Grizzlies' fatal flaw that will doom 2025 NBA championship chances

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The Memphis Grizzlies, to start the decade, looked like they were going to be one of the league’s next great powerhouses. They had one of the best young point guards in the NBA in Ja Morant leading the way, a Defensive Player of the Year-caliber paint protector in Jaren Jackson Jr. patrolling the interior, and one of the deepest supporting casts in the association. However, as things stand, the Grizzlies aren’t considered by many to be among the league’s inner circle title contenders.

It has been a tough past two seasons for Morant, both on a personal and on a basketball level; he was embroiled in many off-court controversies that led to a suspension in 2023, and then shortly after his return, he proceeded to injure his shoulder. And amid Morant’s issues, the Grizzlies’ stock as a team has fallen. In addition to losing in the first round of the 2023 NBA playoffs despite being the two-seed, they fell off a cliff last season — finishing with a putrid 27-55 record.

There is a way for the Grizzlies to return to the level they were in during the 2021-22 season, when they won 56 games and gave the eventual champion Golden State Warriors a fight in the second round of the postseason. But they will have to rectify this major flaw of theirs that looks fatal to their championship chances.

Grizzlies’ defense does not look right

There is something about the Grizzlies franchise where, despite their rotating cast of players over the years, they have built their contending identity off of lockdown defense — embodying the grind and grind ethos. It feels like the spirit of prime Tony Allen and Marc Gasol was still living through the Grizzlies during the 2021-22 season, and for the first half of the 2022-23 campaign.

During the 2021-22 season, the Grizzlies had the second-ranked defense in the league, allowing just 108.9 points per 100 possessions. The following year, their defense was ranked third, allowing 110.7 per 100. But ever since they lost Steven Adams to a long-term injury, their defense has fallen off a bit. From the time of Adams’ injury (January 23, 2023) to the end of the 2022-23 season, the Grizzlies’ defense fell to ninth.

It has become evident that, for the Grizzlies to bring out the best in Jaren Jackson Jr., he needs a certain kind of frontcourt partner that allows him to roam freely and swat shots away with ease. Adams was a rugged and bulky center who relished doing the dirty work on the boards, and since then, Memphis has been looking for someone to replicate the impact he had for the team.

Now, the Grizzlies are relying on Zach Edey to start games for them, and the results so far have not been pretty. Edey has looked slow in the early goings of the season, and he has been incredibly foul-prone. His defensive positioning also needs a ton of work, and Taylor Jenkins has responded by limiting his minutes.

Moreover, the loss of Dillon Brooks has proven to be a bigger deal than anticipated. Brooks’ stock fell off a cliff to end the 2022-23 season, and the Grizzlies decided not to bring him back in free agency. Now, they brought Marcus Smart in to replace Brooks’ point of attack defense, but after an injury-riddled last season, Smart has not looked right at all to begin this new campaign.

The Grizzlies’ poor defense was ever so apparent in their 126-123 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Monday night. They allowed dribble penetration on countless of occasions, which then allowed the Bulls to carve them up from beyond the arc en route to a comeback win. Ja Morant’s absence on the night cannot excuse this lack of connectiveness and effort on the defensive end.

There is, of course, plenty of room for the Grizzlies to improve. The Smart-Jackson defensive backbone should still be good moving forward, and the eventual return of Vince Williams Jr. should give Memphis another quality defensive piece.

The center situation, however, has to be resolved. Edey does not look like he’s ready to become the Grizzlies’ starting center. Brandon Clarke looks like a shell of his former self, although it’s hard to blame him too much for this since he’s coming off a major injury. Their best option at the five at the moment is Jay Huff, although Huff is more of an offensively-inclined big man as opposed to a true space-taker in the paint like Adams was for them in the past.

Given how early it is in the season, it’s too early to panic about the Grizzlies’ defense, although improving their effort and communication should be a point of emphasis for them moving forward.

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