Memphis Grizzlies 2023-24 Predicted Finish, Key Acquisitions & Fantasy Stars

The absence of All-Star point guard Ja Morant – who the league hit with a 25-game suspension due to repeated firearm offences – will loom over the Grizzlies until almost Christmas. The arrival of former Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart coupled with Steven Adams’ return from a PCL injury that ended his season in late-January, however, will play a role in bolstering the team as they look to right the wrongs of their first round playoff exit at the hands of the Lakers. In these previews, we will take a look at each team’s key acquisitions, fantasy stars, and projected finish.

Key Acquisitions

Memphis’ biggest swing over the offseason came in the form of a three-team trade that landed them Marcus Smart in exchange for Tyus Jones and some draft capital.

The 29-year-old is fresh off a season in which he started in 61 games for the Celtics averaging 11.5 ppg and 6.3 apg on 53.8 TS% with those scoring numbers leaping up to 14.9 ppg on 59.2 TS% in 20 playoff starts.

Named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year the season prior, Smart had spent all eight seasons of his career with the Celtics having made the playoffs in all eight seasons.

He will slot straight into the starting five for head coach Taylor Jenkins and offer dogged intensity on the defensive end as well as a useful secondary – or, at times, primary – initiating option.

Long regarded as the Celtics’ emotional leader, Smart’s tenacity and postseason experience should prove crucial to a Grizzlies squad coming off a season in which their league-wide approval rating plummeted in the wake of on-court theatrics and off-court mishaps.

They also moved on from polarising swingman Dillon Brooks, added former MVP Derrick Rose on a two-year, $6.6 million deal, and drafted South Carolina’s G.G. Jackson in the second round.

Fantasy Stars

With Morant spending close to the first third of the season sidelined, expect the likes of Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane to enjoy an increased role offensively.

Jackson Jr. (21st overall, 6th PF/6th C) is fresh off a maiden All-Star and Defensive Player of the Year nod in a season in which he put up 18.6 ppg, 6.8 rpg, and a league-leading 3.0 bpg on 61.3 TS%.

Bane averaged 21.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg, and 4.4 apg shooting 40.8 per cent on 7.0 threes nightly in 58 starts.

Jackson Jr. averaged 21.7 ppg and 7.0 rpg in the 16 games he played last season without Morant whilst Bane put up 22.0 ppg and 5.0 apg in the same games.

Many will avoid Morant in fantasy drafts this year but there is no doubting the 24-year-old’s talent when he is on the floor – he has averaged 26.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg, and 7.4 apg over the past two seasons.

Projected Finish

The Grizzlies have finished with the West’s two-seed in both of the past two seasons and come back this season with another strong group but also with a frustrating Morant question hanging over their heads.

They have, however, managed a 31-15 record in the games that Morant has missed over the past two seasons – a phenomenal mark and one that should fill them with confidence heading into the new season.

In both seasons, they finished with a top four defence and, with the league’s two most recent Defensive Player of the Year awardees at the helm, project to again enjoy success on that end of the floor.

The West has improved but the Grizzlies will still expect to contend for homecourt advantage come the first round of the playoffs.

Having won just eight of their 18 playoff games over the past two years, they will be desperate to prove that they have turned a new leaf come April and go toe-to-toe with the conference’s heavyweights.

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