Game Preview: Grizzlies vs Bulls (1/20/2024)

When: Saturday, January 20th, 7:00 PM CST

Where: United Center, Chicago, IL

How to Watch/Stream: Bally Sports Southeast

In accordance with typical Memphis Grizzlies’ emotional regulations, this team has managed to hook me in and make me believe when all rational thought would have me believe the opposite. Of course, there are several scraps of information that have added kindling to my fire of hope, but those will be expanded upon later.

Ironically, this stretch of basketball has made me as proud to be a fan of this team as I have felt this season. With no Ja, no Smart, and no Bane (and others, of course), this team would have every excuse to tank out the rest of the season shamelessly, and while this roster may be depleted enough to where it isn’t a problem, this team is certainly leaving it all out there and then some. 

Thursday’s game against the Timberwolves was a perfect example of the message above. They were under-manned and under-gunned, but no one told this team that. Through three quarters, the Grizzlies led the Timberwolves by five in Minnesota and were playing some fantastic basketball. Naturally, the injury-depleted rotation ran out of gas in the fourth, but we fans still managed to walk away with this JJJ poster.

Before watching JJJ posterize that French fraud, the snowed-in city of Memphis got to enjoy the spoiling of Draymond’s return to basketball. After Draymond “broke the code” (as some would call it), he proceeded to get cooked by Memphis’s newest pair of competent wings, GG and Vince. All of this is to say, while this season has been a bit short on actual victories, there have been plenty of moral victories to rest our hats on.

As for the Bulls, Billy Donovan’s team was written off and left for dead, especially when you consider the fact that Zach Lavine was in just about every fake trade a week or so ago. However, the team managed to weather the storm and hold on to the asset, with Lavine possibly making his full return against the Grizzlies. A similar story could be told for the team’s persistence in retaining Alex Caruso, but both efforts look to have paid off, as the team has won five of its last seven games.

Despite their recent improvement in the win-loss column, the Bulls still find themselves just one spot above the Grizzlies in Net Rating at -2.1 per 100 possessions, a mark good enough for 24th in the league. To be fair to Chicago, the gap between them and the Grizzlies is as far as the gap between the 13th best Net Rating and the Bulls. Regardless, statistics can be misleading, especially when considering Lavine’s extended absence, so let’s get into some of the swing factors in this matchup.

Coby White Renaissance

There was a time and place in which I believed that Coby White was destined to be an NBA star. Watching his patented hairstyle bounce symmetrically with the ball as he’d race up the court at insane speeds was entertainment enough, but there was a sense that White operated with a greater sense of pace and awareness that many guards his age simply didn’t have. Combine that with the affinity that I had (and always will have) for the UNC blue, and I was hooked.

Of course, it was only a short while after that when White was drafted to the Bulls, and he was largely an NBA afterthought then. Not to say he was bad, but he wasn’t doing anything extraordinary to garner any additional attention outside Chicago. This is often what happens to collegiate stars as they face greater competition in the league.

Still, every time I watched him play, I thought “That man is TOUGH.” I was convinced he could and would “make it” in some capacity in the league. For every player, “making it” looks different, and it can take extraneous circumstances for it to happen. For Coby White, all it took was Lavine to be out.

As the stats above suggest, Coby White is having a wonderful bounceback season for the Bulls, but I think this more so speaks to the fine margins that are in play when it comes to the highest level of professional sports. In White’s case, he’ll likely get paid from this stretch, but it took a few years and random coincidences for him to even get this opportunity. White likely isn’t able to showcase his talent if Lavine never goes down, so it got me wondering: how many of these guys are out there?

The answer is likely undefinable, but in White’s case, it’s likely that the team has bought into his recent production. While it’s likely never as simple as Player A vs Player B, it does seem as though White’s resurgence has played a role in Chicago’s insistence on dealing Lavine, despite the team potentially having to add assets on top of him.

Diamonds in the Rough

The moment that Ja Morant was ruled out for the rest of the season, the season’s primary focus shifted from competing for an NBA Title to determining which of these remaining pieces help us compete for a title in the future. While I could have done with the overkill amount of other injuries that have since followed Ja’s season ending surgery, each additional one plays a necessary role in forcing some clarity on the future of several Grizzlies.

When several of a team’s best players get hurt, expectations obviously change, but what also changes is the pecking order and on-ball responsibility of the remaining roster. When a team relies on a star the way Memphis relies on Ja, then the hole that he leaves cannot be overstated. In this vacuum, it takes several players to step up, and in doing so, you can see sort of a “trial by fire” effect.

In a sense, the Front Office needs to treat this injury-riddled season as a pop quiz for the pieces around Morant. Through that lens, it’s clear to see that Bane and JJJ pass the test with flying colors, with both stars adding to their game and continuing to improve. Marcus Smart showed some of the intangible qualities and scoring prowess that had the Grizzlies desperate to trade for him (although he isn’t untouchable). Clarke and Adams, two assumed long-term pieces, are hard to grade given their absence, but Adams may have gotten injured on too many times to be relied upon in the future,

Heading into the season, you’d highlight those players and maybe Luke Kennard as pieces of the Grizzlies core heading forward, but thanks to the season from hell, several players have been forced into the Grizzlies plans. Vince Williams is the one who immediately springs into mind. For years, Vince was just sitting in Southaven while the Grizzlies desperately cried out for a wing, and when he was given the chance, he delivered and then some. 

GG Jackson has been the latest surprise, and he looks better than any of the other wings, bar Vince. While he’s still just 19, there are going to be some really ugly nights, but that’s the beauty of this season: it’s all about development now. GG can go out and get the touches he needs to be a rotation piece next year BECAUSE of the injuries. If this were business as usual, GG would have never seen the floor. Meanwhile, Santi has been impressive at times, looking better than the season prior. I would still prefer to keep him, but he’s not off the table in trade talks whatsoever. 

For the most part, the rest of the roster has failed the pop quiz. Ziaire, Roddy, and LaRavia haven’t moved the needle for this team and haven’t really improved at all. Konchar and X are still decent regular season pieces but likely get cooked in a playoff setting. 

All of that is fine and to be expected. If anything, there is clarity that comes from this season that wouldn’t have been granted otherwise. It’s possible that the team found two decent wings (Vince and GG) in this broken season, and more importantly, the FO has likely seen all it needs from Ziaire, Roddy, and LaRavia. While the result is still frustrating, there have been plenty of positives to take from it nonetheless.