In 2023, as the NBA season is about to be underway, there is no other team that people are more interested in than how the Memphis Grizzlies will fare this season. From the Grizzlies going on an 11-game win streak and clinching the #2 spot in the playoffs to their star player getting suspended and being victim to a first-round exit in last year’s playoffs. The fanbase of Memphis was left in shock after having high hopes of possibly winning the NBA finals to getting knocked out of the playoffs so quickly. Zach Kleiman (general manager for the Grizzlies) made some changes to the starting lineup and added some depth to the bench to try to solve the problems that ended their run last year. 

   The Grizzlies have had to adjust their lineup due to off-court shenanigans. They have had to try to balance out different factors such as star players being suspended and other players getting cut from the roster. One of the major things that came up throughout the 2022 season and again after the season ended was an incident with their star point guard Ja Morant. Morant was caught on a couple of livestreams waving around a firearm with no care about the consequences that would come from this. The first time this incident occurred, there was little to no punishment received. However, when Morant decided to recklessly act again on on this again, the NBA had to step in and crack down on this behavior and put an end to it. NBA commissioner, Adam Silver saw this behavior and issued a 25-game suspension for the start of next season. Ja Morant averaged 26.2 points per game, 8.2 assists, and 6 rebounds per game. A typical NBA season is only 82 games so hearing this news that their star player would be out for a big portion of the year was a big loss for the Grizzlies. 

   This was not the only incident the Grizzlies had to deal with in the 2022 NBA season. One of their other starting players Dillon Brooks played a key role in the Grizzlies’ success throughout the 2022 season, he also was involved in some trouble last year as well. However, this trouble was different from that of Ja Morant. Dillon Brooks found his spark on the court throughout the last games in the regular season averaging 16.7 points while also being a lockdown defended and helping the Grizzlies lock up the #2 seed in the Western Conference. However, when the first round of the NBA playoffs approached and the Grizzlies found themselves up against Lebron and the Los Angeles Lakers something happened to Dillon Brooks’ spark. During game 2 of this series, Dillon Brooks hit a late shot to secure Memphis the win over the Lakers; tying the series 1-1. After he hit this shot he stared Lebron James down and when asked about it later in a press conference he said,” I don’t care, he’s old, I poke bears. I don’t respect no one until they come and give me 40.” After Brooks said this, the Memphis Grizzlies completely fell off the tracks to a good playoff run. Brooks suffered the worst, every time he missed a shot everyone in attendance at Crypto Arena was booing him. Brooks dropped to 10.2 points per game and was only shooting 31% from the field and 23% from behind the 3-point line. These were all significant drops in numbers from the success that Dillon Brooks was having. The Memphis Grizzlies ended up falling to the Lakers in a 4-2 series defeat. The Dillon Brooks story was trending and he became a meme across the internet. This was not a good look for the Grizzlies organization who had high hopes to make a deep run in the playoffs and be early first-round exits. The Grizzlies ended up deciding to cut Dillon Brooks from the team and set free of what happened in the 2022 season. Grizzlies star Desmond Bane was interviewed later about cutting ties with Dillon Brooks and he said, “First and foremost, we’ve all got a bunch of love for Dillon. He’s one of the first guys in, the last guys to leave. I don’t think it’s hard to see what type of competitor he is and what type of effort he lays out on the line every night. “Things like this happen. It’s part of the business,” the Grizzlies star continued.”We all got a bunch of love for Dillon… Things like this happen. It’s part of the business… I wish him the best… I’ll be rooting for him as long as he’s not in the Western Conference.” The Grizzlies believe that Brooks will always be a Grizzly in heart but it is not best for the organization to keep him a part of this team moving forward. 

   With all of these different problems arising, the 2023 season outlook for the Grizzlies has not looked promising. A lot of people would speculate that losing their star player and a very solid role player would cut their chances short of an NBA Finals Championship or even making the 2023 playoffs. Grizzlies fans are looking for someone to take the team over and step up for this team to propel this team into a spot in the 2023 playoffs. The player to take this giant leap for the upcoming season will be none other than Desmond Bane. With players for this organization dropping left and right, Bane will ignite the spark to bring the Grizzlies back to where they are destined to be. Bane was a very solid player for the team through the 2022 season averaging 21.5 points per game 5 rebounds and 4 assists per game. Bane was doing all of this while not even being the 1st option for scoring on the team. Bane should be able to escalate his performance while Ja is out for the first 25 games. When Morant missed games through the 22 season for injuries and other reasons, Desmond Bane has averaged 24.2 points per game and the team holds a solid record of 11-10 without their star player. Most teams’ records would be dropping significantly if one of their starters was out for a big portion of the season but the Grizzlies managed to stay above .500  without their best players being on the court. After the Ja Morant suspension, the Grizzlies needed to make a move to bring in someone who had experience throughout the league and would help fill this role. The Grizzlies executed a 3 team trade that would benefit their organization. The Grizzlies bought in Marcus Smart from the Boston Celtics and the Celtics received Kristaps Porzingus from the Washington Wizards and the Wizards in return got Tyus Jones from the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies benefited greatly from this trade. They were able to get a 29-year-old vet who is a great defender and an excellent playmaker. The Grizzlies are also a very young team so adding someone who is more experienced would help direct this organization in the right direction for the 2023 season.  

   The Grizzlies have had some remarkable seasons to remember but have never gotten to or won an NBA championship. The best season the Grizzlies have had in the playoffs was in the 2012-2013 season. The Grizzlies managed to make it to the Western Conference Finals. Unfortunately, they suffered a quick 4-0 sweep at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs and were unable to secure themselves a spot in the Finals. Throughout recent years, the Grizzlies have managed to make enormous strides toward winning their first NBA finals. In the 2017-2018 season, the Grizzlies went 22-60 and were at the bottom of the league. Over a couple of years, the Grizzlies rebuilt themselves back into contention and in 2022 they finished 51-31. They were able to grab a spot in the playoffs securing second place in the conference. The prior season, the Grizzlies had made it to the playoffs as well and made it to the conference semifinals. The Grizzlies after their big run in the 2012 season have had some shaky seasons but things seem to be looking bright for this young team as they have made the playoffs in each of the last 2 seasons and are looking to keep this streak going through the next seasons to come. The only things that are keeping people uneasy are the team issues with suspensions and having to cut very solid role players. The Grizzlies will try to manage and balance out all of these different obstacles put in their way. Despite all this, I strongly believe that the Grizzlies will be just fine in the 2023 season and will grab another spot in the playoffs and possibly go farther in the playoffs than they have ever gone before. One thing is for certain, the 2023-2024 season for the Memphis Grizzlies will be a very interesting one to see.