NBA SIMS LEAGUE
NSL Insider - Team by Team: Memphis Grizzliesby laddas, updated on Tuesday, October 31 2023, 11:44 pm EST Memphis Grizzlies Team Review 2022-23 Finish: 60-22 Season Highlight: A 2nd consecutive 60+ win season for the Grizzlies and another playoff appearance. They brought in Bam Adebayo to establish the best defensive front court the league has probably seen which anchored them to a top 6 team defensively on the season. Jaylen Brown found himself get a 3rd team all NSL spot, even though it was a down year for him and Jackson Jr earned himself a 1st team all defense place in what was a great defensive season for himself. Season Lowlight: The lowlight is, it was an early round exit for the Grizzlies. On the back of being swept in the conference finals the season before, you�d think a bit more fire would�ve come from the Grizz, but they bowed out in the 2nd round to eventual champs, Spurs, 4-1. I believe this will keep happening until the Grizzlies decide to go all in for a proper alpha on this very talented team but I will touch on that later in the piece. Best Trade: 22/11/09 - The Memphis Grizzlies send Marcus Smart and OG Anunoby to the Toronto Raptors. The Toronto Raptors send Edrice Adebayo to the Memphis Grizzlies. The Memphis Grizzlies send a 1st-Rounder (Mem) to the Toronto Raptors. The Toronto Raptors send a 1st-Rounder (LAL) to the Memphis Grizzlies. The Memphis Grizzlies trade -15 GM points.The Toronto Raptors receive 15 GM points. While OG and Smart are very nice players, I feel this was a home run for the Grizzlies. How do you improve on having Jaren Jackson Jr being your anchor? Pair him with arguably the best defensive big(not named AD) in the NBA. Bam would go on to average 17.3ppg 15.1rpg 2.6apg but only 1.5 stocks. Still, this setup the Grizz�s identity for the rest of the season and that front court was a nightmare to deal with. Worst Trade: 22/10/20 - The Memphis Grizzlies send Derrick White to the Toronto Raptors. The Toronto Raptors send Caris LeVert to the Memphis Grizzlies. Was honestly hard to find any bad trade, but just because of hindsight I will go this. White would be the perfect PG for this team right now post the Bam trade. He went on to have an all defence season in the NBA and 2k has rewarded him in those areas. Again, not a horrible trade, but hindsight says keeping White would�ve been the better option because of how lacking Beal and Herro are on that end. Other Notable Trades: 23/01/24 - The Brooklyn Nets send Facundo Campazzo to the San Antonio Spurs. The Dallas Mavericks send Christian Wood and Malachi Flynn to the San Antonio Spurs. The Memphis Grizzlies send Mike Conley to the San Antonio Spurs. The Memphis Grizzlies send Bruce Brown to the Sacramento Kings. The Memphis Grizzlies send Caris LeVert to the Utah Jazz. The Portland Trail Blazers send Keita Bates-Diop to the Brooklyn Nets. The Portland Trail Blazers send James Harden to the San Antonio Spurs. The Portland Trail Blazers send Khem Birch and Torrey Craig to the Sacramento Kings. The San Antonio Spurs send Jordan Hall to the Brooklyn Nets. The San Antonio Spurs send Justise Winslow and Marvin Bagley III to the Dallas Mavericks. The San Antonio Spurs send Lebron James to the Portland Trail Blazers. The San Antonio Spurs send Terrence Ross to the Utah Jazz. The Sacramento Kings send Kyle Anderson to the Memphis Grizzlies. The Sacramento Kings send Yuta Watanabe to the New York Knicks. The Sacramento Kings send Joe Ingles to the Portland Trail Blazers. The Utah Jazz send Bradley Beal to the Memphis Grizzlies. The Brooklyn Nets send a 2nd-Rounder (SA) to the Portland Trail Blazers. The Memphis Grizzlies send a 1st-Rounder (Sac), 1st-Rounder (LAL) and 1st-Rounder (Pho) to the Utah Jazz. The San Antonio Spurs send a 2nd-Rounder (OKC) to the Dallas Mavericks. The San Antonio Spurs send a 1st-Rounder (Det) to the Utah Jazz. The Sacramento Kings send a 2nd-Rounder (Mil) to the Portland Trail Blazers. The Utah Jazz send a 2nd-Rounder (Utah) and 2nd-Rounder (Por) to the Memphis Grizzlies. The New York Knicks use their trade exception over $ 1,836,090. A lot to decipher here but this is how Beal ended up in Memphis. Was a solid trade and we know Grizzlies management don�t care about salary, so Beal�s big contract wasn�t seen as an issue. Beal provided the Grizzlies with great floor spacing and covered the loss of Herro, who missed the end of the season. 23/01/28 - The Memphis Grizzlies send Justin Champagnie to the Toronto Raptors. The Toronto Raptors send Jevon Carter to the Memphis Grizzlies. The Memphis Grizzlies send a 2nd-Rounder (Mem) to the Toronto Raptors. One of the better backup/rotational PG�s in the NBA for a below average player and pick 57? Ah thank you says Rootsey. Free Agency: The Grizzlies don�t have any big names hitting free agency and will probably be quiet on free agent day as they currently sit on 15gms. They do have a huge payroll ( $ 207,413,779 in active contracts) and are expected to pay a huge luxury tax penalty (currently -244gms) so maybe they�re more of a trade player through free agency rather than signing any players. Sandro Mamukelashvili (RFA) � Restricted and cheap contract, he�ll likely be back Udoka Azubuike (FA) � Honestly shocked hes still around, but he did ink a 2 way deal with the Suns in the NBA so I imagine Rootsey brings him back. Star: Edrice Adebayo The Grizzlies had so many contributors across the board but its hard to go past Bam when he was dropping 18/15/3 and playing lockdown defence on a nightly basis. Bam was brought in just as the season started and formed the best defensive front court in the NSL with JJJ. His stocks weren�t impressive but not all defence is about the numbers, you know his analytics are off the charts in this area. Flop: Jaylen Brown Wait, how can a guy with a 3rd team all NSL team appearance be a flop? Hear me out. Firstly, We all love Brown, we love what he brings and for a while we all thought he was the better of the duo in Boston, but that is simply not the case in the NBA and its also showing in the NSL. Brown regressed across badly as a scorer this season, from 25.4ppg on 49/44/89 splits to 20.7ppg on 39/32/82 splits this season and those efficiency numbers were even worse in the playoffs. Is it all his fault? Not really, he�s being thrust into the batman role but is clearly a robin, he�s not really the guy you can build your offence around, especially when he is a burden with the ball in his hands late in big games. Draft Grades: Pick 27: Ben Sheppard Pick 33: Julian Strawther Both these guys don�t project to get a lot of minutes in both the NBA and NSL but grabbing Strawther in the 2nd round (1st round in the NBA) is great value and both guys have the potential to find themselves a role at some point in the NBA/NSL. The Grizzlies also traded for microwave scorer Marcus Sasser and surprisingly has been starting games for the Grizz in preseason and their form turned on the back of that. The Future: The Grizzlies HAVE to bring in an alpha. It�s time. It�s a great roster of second bananas but there is no clear alpha on this team. Brown isn�t that guy, Beal isn�t that guy, Bam and JJJ aren�t those guys and Herro isn�t that guy. History shows us you need at least 1 90+ superstar on your roster to build around and compete for a championship and while this Grizzlies roster is stacked there�s just no guy you can give the ball to in crunch moments and expect him to come up big. Lillard could�ve been perfect as this team needs a PG and he had been available all offseason, I would hope the Grizzlies made an offer. We just saw Durant move for Dame, imagine Durant on this team? I feel that is 2 huge opportunities missed. Jimmy Butler is another who has been listed on blocks through the offseason and he would be a huge upgrade on Brown if a move was possible. Management doesn�t care about big contracts so I feel its time to go all in on a legitimate superstar or they will continue to experience disappointment in the playoffs. Love the players on this time, but there is no clear cut superstar and that will keep a cap on this time in my opinion. Depth Chart: Centre � Jaren Jackson Jr/Mitchell Robinson/Udoka Azubuike(FA) Power Forward � Bam Adebayo/Kyle Anderson/Sandro Mamukelashvili(RFA) Small Forward � Jaylen Brown/Ziaire Williams /Julian Strawther |
Archive· Team by Team: Minnesota T'wolves · Team by Team: Dallas Mavericks · Team by Team: Indiana Pacers · Team by Team: Memphis Grizzlies · Team by Team: Los Angeles Clippers |