It isn’t often that a team that won 27 games the previous season is expected to be a significant threat the following season, given how hard it is to improve by a large margin in terms of wins and losses in one year.
But that is where the Memphis Grizzlies find themselves as the start of the 2024-25 NBA regular season approaches.
Former NBA player Eddie Johnson said on SiriusXM NBA Radio that the Grizzlies are “going to be a problem” this season because of how good they were two seasons ago, and also because of not only their talent but also their coaching.
“They’re going to be a problem if they’re healthy”@JumpShot8 talks with @TermineRadio about Memphis’ potential this season pic.twitter.com/kGIjNqjbQ3
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) October 9, 2024
The Grizzlies finished second in the Western Conference during the 2022-23 season, and although they lost in the first round of the playoffs, it looked like they were knocking on the door of becoming a championship contender.
But they got derailed last season for a number of reasons.
First, star guard Ja Morant had another gun-related incident off the court that caused the league to suspend him for the first 25 games of the year.
Shortly after he returned, he sustained a shoulder injury that sidelined him the rest of the way, and it was just the first of a string of key injuries.
But Memphis has a strong roster that features Morant, Desmond Bane, Jaren Jackson Jr. and former Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart.
They have proven they can be a very good defensive team, as well as one of the NBA’s best fast-break teams, and thus they will have something to say about how the Western Conference turns out.
