 30.2 points, 8.2 assists, and shot 48.7% from the floor and Dillon Brooks also emerged as a special threat for this team, averaging 25.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, and shooting 40% from three-point range in this series.
They may very well end up being the 7-seed or 8-seed in the Western Conference this season, but Memphis could very well sneak into the Top-6 of the Western Conference standings, avoiding the play-in tournament entirely.
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Replacing Jonas Valanciunas with Steven Adams was an interesting move and the Memphis Grizzlies made a lot of changes to their bench this offseason, so it should be interesting to see what other moves GM Zach Kleiman makes during the season to make his team as good as they can possibly be.
For years, Memphis has been trying to rebuild themselves into a real, contending threat in the Western Conference and now, the Grizzlies actually have a team that has proven that they can be competitive against any team in this league. Time will tell if this team can exceed expectations again, but they should absolutely be a team to keep an eye on in the Western Conference.
