The Grizzlies are off to a 3-6 start to the season and have already seen Ja Morant suspended for one game for conduct detrimental to the team.
While rumors have started to circulate about teams keeping an eye on the situation, there’s still no indication that Memphis would even consider moving him, reports Jake Fischer of The Stein Line — at least, no indication yet.
“Nobody’s doing seismic, monumental things before 20, 25 games have been played,” an agent told Fischer, who notes that the team is still in the evaluation stage after the massive shake-up to the roster that came this summer when they traded Desmond Bane for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and four first-round picks.
Fischer writes that indications are that leadership wants to see what head coach Tuomas Iisalo can do with the roster when it’s closer to full strength before making any decisions. Brandon Clarke, Zach Edey, Ty Jerome, and Scotty Pippen Jr. have all missed the start of the season.
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While the Morant situation has been the subject of the most scrutiny, Jaren Jackson Jr.*‘s struggles to find his place in the offense have been an important part of the story, writes Damichael Cole for Memphis Commercial Appeal. He finished with just nine points on six shots in Wednesday’s loss to the Rockets, after entering the game averaging the second-lowest field goal attempts since his rookie year. “He got this little trail three he used to get a lot,” said teammate Vince Williams Jr. “He hasn’t been shooting that as much. I think he’s just being over passive, but we need him to score if we want to win, so he’s got to score.”* Iisalo has made it clear that getting Jackson more involved is a priority moving forward, though Cole writes that Morant told Iisalo that the issue also revolves around the team’s ability to spread the defense out. “It’s not enough space*,” Morant said. “We got to make more shots and open up the floor for him.” Jackson, for his part, said that he’s “very confident” that he will return to form soon. “You just got to be aggressive,” Jackson said. “*You just got to be in attack mode.”
One of the few bright spots for Memphis so far this season has been the play of rookie Cedric Coward, who was selected with the No. 11 pick in this year’s draft after Memphis traded two of the picks acquired in the Bane deal — including the 16th overall pick that became Yang Hansen — to get him. Coward is currently third on the team in scoring, rebounding, and steals, and is second in made three pointers. However, it doesn’t appear that a promotion to the starting lineup is in the immediate future. When asked about the idea, Iisalo said, “We think about that with all of our players… A lot of times it doesn’t make sense to have, for example, all of your best on-ball creators in the same lineup,” relays Cole (via Twitter). “*His minutes have been steadily going up because of his overall impact. I think that’s the more important thing than like who is starting and who is not.*“
There are palpable bad vibes surrounding the team, writes Kelly Iko of Yahoo! Sports, and it doesn’t just involve Morant. Iko writes that after years of boasting an energetic, fun-loving style of play, the team is missing the edge and confidence it once wore on its sleeve. Iisalo is aware of the change. ” It’s very hard to build confidence if you’re consistently losing,” he says. “It’s great to be around other guys when you’re winning, and when it’s losing, it tests you and reveals a lot of that character. We’re losing and it’s being tested and there’s only one way out from there.” Iko points to a different style of attack after years of playing in Taylor Jenkins‘ scheme as part of the cause. Morant’s attempts at the rim are down and perimeter shots are up, and the team seems more stagnant at times than it used to. Jackson echoed the sentiment. “The longer you’ve done [something different], it’ll take a little longer than the average person to snap back into something new,” the former Defensive Player of the Year said. “You have to have full belief in it and have to give yourself up for it, full belief that it will work every single time. Otherwise, you’re going to be hesitant. Any little bit of hesitation in professional sports will get you a loss.”