Morant ushers in new era for Grizzlies
Ja Morant walked to the stage in the Fedexforum lobby June 21 afternoon through a human tunnel of Memphis Grizzlies fans. Their cheers nearly drowned out the beat of the drum line that trailed him. Their phones were held aloft recording every second of this moment.
Some already had on custom-made Morant jerseys and T-shirts. Others made the 170-mile drive from Murray, Kentucky, to coronate Morant once more, less than 24 hours after the Grizzlies officially selected him with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft.
This was the same place Jaren Jackson Jr. was feted a year ago, but this post-draft press conference felt different. And it wasn’t just because the response to Morant has been far more joyous than the muted response that greeted Jackson.
These proceedings felt bigger because of who wasn’t there this time.
Gone from the dais were former General Manager Chris Wallace and interim-turned-permanent head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, replaced by new executive vice president of basketball operations Zach Kleiman and new coach Taylor Jenkins.
Gone were any references to fitting in with Mike Conley or Marc Gasol hanging over the proceedings, or incorporating a modern twist on “Grit and Grind.”
This was a celebration for a new era, an era Kleiman alluded to as the clock approached midnight June 20 and he reflected on what the Grizzlies accomplished this week.
“The idea of Ja and Jaren out there,” he said, “it’s going to be an exciting brand of basketball.”
Bye, bye stuck in the mud, and hello pace and space. Farewell rock fights, and greetings to hoppin’ and poppin’.
This much is clear after the past couple days, given what the Grizzlies got in return for Conley and what they drafted.
They’ve now got a dynamic, athletic point guard known for highlight-reel dunks and scintillating vision to go along with their 6-foot-11 unicorn who can shoot 3-pointers, play with his back to the basket, and take defenders off the dribble.
They added another 6-foot-8 forward in Brandon Clarke, who has a 40-inch vertical, who had more blocks than missed shots last season at Gonzaga, who could be on the receiving end of many an alley oop courtesy of Morant.
Together, this trio will bring the Grizzlies up to speed with the rest of the NBA and continue the trend that began once Memphis upped its tempo and scoring following the trade deadline.
“This is obviously a momentous occasion for the Grizzlies and what we’re going to be building here moving forward,” Jenkins said Friday (June 21).
The Grizzlies were light on specifics, especially because some arcane NBA rules prohibit team officials from speaking publicly about the Conley trade with the Utah Jazz, which included the draft pick that became Clarke.
But Jenkins called Morant a great fit for “how we’re going to play with great pace and space and athleticism." He declared Morant and Jackson a "dynamic duo.” He praised Morant’s advanced skills at reading defenses in the pickand-roll, penetrating the lane and creating for others, particularly behind the 3-point-line.
“What we want to emphasize here as we’re building out the Grizzlies is that combination of basketball IQ (and) competitiveness,” Kleiman said. “We think that if we, across the board as we’re working through the roster here, find like-minded guys like that who want to work, who want to get better and have that mentality, we think we might just turn out OK here.”
Now let's be clear: There’s a very good chance the Grizzlies lose more games than they did a year ago with Morant and Jackson and Clarke all getting heavy minutes and learning on the job. They’ll also need to surround them with more 3-point shooters over time in order to fully realize Jenkins’ vision.
But it sounds a whole lot more appealing than last year’s archaic “against the grain” motif that ran counter (and I use ran very loosely) to every trend in the modern NBA. Maybe that worked once upon a time with Z-BO and Tony and Marc and Mike. But last year’s lastgasp attempt to re-create that magic failed miserably as the season progressed.
This new style, and the plan Memphis seems to be implementing, looks a lot like what the Atlanta Hawks did this past season. Yes, they only won 25 games. But behind Trae Young on the perimeter and John Collins inside, they played their best basketball at the end of the year and left fans salivating over what’s in store.
They were more entertaining than successful, and that might be enough right now for all the people who showed up to Fedexforum.
You can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Mark Giannotto via email at mgiannotto@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter: @mgiannotto