What shocked the NBA world was not so much that coach Taylor Jenkins was fired in Memphis — things had been trending that way since last summer when Jenkins was forced to fire his assistants and replace his entire staff — but the timing. The Grizzlies are 44-29, tied for a top-four seed in the West, and have just nine games remaining in the season.
The reaction around the league was primarily “why now?” Also, “How is this making the team better heading into the playoffs?” While the Grizzlies are 8-11 since the All-Star break and have been middle-of-the-pack on offense and defense in that time, is a coaching change just before the playoffs the answer?
All of that leads to the next question: Where do the Grizzlies go from here?
There’s no clear answer to that question. Let’s break it down.
• For its next head coach, Memphis is going to look for its Kenny Atkinson — a head coach who can come in, change the system, empower the right players, and turn a good team (the Cavaliers had been the No. 4 seed two years running) into a contender.
Good luck with that. Cleveland made the leap this season partly because of changes to its offense (more Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, more motion). Memphis already changed its offense this season at the request of the front office, moving away from one heavily reliant on pick-and-rolls to more of a motion offense. Tuomas Iisalo, the interim coach for the remainder of this season, was one of the coaches brought in to lead this new offense (it is similar to what he had run and been successful with in Europe).
• Ja Morant has been frustrated with changes in the offense, a league source told NBC Sports.
That was illustrated well by this quote from a story in The Athletic by Sam Amick, Fred Katz, and Joe Vardon. They talked about Morant’s frustration with an offense taking the ball out of his hands.
One league source who has seen Morant work out with the Grizzlies recently said, “Some days he looks like he’s ready to play, and some days he looks like he doesn’t want to be there … because he hates the offense.”
• Morant also understood these changes came from executive vice president of basketball operations Zach Kleiman and the front office, through the new assistant coaches. With that, Morant had Jenkins back, even though he argued with him at points about the offense, the Athletic reports.
• Morant is the face of the Grizzlies, an electric and popular All-Star and All-NBA player, but one who has battled injuries throughout his career (plus had multiple suspensions). Morant has played in just 43 games this season (including missing the last six) but when he does he’s averaging 22.3 points and 7.4 assists a game.
Morant is in the second year of a five-year, $197 million max contract. He has three years, $126.5 million remaining on that deal after this season.
• Morant also is most comfortable in the pick-and-roll, which is why it seemed drafting 7’4″ Zach Edey was a good fit — a big pick setter who can be a threat rolling to the rim. Memphis’ front office has shown that is not the direction it wants the offense to go.
• All this leads to a natural question: Could the Grizzlies trade Morant this offseason? Don’t bet on it, for a couple of reasons. Plus, Kleiman shot this idea down around the trade deadline. From The Athletic.
“I can’t blame other ‘executives’ for fantasizing about us trading Ja,” Kleiman said at the time. “But it’s just that — fantasy. We are not trading Ja… I’m not going to give this nonsense further oxygen and look forward to getting back to basketball.”
At least two league executives, however, questioned the demand for Morant in the trade market.
There would be interest in Morant, but it might not be that robust He’s an expensive point guard with a lengthy injury history who is locked in for north of $40 million a season for three more years and needs the ball in his hands (running a lot of pick-and-roll) to be effective — Morant is not exactly plug-and-play. Morant’s athleticism and ability to get into the paint are unquestioned, but he doesn’t fit everywhere.
• Which leads us back to the coaching search coming this offseason. Kleiman is a smart basketball mind, but he has now played the “fired the coach” card, and if the roster continues to struggle, the issue may not be the coach.
There is unquestionably talent on this roster with Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., Desmond Bane, promising young players such as Jaylen Wells (one of the leading candidates for Rookie of the Year), Zach Edey and Scottie Pippen Jr. Whether all that talent fits together — and whether there is an Atkinson-esqe coach who can make that happen — are the big questons.
Ones that will be answered this offseason.
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