Speaker 1: What is up?
Speaker 2: Fellasiko's I'm Damn Valley coming at you with my co
host Grant Hughes, and we're on to another twenty twenty
five twenty twenty six NBA season look ahead. The Memphis
Grizzlies are up, which means we have the distinct pleasure
of being of talking to excuse me, Keith Parrish. He
hosts the Grits and Grinds podcast. It's a Memphis Grizzlies podcast.
It's its own thing. He does a fantastic job over there.
He's also the host of the world renowned Fast Break
Breakfast podcast. Follow him on the Socials at Fast Break
break spelled exactly as it sounds. Keith, You're back for
another year of being harassed by Grant and myself.
Speaker 1: How are you doing.
Speaker 3: I'm doing great.
Speaker 4: I am always happy to talk about the Grizzlies with
you guys.
Speaker 3: It's a fun summer tradition.
Speaker 1: Grant, we don't really care. But how are you doing?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 5: I'm just happy to be here, Dan, thank thanks for
having me on the pod.
Speaker 1: So I think we need to start here, Keith.
Speaker 2: What we don't need to rehash every off season move,
But what do you just make of all they did
this offseason, because it seems like they're sending a few.
Speaker 1: Mixed messages with some of the moves that they've made.
Speaker 4: It's a hard question to answer because when I talk
about the Grizzlies, which I do constantly on my Grizzlies podcast,
I come from it with the perspective of someone who's
been a Grizzlies fan for twenty five years, and also like,
at the very least, I've watched the last five years,
and I remember the enthusiasm of the last five years.
And when people are like, man, the Desert Bande trade
was great, we got all these picks, like we can
go draft people, I'm like, am I supposed to be
more excited than I was when the entire NBA thought
we were like the one franchise you wanted to take over,
when we were like number one in ESPN's Future Power Pole,
when the Grizzlies were talked about as a contender, Like,
am I I'm supposed to be more excited now because like,
the Grizzlies have not won a playoff series in a while,
and to come from the fifty six win twenty one
twenty two season where you give the Warriors essentially all
they can handle in the second round. And oh, by
the way, going into that offseason, they had the same
number of extra future picks as they have right now.
Speaker 3: So now people are like, oh, we got we got
a couple of picks.
Speaker 4: I'm like, guys, we were a contender to the on
the Waterfront. But now it's like, so, like, I'm supposed
to be excited, And unfortunately this bleeds over in my
podcast performance. The listeners won from their highly localized team shows.
They basically want enthusiasm, and so it's like, maybe I'm
too old to do this now, Like how am I
supposed to be as I was four years ago or
three years ago? Where it's like, oh yeah, no one's
picking the Grizzlies to be like a clear cut playoff team.
Speaker 3: The Grizzlies title odds, which of course do not matter.
Speaker 4: The title odds are basically the same as they were
in Jamarant's second year, and it's like, what, we're one
hundred and fifty to one to win the title.
Speaker 3: It's like.
Speaker 4: A couple of first round pickstel made me that excited
in the future, because like, I saw what we do
with the last ones, and so now it's like, I
don't know, but you say it's mixed. But so like
here's what, here's the excitement level. I think the front
office would would sell you one, like, like I understand
the vision to a degree. They're like, Okay, we can't
win the title the way we were going Like that,
that's their contention. I think most people agree with that.
As a Grizzlies podcaster who lives in his own psychosis
and the psychosists of Grizzlies fans, I'm like all of
us thought we were contenders two years ago, you know,
like what changed, Like Okay, John Ran got hurt a lot,
and like, is that what we're saying. But like, it
wasn't that long ago where it's like, oh, Jaren and
Desmond and Jaren together or.
Speaker 3: Jar Jar and John Desmond Bine together.
Speaker 4: That was a team that always finished second in the West,
and it's like they just got a couple more pieces
they could contend and so yeah, but I think they're
saying a better way to compete. If this group wasn't
good enough, now you you get this massive offer from
the Magic So now you just take picks and hopefully
the picks work out. It's given you a different avenue
to raise your ceiling overall as a team. Did you
guys do you guys talk on the podcast or do
you want them to keep going?
Speaker 3: How much I how much time do we have I
could listen to you?
Speaker 5: I have like fourteen thoughts. It's the latest one that
you you sparked was a question of of like do
you if we are if I think we're in a girl,
I think I would agree with you that the decision
to trade Bain is at least the front office saying
not good enough? And maybe maybe it's not two different things.
But if you had to parse the justification for that,
is it, we aren't good enough because the finances are
gonna get too tricky with three guys making this much
and Bain making this much, we need flexibility to fill
out a roster good enough supporting cast. Or is it
these three guys together are not good enough on the
floor for us to be a you know what I mean?
Like you can't really separate the finance from the on
court stuff, but like, do you have do you have
an opinion on which side of that is the bigger
part of the justification for how the front office operated
with Baine specifically in that trade.
Speaker 4: I think in this league that we all enjoy and
cover finances are such a huge part of it, which
feels slightly.
Speaker 3: Ridiculous to me as a consumer.
Speaker 4: Where it's like in a world where the Celtics are
tearing down and they would have probably torn down maybe
even if Jason Tatum didn't get injured, in a world
where like the good teams are being like, man, we
gotta cut costs, I think, yeah, I think that's a
big part of it. I think you look at the
Grizzlies quote unquote Big three when it was John Morant
and desmon Band and Jaron Jackson Junior once upon a time,
then the four through nine guys, it was like Dylan
Brooks and Steven Adams and Kyle Anderson and Tyas Jones
and like everybody was good. It was similar to what
the Pacers just did this last year in the postseason,
where it's like, oh they're one through nine, everybody can hoop.
Speaker 3: And we've heard a lot about the no weak link
theory going on. Now. The Grizzlies were on that a
couple of years ago. They're no longer on that.
Speaker 4: So I do think grant, yes, there is a financial
component to this, where if Desmond Bane was making twenty
million per year as opposed to thirty five, they'd say,
all right, yes, of course we can keep them. I
think the difficulty, I think from my particular vantage point
as a fan, was like, well, you still could have
built around these guys. Again you look at I'd look
at the pacers again, where it's like if you get
a nim Hard on a decent contract in nar Nissmith
on a decent contract, you know, TJ McConnell, Obi Topp,
and if you still sign those supporters as opposed to
missing on a couple of moves or having a lot
bunch of young guys not ready to contribute, you can
still compete. So I think in the current landscape that
every team seems to be dealing with that every front
office has accepted, hey, these are the rules. Now we
essentially have a hard cap, and I'm assuming ownership's like great,
love it, you know. So like in this landscape, the
Grissies are saying, our best way to compete in a
world where we're not going to pay luxury tax and
we're certainly never going to be like our first inprint
or second effort team, Our best way to compete is
to cash out Desmond Bane. I mean, arguably they got
a bigger return for him than they could have gotten
in like a fanciful Jah Morant trade, Like name a
franchise is going to trade four first round picks, you know,
John Morant. Like, so they said, listen this with this return,
this cash out, this helps us pivot better into building
a sender using a different path. And it I think
it's all related for every NBA team Now it's because
of the finances to some degree.
Speaker 2: The other way I kind of looked at what they
did over the off season was they decided to keep
Jaron Jackson Junior over Desmond Bane. And I wonder when
you get into the finances of it all, that's it
becomes a triggy situation. But can you also read it
as they trust that what we've seen from Jaron Jackson
Junior on offense, specifically the past couple seasons, that he
can scale up to basically a number two Because if
it's not him on this roster as your number two
offensive guy when everyone's healthy, I don't necessarily know who
it is. Are you just banking on that to be
like I don't know Ty Jerome at this point, So
what are what's kind of your read on that, And
how do you feel about Jaron Jackson Junior as like
your second option now moving forward?
Speaker 4: Well, I think Jaren has always been He's always been
the second option. I mean, he's always in a more
I would consider a more dependable go to guy than
Desimbane Deessnibbane's not really a ball in his hand. Creator
he needn't get the defense off balance. Then you know,
does the blowby for the layup or he does the
pump fake relocate for the three pointer. So I've always
been comfortable with Jaren as far as like them picking
Jaren over Bain, I mean a couple of things. One,
I think that's a no brainer if you have to
pick one. Also, there's the financial element. Jaren's on his
last deal. You couldn't trade them because the team acquiring
them would then I think he would have to go
into unrestricted free agency. So it's like it's all like
they could do the renegotiate and extend this offseason to
keep him from going into under free agency. So like
they actually wouldn't have gotten I don't think the same
return despite Jaren being viewed as a better player league wide,
I think by every front office, like that was a
part of it.
Speaker 3: But I don't think they wanted to.
Speaker 4: I think they still they still want to compete, They
still want to put a good product on the court.
They want to make the playoffs and keep Jaron of
course a huge priority for that. When the Bane trade,
I think came to them, and again I don't I
haven't seen any reporting. I don't think they were necessarily
shopping Baine. I just think they became willing to listen,
and the Magic are like, oh, we want to we
want to contend, we want to play, we want to
win a playoff series.
Speaker 3: You know. Like that's yeah, yeah, it sucks that.
Speaker 5: It sucks that, Like from a fans perspective, we just
traded Desmond Bane. I like Desmond Bane. He's a good player.
And then the justification is, well, you just can't say
no because there's multiple first round assets in the trade,
Like you just have you just have to do that.
And that just touches on what we've been talking about
with the financial realities creep in. Yeah, it's so weird
because like you're not wrong, if you're if you're a
basketball analyst, and you're like, that's a home run trade
for the Grizzlies because of all you've got.
Speaker 3: You're not wrong. I hear your argument.
Speaker 4: If you're a Grizzlies fan, Oh yeah, and you're saying
that's a great return. I'm also I'm not going to
argue with you, although we have I do like to
combine everything that happened on Draft Night because it's no
longer they traded Bane for four first round picks in
a swap, and Cole Anthony and CACP. It's they traded
Desimbane for KCP, the draft Rice to Centric Coward and
now two first round picks in a swap. It's still
a lot. Like, it's still a lot. And if you
think that's an awesome return, I can't argue with you.
My thing is a fan. It's like, well, you can't
say no to that. I'm like, I can because I
want to win a first round playoff series, Like the
Magic wanted to win a first round playoff series so bad.
They did this trade because they've fallen short the past
couple of years. They feel like the East is open
for the Grizzlies. You're like, we haven't won a first
round playoff series in three years. I want that while
Jah and Jaren are still in their prime. So it's
tricky and like the thing that I console myself with
that I think is a very convincing argument.
Speaker 3: If the Grizzlies in the.
Speaker 4: Current financial situation specifically to them and also in the league,
if they're like, yeah, we want to keep Desibane and
we want to try to get another player in and
we still think we're gonna be like maybe if we're
lucky of seed or a sixth seed in the West,
we could also be a fifth, six, seventh, eighth seed
in the West and have four more first round picks.
Speaker 3: Let's do that. And that's like, yeah, no, you got me.
I can't. I can't argue with that logic. That logic
makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 4: But it's also sad where it's like I'm no longer
going into the season being like, look out for my Grizzlies,
They're awesome.
Speaker 3: I'm like, yeah, it could be a fun, plucky squad
and it's like.
Speaker 4: Coming from where we were, Yeah, that's the that's it.
It's hard to get excited or hard you don't get excited, Yeah,
you don't want to feel like you're rooting for shrewd
financial decisions, right, That's like, that's not that's not as
fun as rooting for Desmond Bane to go for forty.
Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2: What did you make of the Tumaslo, whether it's the
hiring process or it seems like it was a little
fada complete, like by the end of last year. Anyway,
do you have any expectations for what stylistically in those
types of changes that we're going to see with such
a small sample size last year we saw some, but
what are you kind of expecting to see him implement
into next season?
Speaker 3: Well, I answer the first part of your question.
Speaker 4: I've decided as a podcaster, I'm gonna be the person
who has no opinion on the hiring process of coaches.
I don't love it, Like they didn't interview anyone. I'm like,
I don't know what experience do I have. I have like,
I have no impressive career experience, so like, fine, all right,
hire whoever you want.
Speaker 3: I did have a little bit of fun.
Speaker 4: I think at the press conference they were like based
on I think Zach Climent said something like, you know,
like based on how well he did when he took over.
I was like, I'm sorry based on what he was, Like,
I'm not blaming him for anything that happened when he
when he was given like the steering wheell, but like
nothing went well after he took over.
Speaker 3: Like they did not finish the season on a good note.
Speaker 4: They did escape the play in so they ignored they
avoided that awful fate, although I guess there's an argument
they would have kept a draft pick if they had
done that. But like they they then got swept. Uh
it was not pretty, but like they said, they saw.
Speaker 3: Enough, and I'm like, okay, fine, who am I to argue?
Speaker 4: Uh?
Speaker 3: What am I expecting this year?
Speaker 4: I think they're gonna veer away from what they did
at the beginning of last year, the highly touted circle
offense thing without the ball screens, where they were like
they set the fewest screens of anybody, and it was
a bunch of back cuts and when the ball comes
to your side, you run away, and you know, like they're.
Speaker 3: Moving away from that and wanted to get more.
Speaker 4: I think with just like guard, big lot of spam
and pick and rolls, a lot of big men as
screeners and finishers, and they also I think based on
just things that have been said out loud at press
conferences and the way it the way the team played
in Summer League, I think they want to really make
a focus on full court, full court pressure. I think
we're gonna see a lot more of that kind of
Indiana Pacers slightly inspired. They did a little bit of
it last year, but I think we're gonna see more
and more of that, and you know, then they're gonn
a push pace like they've always done under Taylor Jenkins.
Speaker 3: But beyond that, it is a mystery.
Speaker 4: I mean, that's like just a tiny bit of conjecture
because we only have a handful of games where Isla
was the head coach, and of course he inherited, you know,
a team that wasn't set up to do exactly what
he wants to do. So when they, you know, roll
it out in preseason, we'll see, all right, what's what
exactly is going to be different here?
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 5: Why do you think so? I mean, bottom line, the
offense overall was very good last year, and a lot
of that success happened with this I was like just
fascinated by how they were playing offense. I brought it
up all the time I'm sure Dan got tired of
me talking about it, just because, like, you do this
long enough in anything that feels kind of like, oh
that's different really gets your attention. Do you think the
reason they're going if they are going away from that
and getting slightly more conventional, but maybe copycat in a
good way, because the Pacers do have a lot of
sort of similarities. Do you think that's just because somebody
else is in charge now, or because they decided now
it's not a sustainable way to play, or like we
because the results were good, Like I you know what
I mean, Like I don't. I would be curious what
you think they're justification for kind of I don't know,
Oh that was fun for a year. Maybe let's not
stick with it.
Speaker 4: I mean, I don't know all of the different fractures
and fissures that happened inside the team that led to
Taylor Jenkins's dismissal. Like there are, of course, lots of
numbers that are really good for the Grizzlies. Last year,
they were you know, they spent I feel like maybe
the majority, if not the majority, most of this, you know,
it felt like most of the season as the two
seed in the West.
Speaker 3: They had great offensive and defensive numbers.
Speaker 4: The one thing you could poke a hole in is
they were awful against good teams. They blew the doors
off every awful team they played, and they finished with
I can't remember it now, but it's like they had
an unbelievable winning percentage against non playoff teams. So I
think there was some thought that, like, hey, we're we're
a bit of a fraud, Like maybe they recognized that.
I think that was a question people following the Grizzlies
were asking, like, are we actually good?
Speaker 3: You know, but I don't really know.
Speaker 4: And also the Grizzlies, weirdly, you know, for the entire
essential stretch of Jo Morant doesn't band in jam Jackson Junior.
When they're all healthy, they have incredible offensive numbers. But
the issue was always going to be, yeah, but just
this version of basketball working the postseason, what about our
half court offensive numbers? You can't win on turnovers and
offensive rebounding, at least you couldn't until the Thunder. But
it's like, you know, like they were like, oh, you know,
like maybe it's a regular season thing.
Speaker 3: We have to fix it for the postseason.
Speaker 4: And so every postseason for the last or offseason for
the last three four years, they're like, all right, how
can we fix the half court offense? And they keep
trying stuff, and then they tried this new thing and
again it looked like it worked. But then maybe also
beyond that, and I think maybe a big part of
it I could have led with.
Speaker 3: There was some talk that Ja Morant didn't love it.
Speaker 4: John Morant's like, I'm not scoring twenty five a game anymore,
and that's you understand that. So where it's like, if
you're an NBA player who's a customer to scoring twenty
five a game and being talked about as an All
Star in All NBA, guy, you know, yeah, winning's nice,
but it's like you were also winning when Jab was
scoring twenty.
Speaker 3: Five a game, So who's to tell him?
Speaker 4: He's like, guys, we won all the time when I
was scoring twenty five a game, So like, what's the deal.
So I think there were some that maybe John Moran
didn't love the way they were playing, and so then
they switched over to get Jab the ball more. It
did happen to directly coincide with the team not playing
very well.
Speaker 3: I don't know if it's a one to one correlation.
Speaker 4: It's funny too, because like Grizzlies fans like, oh yeah,
we're gonna have it, like Elev's gonna give us this
new system where we're like, we're like joh and eighty
are real involved, and you're like, yeah, you mean the
one where we lost games and Jared Jackson Junior didn't
play very well?
Speaker 3: Like I get, I don't. I'm not a signing blame.
I try to.
Speaker 4: I always try to escape myself from the blame. Listen,
I'm just pointing things out. I'm making observations.
Speaker 5: We just like to ask questions.
Speaker 3: We just ask a question, just asking questions. Is it
really that effective?
Speaker 2: I've seen everything they've done, like from the coach the
transactions framed as sort of a hedge on the uncertainty
of John Morant.
Speaker 1: But do you view it more.
Speaker 2: It's just like, no, they've kind of doubled down on
Ja Moran, especially when you look at the coaching situation
if he wasn't happy with the way the offense was
being run. But then you get back to that and
it's well, how much, say, did Taylor Jenkins happen that
to begin with? I find the whole Ja Morant discourse
just absolutely fascinating.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I don't.
Speaker 4: I don't have the insight. I can't tell you exactly
what's going on. I mean there's a lot of stuff
last year where like, you know, they replaced all Taylor
Jigens assistant coaches, and it was like kind.
Speaker 3: Of pitched as you know they they work together to
do that. But it's like come on.
Speaker 4: Now, you know, like you replaced this coaches. You gotta
tell them given all his assistance. Uh, and then yeah,
how much is it playing to jos strengths and how much?
Just like the off season now where like you said,
it's like maybe they're hedging some stuff. I mean like
the Baine trade where you're like, and this is we
weren't gonna make it to the summit of the mountain
going this path.
Speaker 3: Let's take a couple of steps back and pick a
new path.
Speaker 4: We think that's a better way to get where we
want to go to win a championship. And yeah, I
don't know how to combine all the moves to make
them make total sense. It's like a lot of it
is like the tide rum signing where you're like the
tie drums signing, in a vacuum seems incredible getting in
for the room exception, Like, that's incredible value. And I
totally understand that that's the best value you could get
for the room exception. I can't imagine getting a better
player for that money. Well, it makes sense, but also
you have Scottie Pippen Junior and John Morant, so like, well,
how are they all gonna work together? And like maybe
it's just again the best player available situation and we'll
figure out as we go. So yeah, I'm not really sure. Well,
I'm not sure if I answered your question. Even like
it does feel like that they're they're hedging their bets
somewhat while also saying like this is Jo Rant's team.
Let's just focus more on just getting jababall and let's
see how far he can take us. I think last
year when we talked, you said something that I that
I spent I thought about several times all year, which
was that Jah Morant in terms of popularity in Memphis
is about his hot. He's just like he was he
was the guy full stop, like and just in terms
of like the number of jerseys that kids are wearing
or whatever, like he's just at the apex of that.
Can you evaluate how he's viewed if it's different at
all now a year later, because like that was coming
off a nine game season. Now he played fifty last
year with varying levels of success there. You know, we've
talked about a little bit of the you know, some
of the some of the changes that the offense kind
of visited on him.
Speaker 3: Do do you.
Speaker 5: Think he still occupies that same space, because it sounds
like we're asking about, oh, where does he sit in
the franchise's eyes, Like are they built around him in
terms of just like Q score or clout or whatever
is is everybody still all in on this is the
guy we are building around. Just we're not even going
to have that conversation.
Speaker 3: It's so that's so.
Speaker 4: Hard to answer, because yes, speak for all Memphis fans
please right now, it's just like, you know, I live
in my bubble and there's a lot of people living
in there a bubble.
Speaker 3: I know.
Speaker 4: Of course, his Q score is still it's huge, Like
the jaw, the sneakers, like they're huge. He's a huge
Nike signature athlete and he has worldwide appeal and he
still has one of the top selling jerseys in the world.
And you know, he is easily the most popular and
well known Grizzlies player. So then if I'm trying to
figure out how much of the fan base is still like,
you know, I can't imagine moving on from him.
Speaker 3: He is the team.
Speaker 4: That's hard to say, I do think, And this comes
back to how basketball is an entertainment and a money
driven thing, even though Nico Harrison didn't understand that, like,
you're never gonna You're not gonna trade Ja Morant because
he's too important to getting your team on television, to
getting people to share social media clips, to to get
people just to buy tickets, like you know.
Speaker 3: So so I think that I think the city is
still behind him.
Speaker 4: But again, I don't have personal Yeah, I don't have
any personal interaction.
Speaker 3: No one said to me, no stranger on the street.
It happens every now and then.
Speaker 4: I live in Nashville and people I'm on a Grizzly
shirt and you know, they come up and we talk
or whatever. No one's been like, hey man, when an't
we trading Ja Moran? No, no, no, no one says that. No,
Everyone's like, yeah, they actually, you know, the most common
question from a stranger.
Speaker 3: When's Zach Edy gonna learn how to catch a pass?
Speaker 5: Like?
Speaker 3: I just met you, sir, look.
Speaker 2: At you like, yeah, what a from you? I wanted
to ask you about Zach Edy. I we want to
know your year one impressions of him, for sure, but
also how worried are we about like the ankle injury,
and then how integrating him into what should be kind
of a new system when he just might not even be.
Speaker 1: Ready to start the season.
Speaker 4: Man, they they told me he didn't miss a game
at Purdue something like he was like this, like the
sturdiest guy. No, but poor guy had ankle surgery. He's
gonna miss the start of the year. To answer your question,
what are my takeaways from year one? I that they
were mixed. I mean, he obviously has an impact when
he's out there. Uh, there are certain you could there's
stats you can pull where you could be like he
was one of the most you know, impactful guys on
the whole team in a positive way.
Speaker 3: Uh, he's a great screener, great rebounder. I was.
Speaker 4: I was, on the one hand, a little disappointed that
he was so raw offensively. I kind of thought all
that college schooling he would have learned a couple of
post moves or something, but it really was like it's
just like like he's the you know, I want an
amber turner from Zulander and not not so much yet,
just like like only one hand, only one shoulder turn.
And again the the the lack of touch, the lack
of you know, catching passes where it's like, you know,
do you need that, you need to do that. So
this is the argument because I again, a lot of people,
a lot of people, you know, like he was, uh,
first team all rookie, and like I said, the impact
matrics were very, very very good. Even is Slow defended
him a couple of times where he's like, you know,
we're when the coach pulls out the net rating, he's
like plus twenty points per under possessions was Zach Overcord
like all right, fair enough. Uh it's like, sir, I
thought that was a podcaster trick. But the uh yeah,
so like a lot of promising stuff, and again he's
a rookie. He was a rookie thrust into a starting
role on a playoff team, which like you assume you're
gonna struggle, so I think you're two. The thought was
all right, man, if you can take that step forward
to be great, but now this big injury is set back.
You know, it has concerns and like Grant said, and
like I've joked about, like can you teach hands?
Speaker 3: Like I don't like.
Speaker 4: His hands, And maybe I'm too hung up on this,
but it's like it's like, man, he's like bis mack
Biambo out there, like he just doesn't know the pass
is coming and it's like he doesn't get it. And
so yeah, I hope he can make a big step
forward there and there should be a bigger role for
him when he's healthy. Like I think everything Uslo's doing
like they want to get him involved in the game,
and if he could play like twenty six twenty seven
minutes a game, you know, he could put us some
big numbers. Is of course he's going to inhale a
ton of rebounds and block some shots. So like beyond that,
I'm not sure exactly what his ceiling you know, is,
or even who the player cop is. You're saying this
is you know, hopefully your two year three he could
turn into that guy.
Speaker 5: What about Jalen Well is kind of similar, I mean,
very dissimilar in the sense of like pre draft billing
relative to what he ended up producing in the role
he filled from afar, It's pretty easy to fall into
the idea of like, he is a very limited role player.
That was awesome for a rookie at the limited role
he was asked to play. And if that's it, great,
I don't see a whole lot more. Is that is
that misguided? Is there is there more that you can
you imagine he'll be able to do beyond the sort
of three and D mostly defense. By the end of
the year, the three ball kind of tailed off. But like,
and I guess the second part of that question is
are the Grizzlies built like for him to do more
than he did last year?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 4: I mean Jalen Wells was a delight. I mean whatever
should have been the Rookie of the year. I think
in a strong argument that he could have been the
Rookie of the year. I think the tail off that
the Grizzlies had after the All Star break, after the
trade deadline, I think I heard him a lot. It's
still it was a hard Rookie of the Year campaigned
for him because he didn't put together a bunch of
highlight package type things. It was just like, this guy's
starting for a very good team and he's guarding the
best player for the opponent every night. Like that's unbelievably
more valuable than like, I don't know, kalel Ware coming
out and having a few big games, or like Stephan
Castle putting.
Speaker 3: Up numbers on a horrible Spurs team.
Speaker 4: It's like Jalen Wells is playing important minutes every single night.
But like, yeah, Jalen was was awesome. He's he's just
unbelievably good defender. It's funny too, Like I don't follow
college basketball, and so when they drafted the Jailer, I'm
watching all these scouting videos and it mainly was just
talking about his shooting, Like none of them were like
this guy's a lockdown defender. But he was so good
on defense last year it was a delight. Like you said,
his shooting did tail off. I think the big question
for him, beyond whether maybe he could handle a little
bit more of an offensive load, is just can't he
be a thirty seven percent three point shooter thirty eight
percent three point shooter?
Speaker 3: Or is he a thirty five percent three point shooter?
Speaker 4: And I think that's a big difference, But I do
think the offense is set up not.
Speaker 3: Necessarily for him to take a step forward, but it
is set up where.
Speaker 4: You where you can imagine the vision in a post
designband world, where like John and Jaron and Zach are
your scorers, we surround them with Jalen Wells and Contavious
called well, Pope, that's a good basketball team, like you
got again. I'm Assumingna's cable. Pope bounces back to a
couple of years ago for him, But it's like, that's
a good basketball team. You got defenders, you got floor spacers,
and Jalen Wells can be that. So I actually I'm like,
while I hear that, and I understand the whole thing
about like is it a limited ceiling for Jalen Wells?
Speaker 3: I mean maybe, but also like, why can't he get better?
Speaker 4: We see NBA players all the time and a guy,
this guy, an unheralded second round draft pick who stepped
in and was an immediate contributor, started seventy something games.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think he could. Why can't he get a
lot better? Yeah?
Speaker 5: Well, and then it's a question of like how greedy
are we going to get if the ceiling is last year,
it was starter on a really good team.
Speaker 3: Like what else do you want from? Yeah, I hear you.
I do have a thing about Jalen Wells.
Speaker 4: This is said a lot like oh, like Zach Cleman's like,
we we didn't intend to get younger last year, but
Jalen Wells came out in training camp and won the
starting job.
Speaker 3: No he didn't.
Speaker 4: Marcus Smart started until he was hurt. Like yeah, we're
we're ret conning these things. Marcus Smart played seven eight games,
got hurt. Jenlen Wells. You could argue Jalen Wells didn't
give it back like he sees it once he got
it in the regular season.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 4: No, Janel Wills was great and he I mean he's
like there are reasons to be excited going back to
I like just dystopian opening to the show, Like, I mean,
Zachy the year two and then Jen le Well's year two.
Whatever Centric Coward has to bring, Like, those are really
good players. Scotty Pittman Junior was unbelievable last year, Tied
Drum coming in like could be a very very good
team with a lot of exciting young pieces.
Speaker 3: Complimenting John Jared.
Speaker 2: One of the moves they made that I think set
mixed messages was consolidating those two first round picks into
Centric Cowhard. We didn't see him in Summer League because
of that left shoulder injury. Do you have any early
impressions of him or what are your expectations even for
how are they going to bring this guy along on
a team that still feels like it has these immediate expectations,
but is also clearly they're trying to straddle two timelines
at this point like so many other teams. It's become
a cliche to say, but that's what it feels like
they're doing.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's funny because I do think they are sort
of straddling two timelines.
Speaker 3: And as NBA fans, when we lose.
Speaker 4: One of the franchise's best players, which is what Desmond
Bane won, you actually part of you, I think turns
into the well, let's see what we got, like, I
don't think anyone would be angry if Cedric Coward started
Game one over like Contavio's Carble Pope like part of
It's the mystery too, where it's like, all right, you
guys obviously loved this guy. You traded two of the
picks you got for dezen Bane plus extra.
Speaker 3: I can't.
Speaker 1: I think it was a second round pick.
Speaker 4: Yeah, like a second round pick and the first runner
to move up five spots, Like that's a lot, and
the Pelicans think, so yeah, Pelicans like that's a great price.
The the excitement I think on him, it's just like, oh, okay,
well let's see this guy, like this wing with size.
Speaker 3: I mean he is.
Speaker 4: In the few interviews he's done, he seems delightful, like
he's he's saying a lot of fun things, but like
the big problem being, uh, no one's seen him play
basketball and he only played a handful of games at
D one level, at the D one level, and so
it's like, I don't know. So I do think, like
I imagine people want to see him play and play a lot,
But then you look at the depth chart, it's a mystery.
Speaker 3: Because they do have this glut of wings.
Speaker 4: Jalen Will's leading them, and then there's still Vince Williams
Junior on the roster and Gigi Jackson on the roster,
and John Conchard is still here.
Speaker 3: I know by the way. They signed Cam Spencer to
like a three year deal.
Speaker 4: So it's like, yeah, I'm not sure exactly who's gonna
earn those minutes in training camp and who we see
at the start of the year.
Speaker 5: I feel like if we flash forward to twenty thirty eight,
you'll still be saying John Conchard is still here. Just
it's never gonna go. I'm really upset. I can't ask
you about whether or not Zire Williams is gonna happen
this year. That's that's gonna be for a different podcast.
Speaker 3: What was my answer last year?
Speaker 5: I think it was it was as it was like,
it was the polite it's the politest way you could
have said that he will never happen like that was
based years ago.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm was that was I think it was on
your show.
Speaker 4: I said, I play in my flag and I said
he's an NBA player, and I think maybe you guys
could have been two years and I said, he's going
to get a second contract. And then I said he's
going to get a second contract. Right, he got a second.
Speaker 3: Contract, was nail. I don't think it's officially done yet.
They're still doing funny business.
Speaker 4: But he's a great to have a you know, a
second contract with the Nets.
Speaker 5: So since I can't ask you about him, Uh, Gigi
Jackson is next on the list of of it is
is player X going to happen?
Speaker 2: Uh?
Speaker 5: It kind of has had injury to understate it has
had injury issues. It hasn't really gotten a chance to
I don't know, to to really show what he's capable of.
What are your expectations for him? Do you do you
see him filling a significant role on this team if
he's healthy and what does that look like?
Speaker 4: My expectations are zero. Okay, that's only because I've been injured.
I've been hurt myself, heart was hurt. No. Yeah, it's
a he's a strange player in this sense that a
guy with unbelievable physical gifts who was his top high
school recruit, reclassified and then was bad in college, and
there's a lot of stuff said about him about being immature,
and then he falls into the second round of the
Grizzlies get him. And then in the Grizzlies year two
years ago when Josh started the year suspended and then
got hurt and they tanked out, Gezi played was one
of the I think. Yeah, he was the youngest player
in the NBA and he put together these thirty point
games and you're taking it with a grain of salt,
because you're like, this is March basketball, April basketball. They
none of this is real. They just have like a
forty point game. And you're like, if this guy was
back in the draft a couple of years ago, you're like, legitimately,
he'd be a top ten guy. Like everyone, like I
was asking actual well known draft experts. I'm like, just
for my Grizzlies listeners, like where would Gig Jackson go?
And you know, like he was a top ten type guy,
and I think they expected a lot from him last
year and he was hurt and then when he came
back and played, he was catastrophic.
Speaker 3: I mean, and I.
Speaker 4: Don't know, I feel like we see this more and more,
or maybe I just observe it more and more the
older I get. We see these We see players who
just are nicked up and they never totally get back
and they never catch up.
Speaker 3: They have sort of lost seasons where you're like, what
happened to that guy?
Speaker 4: And it's like, oh, yeah, apparently he was hurt and
then could never get totally in shape and just struggled.
Speaker 3: Lost his confidence.
Speaker 4: Maybe so Gigi was an unbelievably bad defender. Last year
he got demoted essentially like they went on a road
trip and told him to stay home, which is like,
that's like high school basketball stuff.
Speaker 3: I mean, like, yeah, they legit.
Speaker 4: They they sent him to the G League to play
with the hustle, and it wasn't like an injury rehab thing.
Speaker 3: It was just like sorry, man, you know so I
don't know.
Speaker 4: So because of that, it's like, all right, I've seen
what he can do and he had you know, we've
seen him have some really strong summer leagues where you're like,
this guy can dunk on anybody off the dribble, and
you see him flash these things where you're like, with
that size and the handle and the way he can
go by guy, guy, there's a role for him in
the NBA, And then we saw him do it in
actual games where you get so excited. But then he
was totally unavable to help in any meaningful way last year.
So the way I've coped with that, I have zero expectations.
But please surprise me gg Jackson, please fight your way
back into the rotation.
Speaker 5: Dan, If you close your eyes, do you just hear
me talking about Jonathan Kaminga when Keith is describing Ggi Jackson.
Speaker 2: Keith seems way lower on gg Jackson than you are
and Jonathan I've said.
Speaker 5: I've said some irrational things.
Speaker 2: Keith, what do you sort of make of just the whole?
Ty Jerome, Scottie Pippen Jr. Vince Williams is there. They
signed Cam Spencer, like you said, who I kind of
like which just viewed in the context of just all
this like perimeter jumble in that secondary part of the rotation,
like how do you see that shaking out? Are there
are one or two names that are you just like
putting in sharpie as right? These guys are important. Everybody
else is gonna kind of have to compete for minutes.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think of the names you mentioned, Scotty Pippen Jr.
And Tidrome are gonna play. I mean, I think Scotty
Pippen Junior really seized hold of an important role last
year and he's not letting that go. An incredibly good
on ball defender. You're pretty good at getting buy his
guy too. He's been shooting the basketball very well, Like
he's been making three pointers. So like Skotty Pipper Junior,
because he's quite good as like a bench guard, I
don't you know so, and also Ti Jerume, you know,
like you didn't sign him to not play him.
Speaker 3: So those guys are for real.
Speaker 4: I think the rest of the guys, it is just
it's been their policy, I think, to just try to
you know, a lot of teams do this, just like
the you look at the Thunders draft record and you're like,
all right, they got actually have a lot of misses,
but like when an Aaron Wiggins pops, it's all worth it,
you know, And so like that's the same thing, and
they just want some of these guys to win the spot. Vince,
much like Gigi, I think they were depending a lot
on Vince Williams Junior.
Speaker 3: Last year. It was the exact same story.
Speaker 4: Vince Williams Junior has said he never got better than
eighty percent with his ankle last year. So two years ago,
Vince was the guy like Jalen Well this past season.
Two years ago, it was Vince Williams Junior who was
guarding Kevin Durant one night, Luca DOCGs the next night,
and Steph Curry the next night, and like he was
taking the number one assignment and also was making those
connective plays. I fell in love with them a couple
years ago because of like offensive rebounding and blocking shots,
and like he was a good passer, and you're like
this is the perfect like.
Speaker 1: Eight minutes on him last year.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, it made it made all of us look
stupid because he didn't do it. He disappointed us last year. So, like,
you know, maybe there's still a role for him, but
I don't know. I think he's one of the more
likely guys to even get traded because, like you like
Conchart is still there. You got Conchart, you got Gig Jackson,
you got Vince Williams Junior Cam Spencer, and then of
course Cedric Coward, and then you got CACP and Janleen Wells.
They're all fighting for minutes. You know, Jaylen Wells is
gonna play. I'm pretty sure CACP is gonna play. The
rest of those guys are competing for maybe one spot,
you know, like santi All Dama's gonna play at the
big position.
Speaker 3: On the wing.
Speaker 4: They're all fighting to try to get in there, and
I don't I don't know what's gonna happen.
Speaker 5: You're ready to hit the cookie cutter slash lighting round
portion here, Well, yes to start Questionody. Even before I
asked the question, I was like, should I address a
person before I before I put this just just kind
of top down, what do you view as this team's
biggest strength for this coming season, Like, what's the what's
the thing you're most confident they'll be very good at
and will be kind of like a car, like a
you'll you'll associate this characteristic with the Grizzlies when you're
talking about them in a positive way.
Speaker 4: That's interesting is that as a team wide attribute. I
I'm not sure, but I would guess. I would guess
they're gonna be a good defensive team. Again, they've been,
they were. They fell for whatever reason. They were terrible
at defense at the end of the year last year
and that has been an aberration. And maybe with a
coaching change it'll be different. Like Taylor Jenkins always had
him as a very good defensive team. But I do
think with Jaren anchoring everything and they've proved and even
with John Morant playing, they're.
Speaker 3: They can be a very good defense.
Speaker 4: I think with Jaron, with Zach Eaty, with jay Len Wells,
with Coatavia is called a Pope, with Vince Williams Junior,
with Scotti, Pippen, Junr. They're gonna be good at defense,
and I jock Jack Landell in the house, that's that's right.
Speaker 3: Maybe starts opening night, who knows. Yeah, I think I
think this team.
Speaker 4: Will still be a quite good defensive team and they're
gonna be able to depend on.
Speaker 5: That and then kind of flip that around. Maybe it's
not a weakness per se. But what do you think
as you're looking at the roster or at a potential deficiency,
like what does this team need that it doesn't have
right now? Is three point shooting important in the modern NBA?
Speaker 1: I don't think so.
Speaker 4: I think the Thunder definitively proved you don't have to
make three pointers to win a title.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 1: I Yeah.
Speaker 4: The Grizzlies got rid of Desmond main of course, and
Luke Kennard. Uh they I think they got rid of
like four of their five best percentage wise three point
shooters from last year. And oh, by the way, they
weren't great at shooting three pointers last year, So oh yeah,
that's gonna be like, hey, Santi, we need this to
be consistently good.
Speaker 3: Jaren, can you get it the numbers high again? Jalen?
Speaker 4: Can you maybe shoot thirty nine percent, not thirty five percent. Hey, KCP,
could you not shoot thirty one percent from the three
point one?
Speaker 3: Uh?
Speaker 5: Like?
Speaker 3: They so like I think they need some three point shooting.
That's gonna be a big thing.
Speaker 4: Also, they they need they need front court health, like
with Edie missing for who knows how long. Maybe he's
backed by Christmas, maybe Thanksgiving. I don't know, but he's good.
I think he's gonna miss the first month of the
season is the expectation. Jaren hopefully is available at the
beginning of the year. Brandon Clark can't stay healthy as
it is, and even when he's healthy, he barely plays
twenty minutes a game, so like they need bigs like
Jack Landel might play way more minutes than Like. I
actually was so excited. Everyone's like, oh, this Jay Huff trade.
Why would you trade Jay Huff and bring in Jack Landale.
I'm like, man, like, we need a guy just to
grab rebounds and screen and that's not Jay Huff, and
like we just need someone to open the season doing that.
Speaker 3: So like, yeah, I was less.
Speaker 4: That's I was like more happy about the Jayhuff trade,
where I'm like, what is Jay Huff? Gonna win us
a playoff game. No, no, no, go get your second
round picks, Grizzlies. That's fine, we'll find another Jay Huff.
It'll be it'll be okay.
Speaker 5: You've illustrated the difference between national coverage and local knowledge,
because I think that the very much the national position
was like, well, Jay Huff can shoot threes and he
blocks shots sometimes, Like how why doesn't he make fifty
million dollars a year? Like I know Dan and I
were definitely guilty of that. It's like, oh, look, you know,
look at this guy.
Speaker 1: You can do everything else.
Speaker 4: There there's some things where it's like, you know, there's
every NBA team. When a guy is going into that
last year the deal, you have to ask yourself, are
we winning a playoff series this year because of this guy?
If not, if he's not coming back, let's trade. I mean,
I think Jay Huff was clearly We're like all right,
like I'm gonna be upset about trading Desmond Bane for
picks because Desmon Bain is the difference between I don't know,
forty wins and fifty wins and playoff series wins and such.
But like the Jay Huff man, if there's one thing
Zach Climate is great at. It's finding Jay Huffs. Yeah,
it's finding Scottie Pippen Jrs. It's finding John Conchars like that. No,
this Grizzlies front office can do this all day of
the week. If you want to give me a pick
for Jay Huff in a year that we're one hundred
and fifty to one to win the title.
Speaker 3: Yeah, let's give me a second round pick. I'll do
it again.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 5: So, I think the world in which you could get
an asset for Jay Huff has existed for a year
before that.
Speaker 4: It was possible, you like, like I talked about him
in Summer League last year or where I was like,
I wouldn't mind getting Jay Huff on a two way.
Speaker 3: They went and did it and then turned.
Speaker 4: That into a second round pick, And I think there's
a second one, like a top like a like a
soft one.
Speaker 3: And I'm like, that's that's good work. Man. If you
sign a.
Speaker 4: Guy to a two way and trade him a year later,
you're that's good stuff.
Speaker 5: I know.
Speaker 3: I'm all on board with that one.
Speaker 2: What's something about this team, good bad storyline whatever that's
flying under the radar.
Speaker 4: I think in a rules since because of how the
year ended and because of the desmon Baine trade, there's
just a weird perception that the Grizzlies aren't like quote
unquote good well the j trade, the j hough trade.
You're tearing it down to the stuts they sent out
Jay Hop Like this team in the in the East
would compete for home court advantage, Like I feel that,
And there's talk about like, oh, the Hawks are incredible.
I'm like, they're not better than the Grizzlies. I don't
think maybe they maybe I'm wrong, but there's this It's
so weird how Western Conference teams have like a different
set of circumstances to compete, like obviously to compete under,
but also just to be talked about like if the
Grizzlies were in the East, they probably don't trade Desmond
Bane because they're like, oh we could.
Speaker 3: We're really good, Like we're any one of the best
teams in the East.
Speaker 4: And so it is weird where like when you I
get it, you trade your third best player for picks,
and John Moran has had trouble play in more than
fifty to fifty five games, Like I understand that, but
still it's like things could break right, they could win
fifty games again, like they could be in a playoff series,
the competitive playoff series. You get the right breaks, maybe
they could beat you know, a Timberwolves who are a
Rockets in the first round. They're not gonna be picked
two preseason, but they have enough good players and a
track record of winning.
Speaker 3: Jared and Jah win basketball games.
Speaker 4: So I think in a general sense, it's like that
part feels like it's under the radar where it's like
they're not terrible, they're pretty good.
Speaker 3: And maybe it's.
Speaker 4: Me joking too much about the things I'm disappointed about,
but it's still like, end of the day, pretty solid
basketball squad.
Speaker 5: Well, I mean to that point, just looking at the
depth chart, it's ten deep before you get to Coward
or Spencer, and you could I mean that's assuming you
get something from Jackson, some of them from Clark. I mean,
it's really looking good that you know down through Jerome Aldama,
Pippin off the bench. Do you see a way for
Coward and Spenser to really probably more so Coward, but
who knows to to kind of chip into that that
doesn't involve injury and then just to throw multi part
questions at you from that whole group, who do you
like to close games? If if you can, uh just
pretend there's not like a matchup dependent kind of dimension
to that thing.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, that part's fun. Wait what was the first
part of the question before? Though?
Speaker 5: Just like, is Coward or Spencer gonna be able to
play just because there's ten good NBA players here?
Speaker 4: I would I would assume with the draft pick investment,
if Coward shows enough of what they saw in him
to take him or to trade up for him with
that pricey package, I can imagine him being that one
wing on the bench. I'm guessing the bench, like if
we're assuming the starter is when Zachy he's back healthy,
you know, if your bench is you've got a couple
of smallest guards and tied dromes kind of Pippin junior,
and then your your bigs are set with Brandon Clarkin's
in Santio Dama like those are also like those are
four very good bench players, So like that's that's a
big upgrade I think on what they've they've been having.
And then there's like that one spot maybe there and
it's a Vince Williams junior.
Speaker 3: Is it Cedric Coward.
Speaker 4: I think it's a good chance Cedria Coward breaks through
there if Vince Williams Junior isn't back up. You know,
I don't know if Cam Spencer will break through. I mean,
he might end up being one of the more consistent
three point shooters, and so because of that reason, he
gets on the court. As far as the closing, that's tough.
I've always been for years just a Brandon Clark believer.
If Brandon Clark's healthy, the Brandon Clark and Jared Jackson
junior front court has always been tremendous for the Grizzlies.
And then you pair that with John Morant, probably Jalen Wells,
and then man, I'm I'm gonna have to see what
everybody looks like. Is KCP? Does he have something left
in the tank? Is said your coward?
Speaker 3: Any good?
Speaker 4: Is Vince Williams Junior back to where we want him?
Like is Scotty Pipman Jr? Or Ty Jerome? Are they
undeniable where you can't keep them off the court? Like
Sooddy Pippan Jr. The lone bright spot in the humiliating
sweep to the thunder So like, yeah, it's hard to
say right now, like, who's gonna be for me that
that fifth guy to go alongside? I mean maybe maybe
Zach Edy has a huge year and I'm like, sorry,
Brendan Clark, let's put all domit the three. I mean,
Santiodama is a good player who we haven't really talked
about at all. Like Santi has, you know, some defensive
lapses that make you a little frustrated, and he's not
the most consistent shooter, but like he's a skilled year
seven footer who is I think an important part of
what they do this year as well.
Speaker 3: So yeah, they do have a lot of options.
Speaker 4: And yeah, I haven't nailed down who I think should
close yet.
Speaker 2: Is there a weirdo lineup you want to see Islo
try this year?
Speaker 3: Yes, let's see. Let's let's get the one.
Speaker 1: Can you tell us it?
Speaker 3: It has to have Bence Williams Junior because he's my guy.
I need to be all back in on. Vince Williams Junior.
Speaker 4: Let's go, let's go Ty Jerome, Jalen Wells Williams Junior,
Jaron and Brandon.
Speaker 3: No wait, let's make it weirder.
Speaker 1: You had in there?
Speaker 4: No, No, Ti, Jerome, Vince Williams Junior, Santi Aldama, Jared
Jackson junior, Brandon Clark.
Speaker 3: That's my one through five.
Speaker 2: I want to go like the opposite direction, like let's
get Eadie with a bunch of smalls. I'd have Vince
Williams will do that, Cam Spencer, Cam Spencer.
Speaker 4: Will play the four you're gonna get, You're gonna get
a jaw, Scottie Pippen tied Jerome, Cam Spencer, Edie.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I'd rather get jobs out there and give me like
John Wells or somebody in there. But Vince Williams and
Cam Spencer need to be in there with you. That's
what I've decided, Keith, before we.
Speaker 1: Force you to make some predictions.
Speaker 2: Is there anything else we haven't touched upon with this
team that you think needs to be discussed?
Speaker 1: No, that's fun, it's really efficient.
Speaker 3: I feel like we hit it. I do feel like
maybe I don't know.
Speaker 4: I talked a lot about how Scotty people Jr's quite
good basketball player. Santi al Dama good, good chance for
him to breakout. Uh No, I think we did it.
Speaker 5: How excited are you for the potential City edition jerseys
this year?
Speaker 4: I am excited because I think their normal jerseys are
kind of boring, but they've been crushing it.
Speaker 3: With the City edition jerseys.
Speaker 4: I believe it's going to the rumor is I think
it's going to be a white City Edition jersey. It's
going to be a remix of the Stacks jerseys that
they did a couple of years ago that were awesome,
and I think it's going to look amazing. I mean,
they're they're they're wearing the black throwbacks from the first
year they came to Memphis, so like, I love those,
so I'm excited, like all the throwback jerseys, the city jerseys.
Speaker 3: Are going to be awesome.
Speaker 4: Now, I just need to redesign for the basic home
in a way which I don't love that much.
Speaker 5: You know, given the boost to the wind total that
those jerseys will provide. How where do you see this
team finishing? Record wise?
Speaker 3: Forty eight wins last year?
Speaker 5: By the way, people like you to your point, forty
eight wins, I lost money?
Speaker 3: Well, what are they gonna do?
Speaker 2: I'm I'm oh, I think is it six or seven?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 3: That's right.
Speaker 5: This is your team, Dan, I mean, this is your
like bizarro team. I have never about thelies.
Speaker 2: I have not successfully picked the Grizzlies over under, and
I think it's six or seven years.
Speaker 1: It's at least six, it might be seven years.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 4: You know what that tells me, you took them to
take the under six in the last seven years because
they've hit the over. They've hit the over in every
one of Ja Morant's season except for the one where
he played nine games.
Speaker 2: Yes, and it was the one that I went. I
remember that year saying I'm gonna go over because I'm
always fucking wrong, and that's what happened.
Speaker 3: Yeah, So actually I don't even know what the number is.
Speaker 4: I'm I think I think this is like a forty
five win team. I think I think forty five wins
seems totally reasonable. So yeah, I would I would peg
him at forty five. Last year, I think I took
him at like forty six. So maybe I should turn
it back more.
Speaker 3: But I don't know. Maybe I've softened, so.
Speaker 5: I think you need to go the other way. I
think you should probably go for fifty.
Speaker 4: And just I've been trying, I've been trying to work
up this take that the Desmond Baine trade is the
new Rudy Gay trade. Back in the day, they traded
Rudy Gay for Tayshawn Prince and Ed Davis, and everyone
was like, why are we trading Rudy Gay, He's or
whatever best player. But the shots redistributed among Mike Conley
and Mark Gasol, and the team got really, really good
after that. They had the best run in franchise history
after that. I do not necessarily think that was because
of Rudy Gay, but that's that's the generally accepted narrative.
Getting rid of Rudy Gay actually gave Mark the ball Moore,
gave Mike the ball Moore, and they all filled the
roles much better, became a more cohesive team. What if
getting rid of Desmond Baine giving those shots to Edie
and Jaron and jaw letting, Cedric Coward and jay Lewells
and a CP be the role players. What if that
is actually additioned by subtraction. I don't believe it, but
I'm trying to get.
Speaker 5: You. Could you could sell it? I think, just workshop
it a little more, Just be a little you know, more.
Speaker 2: Disingenuous, turning into other players that are better than.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna go to cleaning the glass. I'm gonna find
some lineup dating.
Speaker 5: There's a way there.
Speaker 3: I can do it.
Speaker 2: Keith, Before we let you go, could we get another
Grizzlies prediction from you for this season?
Speaker 1: It can be whatever you want it to be.
Speaker 4: John Conchar finally traded John Conchard finish the year on
the Grizzlies.
Speaker 2: Spiciest prediction we've had yet. I think we'll get this
entire process. That'll be a that'll be a somber day
in Memphis. If he gets traded like well they use
to get off his contract, that what's gonna happen.
Speaker 4: Let's they read up a player with picks and stretch
a guy for the third straight year.
Speaker 3: Let's do it.
Speaker 5: Oh, how many first rounders do you think it would
take to get Marcus Smart back?
Speaker 3: Is my real question under that new contract. I don't know, man,
I don't know's it's not.
Speaker 4: It's not great when you send away a contract with
the eighteenth pick to salary dump it and then the
guy gives a buy out to the new team. The
Wizards did witchcraft work with their cap management, and like
the way they unloaded money and got picks for it,
and then those players less. Incredible work by the Wizards. Again,
it's easier to do that stuff when you're not trying
to be good.
Speaker 5: But yeah, I'm glad we circled back to praising shrewd
financial decisions.
Speaker 3: It's say that's right.
Speaker 5: This is really our brand around here, Keith.
Speaker 2: Before we let you go, are you able just to
tell our audience where they can find you and all
the fantastic work that you put out.
Speaker 4: Yeah, general NBA fans, just make sure you to listen
to the Fast Break Breakfast podcast and if you want
to know anything about the Grizzlies, go subscribe to the
Gritson Grinds Grizzlies podcast on YouTube.
Speaker 5: And after you do that, rate review, subscribe for our
stuff too, because we also make podcasts. Not a lot
of NBA podcasts out there, so we like to just
let people know. Thank you Keith, Thank you Dan. Looking
forward to Dan being wrong about the Grizzlies for our
fourteenth straight year. We'll do it again next year. Thanks
a lot. Shout Spring, Milo Keen. Apologies, Jared Allen