Can the 2023 Grizzlies Replicate the 2019 Team’s Turnaround?

The Memphis Grizzlies have struggled mightily to begin this 2023-2024 NBA season, and they now stand at 6-18 with only one game remaining until the return of Ja Morant. However, let’s take a trip down memory lane, as there is some recent history to suggest that this Grizzlies team can turn the ship around when Ja Morant returns from his 25-game suspension.

The 2019-2020 Memphis Grizzlies season was the first year of the new “GrzNxtGen” era as they traded Mike Conley Jr. to the Utah Jazz for Jae Crowder, Kyle Korver, Grayson Allen, the #23 pick in the 2019 Draft, and a future first-round pick one day before the 2019 NBA Draft that summer in anticipation of drafting Ja Morant with the second overall pick. That trade, followed by the 2019 Draft (which also included using the #23 pick to trade up two spots to draft Brandon Clarke), signaled the official end to the Grit and Grind era, and the rebuild was on.

While that was the official end to the Grit and Grind era, the Grizzlies had already begun initiating the rebuild even a year before that when they drafted Jaren Jackson Jr. with the fourth overall pick of the 2018 NBA Draft; they also traded Marc Gasol to the Toronto Raptors at the 2019 NBA trade deadline. Also, they promoted then-Assistant General Manager Zach Kleiman to General Manager and Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations in April 2019, and he hired Taylor Jenkins as head coach on June 11, 2019, nine days before the 2019 NBA Draft.

What’s interesting about the Grizzlies’ struggles this season is that they began the 2019 season almost the same as this season. Of course, there are major differences: Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., Brandon Clarke, and John Konchar (undrafted two-way player in 2019) are the only players remaining from that team. Additionally, Ja Morant only missed six of the team’s first 25 games due to injury, and that team was entering the first year of a rebuild vs this 2023 Grizzlies squad coming off back-to-back No. 2 seed finishes. Also, the play-in tournament didn’t exist (until the summer of 2020), and the Western Conference wasn’t as deep as it is currently, with the top 10 seeds all holding winning records.

The addition of the play-in tournament helps the 2023 Grizzlies’ case as they are 6.5 games out of getting to the 10-seed and don’t have to necessarily worry about getting up to the 8-seed as they had to in the 2019 season. However, after the 25-game mark of the 2019 season, the Grizzlies sat at 8-17 as the 13th seed and were 3.5 games back of the 8-seed, which is much closer than they are currently.

Again, the Western Conference is much tougher now, but there is an upside to Ja Morant returning to the lineup that the 2019 Grizzlies displayed when he returned to a 6-16 Grizzlies team after missing four games with a back injury.

The Grizzlies will have three All-Star-level players in Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, and Jaren Jackson Jr., a claim that only a select few teams in the NBA have. The 2019 Grizzlies proceeded to go on an unprecedented run with a very young team that included them winning 22 of their next 32 games to go into the NBA All-Star break with a winning record at 28-26 and firmly in the 8th seed spot, three full games ahead of the ninth-seeded Portland Trail Blazers.

That team included rookie Ja Morant and second-year player Jaren Jackson Jr., who weren’t as good or experienced as they are now. This team has the developed versions of those two and a bonafide bucket-getter in Desmond Bane, who was missing on that 2019 team that found ways to compete behind a balanced scoring effort, really good team defense, and playmaking from various players. So, here are the major differences between the 2019 and 2023 teams: the Western Conference’s depth, the playoff rules and setup, and the experience of the Grizzlies’ best players. This iteration of the Grizzlies should play like one of the top teams once Jo Morant returns to the lineup, and the trifecta is complete once again.

Health will continue to play a major part for this team, as adding Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard around the same time or not too long after Morant will also be needed to round out the rotation. See the chart below for the projected 2023-2024 Grizzlies rotation (Minus Brandon Clarke and Steven Adams) vs the 2019-2020 Grizzlies rotation (before the trade deadline deals).

Albeit trades and free agency pickups/player cuts will probably change the outlook for the team’s immediate iteration after the return of Ja Morant, as the 2019 team chose that route when Jae Crowder and Solomon Hill were traded at the trade deadline. The difference will be this team is expected to attempt to make a contending move versus the 2019 team’s stance on rebuilding.

All hope is not lost for the Grizzlies this season, as evidenced by what the 2019 team accomplished (before Covid shut the season down), and the two main guys remaining from that team still have high hopes for this team. After Monday’s loss to the Dallas Mavericks, I asked Jaren Jackson Jr. what he thinks about the 2019 team now and if he uses it to reference as motivation, and his response was, “All the time.” He mentioned that everyone is still learning from each other and syncing up, and when they sync up, they look good, and reinforcements are on the way.

The ultimate reinforcement is Ja Morant, who has been counting down the days until his return to the lineup. Can the 2023 Grizzlies replicate what the 2019 Grizzlies did pre-Covid? I wouldn’t count them out from it.