Post-Mortem: 2021-22 Memphis Grizzlies

[ElectricMayhem]

Memphis loses in six to the Golden State Warriors. We shall now cut them open and see what's inside...

Here is the data from last year's Post-Mortems:
Post-Mortem Results I: GM Confidence Meter
Post-Mortem Results II: Coaching Confidence Meter
Post-Mortem Results III: Performance Compared to Expectations
Post-Mortem Results IV: Rising/Treadmill/Waning

Team Name: Memphis Grizzlies
Record at Time of Death: 56-26 (.683)
GM: Zachary Kleiman (2019-)
Coach: Taylor Jenkins (2019-)

Offensive Rating: 4th
Defensive Rating: 6th
Rebound %: 1st
Turnover %: 8th

GM: Change or keep?
Coach: Change or keep?
Relative to expectations, how did they fare this year?
Rising, falling, or treadmill?
If you were in charge, what would you do this offseason?

Notes:
Players under contract next year:
Jaren Jackson Jr. ($23m)
Steven Adams ($18m)
Ja Morant ($12m)
Dillon Brooks ($11m)
De'Anthony Melton ($9m)
Ziare Williams ($5m)
Brandon Clarke ($4m)
Jon Konchar ($2m)
Desmond Bane ($2m)
Santi Aldama ($2m)
Killian Tillie ($2m)
Xavier Tillman Sr. ($2m)

Team Options:
Jarrett Culver ($8m)

Player Options:

Free Agents:
Kyle Anderson
Tyus Jones
Sam Merrill
Yves Pons
Tyrell Terry

Dead Money:

Previous Post-Mortems:
30. Orlando Magic
29. Detroit Pistons
28. Houston Rockets
27. Indiana Pacers
26. Oklahoma City Thunder
25. Washington Wizards
24. New York Knicks
23. Portland Trailblazers
22. Sacramento Kings
21. Los Angeles Lakers
20. Charlotte Hornets
19. San Antonio Spurs
18. Cleveland Cavaliers
17. Los Angeles Clippers
16. Brooklyn Nets
15. Atlanta Hawks
14. Chicago Bulls
13. Denver Nuggets
12. Toronto Raptors
11. New Orleans Pelicans
10. Utah Jazz
9. Minnesota Timberwolves
8. Philadelphia 76ers
7. Memphis Grizzlies

[MindState]

This Grizzlies team is the best team in the NBA without Morant.

They have 3 point snipers at every single position and elite defenders up and down the roster. Its just crazy how good they are. Warriors could not play anywhere near their style of play due to the Grizzlies, and the Grizz held Klay, Steph, and Wiggins all to SUB 30% SHOOTING FROM 3 FOR THE SERIES.

[moss_is_1]

Big decisions on bringing back slomo and tyus.

[Bruin]

Keeping Tyus is gonna be difficult. He’s gonna get paid

[ElectricMayhem]

Memphis is exciting, they're really good, they're deep, they're young. They might have to make decisions when more people start needing to get paid but they should be one of the top teams next year. Tyus Jones and Slo-Mo have been important cogs in the team. It will be interesting to see if they pay to retain both or if they are comfortable with what they've got. They seem to be a team built on camaraderie so keeping the gang together might be important.

I think they have one of the best front offices and one of the best coaches in the league. I root for small markets to hold onto their talent so hopefully they don't get lured away.

Ja Morant is a brilliant player. The Grizzlies are a better team without him. I think both of these things are true but you've got to keep Ja and see if he can step up as a ball-mover and defender. If he can do those things and then just pick his spots and step up when need be, this is a championship contending team next year.

[mihail_petkov]

An underrated fact why Grizzlies are so good without Ja is because he has been really awful defensively. He is Trae Young and Jordan Poole level bad and it's not a surprise that won one game and were close in the other two after he got hurt. If he can improve on defense and start playing effectively off the ball, they have a bright future. Until then teams will attack him effectively all the time like Wolves and Warriors did.

The second problem is Brooks. He is a really bad player offensively who think he is 2nd option on offense. They need to demote him to 4th option at best.

[GeorgeSears]

They're a great young team. The issue is that they're going to be one the clock to win in the next couple of years while all these guys are on rookie deals and upcoming extensions. They're going to have to pay Brooks, JJJ, Ja, Bane, perhaps Tyus, and Clarke too. The good news is that they have a rich owner who's probably not afraid to go into the luxury tax

[Doctor MJ]

Finally a team it's easy to be just super enthusiastic about.

Of course, there are still questions that need answering.

Right now, the Ja + Team equation really isn't adding up to what it needs to. Have to figure that out.

Second, can you really tolerate Dillon Brooks on this team now that Bane has emerged? To me if this team becomes something special, you have to expect to be based on a Ja/Bane/JJJ core where the only reason you'd ever want Brooks to play like he likes to play on offense is if someone's injured. Nice to have insurance in theory, but you run a risk of an explosive personality turning rancid if you do that.

Third, what can JJJ figure out? Staggering talent, still so problematic.

[bdoody42]

The Grizz need to put four really good defenses around Ja at all times if they went to win with him.

Tyus will get a big paid day from another team.
SloMo should only be brought back if the deal is cheap.

They need a good small ball four to put out there at times. I feel like that is something they could use 14-18 mins a night potentially. Like a Jeff Green style but younger.

[Ursusamericanus]

Rising team with a bright future. Ja has the tools to be a sound defender, and being so young, I think he'll make it work.

[BAMAFREAK]

Bookmarked for toMo.
But in short, great season, blinding bright future, need to consolidate. We have some bullets to fire this off-season and we should.

[DroseReturnChi]

both their stars ja and jjj are questionable similar to embiid, ben. need to get rid of one.

[Warriorfan]

Promising future need to trade depth for a another starm

[MrGoat]

This should be one of the most boring of these. So little to complain about with the Grizzlies despite being eliminated. There's that silly better without Ja narrative but they didn't have Ja when they got eliminated

[a8bil]

I think it is really hard to judge Memphis fairly right now. What they showed was an ability to be a very dominant defense, but in so doing they became far less dynamic offensively. Ja going to down is an obvious explanation, but Bane being injured was a big factor too. My view is that they need a really good 2-way player to make the next step. Can Williams be that guy? Not sure. But boy are they a threat.

[whatisacenter]

tip of the cap to the Grizz. they are a tough team that believes in themselves and they have star talent to finish games. I don't think they need to make any drastic moves and just need to continue to grow together. they are close!

[timO]

Keeping Tyus is gonna be difficult. He’s gonna get paid

Dude is a backup PG, MLE at best.

None serious team is giving him starter money.

[bobobolas10]

in 2021 we squeezed into playoffs, via play-in after beating the spurs and the GSW only to be terminated by the 1st seed. However, we got some great playoff experience and even, steal one game in Utah.

This year, we got the 2nd best record in the NBA against all odds.

In my opinion we should not make a lot of changes. I really like Adams and for sure, we got better because of him, but whats the point if you are gonna bench him when it matters the most? he played like 3 minutes against the wolves. Dude is making 17M, If you ask me, id rather keep Tyus and SlowMO with that money. Specially Tyus, since JA is gonna miss many games unless he stops bumping his buddy against guys 200lbs heavier than him.

[The Rainmaker]

Keeping Tyus is gonna be difficult. He’s gonna get paid

Dude is a backup PG, MLE at best.

None serious team is giving him starter money.

Agreed.

Tyus' strength is he doesn't turn the ball over, and is good at running a team. He doesn't excel at being a scorer or defense.

Games 1,2,3, and 6 of that Warriors series where he combined went 4 for 28 from the field may have lost Tyus some money.

[AussieCeltic]

I just want to say thanks to ElectricMayhem for doing all these threads. Takes a lot of time and effort.