Jake Laravia Opened Eyes Through Opportunity

The early part of the 2023-2024 season for the Memphis Grizzlies was hard to endure at times. Despite some impressive stretches of play from Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr., offensive struggles and frequent injuries prevented the Grizzlies from ever finding a stretch of winning basketball. While 2024 would finally bring some positive results from this season, the struggles in 2023 simply were too much to overcome to try and make a playoff push.

Beyond the injuries, another frustrating storyline for many was the continued struggles of the “young wings” for Memphis. Ziaire Williams, David Roddy, and Jake Laravia each had a clear opportunity to become a valuable part of the Grizzlies present and future. However, injuries and ineffective play defined the early season for these players. As a result, it started to become clear that the future for each of these players in Memphis was more unclear than ever.

As a result, changes began to occur. Both Vince Williams Jr. and GG Jackson began to emerge as the wing talents for the Grizzlies to feature for the future. Roddy was eventually traded to the Phoenix Suns. And while Williams had good stretches of production in January and late February, he was lost for the season once the calendar turned to March. As a result, in terms of the players that were looked upon as the “young wings of the future”, a changing of the guard had truly occurred.

However, after playing only 11 games in the first half of the season, Laravia finally returned to full health on 02/23/2024. And though he had mostly struggled on the court in his second season just as he did as a rookie, Laravia began to show positive flashes of play once the season entered March. In just his fourth game back from injury, on 03/01/2024, Laravia scored 21 points, the first 20+ point game of his career. From that point on, as more opportunity came his way, Laravia began to open plenty of eyes to show he had a place in the NBA.

For the season, Laravia averaged 10.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.5 threes, and nearly a steal per game over 35 games. He shot 38.9% from the field, 34% from beyond the arc, and 82.9% from the line for the season. In March of this year, Laravia played nearly as many minutes (411) as he did his entire rookie season (414). However, his scoring production was nearly identical, though he did see marginal improvement in his added value outside of scoring. But, on the surface, the counting numbers from Laravia’s sophomore season do not immediately point to clear improvement from his rookie campaign.

However, the frequency of positive plays that Laravia produced certainly increased as his role expanded. For instance, Larvaia significantly improved his frequency of self-creation in his second NBA season. As a rookie, only 5.4% of Laravia’s shot attempts were unassisted. That number jumped to 28.8% in his second season. This included Laravia creating just over 43% of his two-point shots in 2023-2024 compared to just 15% during his rookie season. Furthermore, Laravia’s eFG% on pull-up shooting attempts jumped from 33.3% as a rookie to 46.7% as a sophomore, and continued to improve as the months of March and April progressed. Yes, his overall accuracy and shot selection still may not be overly impressive, but the improvement in his self-created looks is noteworthy. This is especially true when you consider the reluctance Laravia showed at times as a rookie when it came to simply “letting it fly.”

While it is encouraging that Laravia has become more consistent and confident at getting his own shot, it is only fair to point out that his level of shot accuracy still remains below average. Though Laravia more than doubled his 3PAs per game (2.0 to 4.5), his accuracy in his second season was nearly identical to his first season (34% this year compared to 33.8% last year). However, Laravia did become more consistent toward the end of the season, shooting over 40% from three on over six attempts per game over his final 10 contests. That number likely benefits from the two games where Laravia had seven and eight threes, respectively. The main takeaway from Laravia’s three-point production is that while it did improve with consistent reps, it still remains highly inconsistent.

Diving a bit deeper into his production, there were some aspects of Laravia’s game that evolved in intriguing fashion. For one, the most consistent area of Laravia’s offensive game so far has been his production with corner 3s, where has shot 45% so far in his career (though only on 40 total attempts.) Laravia also increased his FTr (free throw frequency) from .095 as a rookie to .360 as a sophomore. Plus, he hit nearly 83% of his free throws, making him one of the better bets from the line on the Grizzlies roster. By increasing the frequency of self-created shots, improving his accuracy at the rim, and raising the amount of times he gets to the line, Laravia became much more productive with the ball in his hands on drives.

Laravia’s improvement in these specific offensive aspects has made his resourcefulness as an offensive option relevant. Moving forward, there is little chance that Laravia will have as high of a usage or as many shot attempts as he had to end the 2023-2024 season. But in a lower usage role, the ability to hit corner 3s along with being productive on drives can allow for Laravia to effectively compliment the Grizzlies’ best players. Plus, Laravia nearly doubled his assist rate while lowering his turnover rate as a sophomore compared to his rookie season. This indicates Laravia can make good decisions when passing, and if a scoring opportunity is not open for him, he can extend the play with the right pass for a better shot.

Outside of scoring, Laravia showed some encouraging flashes at times, though nothing clearly stands out as a true area of strength. He showed decent production as both a rebounder and defensive playmaker, as well as a capable passer. In fact, per cleaning the glass, lineups that featured Laravia were in the 80th percentile or better in offensive rebounding, generating free throws, and creating turnovers (compared to all NBA lineups.) However, his lack of athleticism did expose him at times as a defensive weakness. Over time, Laravia should improve his defensive IQ and approach to where he can hold his own in a team defensive scheme for short spurts. However, his lack of overall quickness and athleticism may prevent him from ever being more than a neutral defender who could become a liability over long stretches.

The improvement of Laravia should be kept in context, as it happened more in flashes instead of an overall leap across the board. Furthermore, while Laravia did show noticeable improvement in terms of more productive shot attempts and offensive resourcefulness, the actual scoring results remained below average. Along with average metrics outside of scoring and bouts of defensive struggles, Laravia likley still has a way to go before he can be a reliable part of a competitive team’s rotation.

But for a player at Laravia’s age experiencing his first stretch of reliable minutes, overall struggles are expected. That is why it is also important to note how Laravia compared to his peers. And from that perspective, eyes may open a bit more. Among NBA rookies and sophomores from March 1st through the end of the 2023-2024 season, Laravia was Top 10 in points, threes made, free throws made, offensive rebounds, and steals. Though these numbers are more the result of quantity of reps than quality of performance, the fact that Laravia was able to stand out in many ways across the board is impressive.

And as for the quality of his play, it should be noted that some of Laravia’s best production occurred when he was facing some of the best competition. In 2023-2024, across 14 games against teams with a winning percentage under 55%, Laravia shot 32.8% from the field, shot 22% from three, and produced a .473 true shooting percentage. However, across 21 games against teams with a winning percentage of 55% or better, Laravia shot 43.3% from the field, shot 41.7% from three, and produced a 58.8% true shooting percentage. In other words, the better competition the Grizzlies faced, the better the quality of Laravia’s play.

There is no better example of this than through the fact Laravia could not have ended his season in better fashion. His final three games occurred against the Cavaliers, Lakers, and Nuggets, all current playoff teams who still had something to play for at the time they faced Memphis. In those three games, Laravia averaged just under 30 points, shooting 54.9% from the field, 56.5% from three (on eight attempts a game), and produced a 74.4% true shooting percentage. In other words, Laravia literally produced the best stretch of play in his career during one of the toughest stretches of the season for the Grizzles.

Overall, the positive production at the end of season for Jake Larvaia likely benefited from a much bigger role than he will have moving forward and playing through a stretch where not all teams were competitive. However, as Laravia continued to get consistent reps, his play clearly improved. Furthermore, he got better as the competition he faced got tougher, and he showed an ability to “fill it up” as a shooter and scorer that all not all players his age possess. While Laravia may not be a regular member of the Grizzlies’ rotation next season, his play did show he was more than capable to contribute when needed.

And that highlights the biggest question moving forward about where Laravia fits with the Grizzlies in the future. Plenty of reports suggested Memphis was shopping Laravia, among others, at the trade deadline, so the potential could exist that Laravia could be a potential trade chip this summer. There also is the fact that even if Laravia remains on the roster, his role will likely not be consistent, which he had obvious struggles with before March. Most importantly, there is also the question of whether Laravia can remain healthy through a good portion of the season.

But while plenty of questions rightfully remain about Laravia’s future with the Grizzlies, his play this season also quieted many doubters. Laravia can add value in multiple ways, many of which could be beneficial to Memphis. And even if at full health Laravia may be “out of the rotation”, with the Grizzlies in a constant state of flux when it comes to health, Laravia would likely get plenty of minutes in time. Furthermore, Laravia’s play may also have been a good motivation to pick up the fourth year option on his rookie deal. The main point is, even if he is the 11th or 12th man on the roster for the Grizzlies next season, Memphis should have confidence Laravia can add positive value when he is given minutes.

After his play this season, many of the eyes that Jake Laravia opened have a good chance to see continued improvement and confidence from a player who now knows he not only belongs in the NBA, but can thrive in it.