The Memphis Grizzlies made a stop in the World’s Most Famous Arena on Tuesday night to face off against the New York Knicks and were soundly defeated 133-120.
This was the first game of a four-game road trip, and the team’s second consecutive loss, coming after they fell to the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder two days prior.
Let’s get into it — not about one game, but about the pattern that is emerging.
Turnovers plague the offense, and there is no world in which a team gives up 33 points off turnovers and wins on the regular; there is no world where that team is successful. We saw it last season, and this season is shaping up to be more of the same.
There is no nice way to say this: This team looks bad.
And who the fault lies with for that is not something that can be efficiently litigated, nor can it be easily remedied. Outside of any ongoing personnel issues, the Grizzlies have four players on the injured list, three with unknown return timelines.
This team hasn’t had a consistently healthy front court in two seasons, and their most important offseason acquisition, shooting guard Ty Jerome, is still weeks away from returning to the court.
Zach Edey, our presumed starting center, is supposed to be close to returning, but backup big man Brandon Clarke is still at least six to nine weeks away from a return, according to a recent update from the Grizzlies’ medical staff.
Meanwhile, the big offseason move that sent guard Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic in exchange for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, four first-round draft picks, (including the 16th pick in the 2025 draft, which the Grizzlies traded up to the Portland Trailblazers along with a 2028 1st round pick and two second round picks, to acquire Washington State guard Cedric Coward with the 11th overall pick) and Cole Anthony, does not appear to be paying dividends so far.
No shade to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, a 12-year NBA veteran, but he can’t replace offensively what the Grizzlies got from Desmond Bane. And while Bane is currently working through a three-point shooting slump, he’s still averaging 14.9 points per game, compared to Caldwell-Pope’s 8.8 points per game this season.
The Grizzlies are struggling from beyond the arc, currently ranked 21st in the league, averaging 34.1% from three-point range. They got rid of Bane and Luke Kennard — their two best three-point shooters — and now the player (Ja Morant) leading the team in three-point attempts is currently shooting an abysmal 16.7% from beyond the arc. This is not sustainable for a team that wants to do more than hang out at the bottom of the standings.
I don’t want to pile on an already undesirable situation, but at some point, some hard questions need answers. What (and who) the future of this team looks like remains to be seen, and while that remains in question, so too does the future for this Memphis Grizzlies team.
Who Got Next?
The Grizzlies are back at it again tonight against the Boston Celtics. Tip-off is at 6:30 CST.
