4 thoughts on Grizzlies firing Taylor Jenkins
The Memphis Grizzlies shockingly fired Taylor Jenkins Friday afternoon. What events cultivated into this decision? What lies ahead for the Grizzlies?
The Memphis Grizzlies sent shockwaves throughout the league by parting ways with Taylor Jenkins Friday morning. It’s a move you don’t expect at this time of year. It definitely took a minute to process it.
Based off what we’ve heard since then, it’s a move that was surprising based off purely timing, and it lays the groundwork for an important 2025 for the Memphis Grizzlies.
Timing + Reasoning
The timing for firing Taylor Jenkins came at a complete surprise. It’s unprecedented for a coach to be fired this close to the playoffs. Only Larry Brown has been fired in-season with more wins — which happened in the early 1980’s.
If you boil down the trends, things start to piece together for what happened. Ahead of Jenkins’ departure, the Grizzlies won two games against .500 teams since February — the Milwaukee Bucks and an injury-ravaged Dallas Mavericks. They had a run of three games lost within the final moments in early March, which possessed several late-game head-scratchers — including rotation decisions and timeout management. Long a trademark of Taylor Jenkins’ system, the defense had sputtered as their 116.0 Defensive Rating is 20th in the NBA since the turn of the calendar year.
Since the All-Star break, it didn’t really look like things were churning. Before the Lakers game, they’ve been 8-11 with a -0.2 NET rating. The majority of them were close. The urgency never felt right for this stretch of the season. In this recent 5-game road trip, the Grizzlies went 1-4 with all the losses coming by double-digits — and 3 of them were defeats by 15 or more points.
That combination — along with reports of a possibly losing the team — typically leads to a dismissal. The timing of it is shocking. It’s mostly common for a team to let the coach finish the season before a decision, especially this late into the year.
Reflection on Taylor Jenkins’ tenure
I think something that gets lost in sports discussions on social media is nuance. It’s possible to think Taylor Jenkins is a good coach, while acknowledging that it was time for a change. In fact, Taylor Jenkins is a great coach, but it was just time for both parties to go separate ways.
So now down memory lane into this belief.
In 2019, Taylor Jenkins went into his first NBA head coaching job with an organization rebuilding. The Grizzlies had just traded Mike Conley and Marc Gasol, with their eyes now turned towards a future around Jaren Jackson Jr. and Ja Morant. Aside from last season’s injury-ravaged campaign, the Grizzlies never endured the real struggles from a rebuild.
In year one, they were the 8th seed when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, before losing in the inaugural play-in game in the Bubble. In year two, they navigated a large portion of the season without Jaren Jackson Jr., and made the playoffs through the play-in. Years three and four, they won 56 and 51 games as the Western Conference’s second-best team.
All throughout the way he’s dealt with injuries (Ja Morant has only played more than 60 games since the 2021-22 season, and Jaren Jackson Jr. missed almost his entire third year) and off-court issues. He handled everything quite well. One of the pieces of evidence is how the Grizzlies found success through the “next man up” moments — improbable wins when a chunk of the rotation is out, Ziaire Williams starting for Dillon Brooks when he missed 50 games for injury in 2021-22, or Xavier Tillman stepping up for big playoff moments with Brandon Clarke and Steven Adams out in 2023. Then the Grizzlies have seen several development successes — most notably, Desmond Bane and Santi Aldama.
Yes, you don’t get to those places without the players performing on the court, or without a front office identifying the talent. However, the player development the coaching staff invests in is impactful in this machine. It’s a union necessary for success.
As Zach Kleiman kicked his Saturday media availability with, “he leaves the team in a much better position than when he started.”
A bet on Tuomas Iisalo
Tuomas Iisalo is the Memphis Grizzlies’ interim head coach. For unfamiliar parties, Iisalo came over from the Euroleague, where he was the head coach for Paris Basketball. He quickly turned the Paris Basketball club into one of the Euroleague’s best squads, putting together a lethal offensive system.
Now, Iisalo is the interim head coach for the Memphis Grizzlies with nine games left and postseason basketball on the way. Seems like pressure is high? It’s a bet on Iisalo.
With this stretch, it is a test for Iisalo to see how his offense and his performance looks against the NBA’s best teams in high-stakes basketball. And the biggest question is what the offense will look like. Iisalo already said he’ll be running more pick-and-roll, which is a feature of his offense. I’m interested in the minutes and rotations, as playing in bursts is a part of his philosophy.
Something I found a bit noteworthy. The Grizzlies also let go of Noah LaRoche and Patrick St. Andrews on Friday. Is this another component of going fully in on Iisalo’s system? Again, just an observation, as LaRoche’s de-emphasis on pick-and-roll was a factor in the Grizzlies’ system this season.
A ton of change isn’t expected, as time was a constraint that Iisalo reiterated several times in his pregame media availability. However, even if the timing of the firing is perplexing, this stretch is a live audition for how Tuomas Iisalo looks as a NBA head coach.
Important months ahead
In Zach Kleiman’s media availability, the following words/phrases stood out:
best interest of the team
urgency is a core principle
I’m not trying to absolve myself of anything
The combination of these phrases sets up a paramount several months for the Memphis Grizzlies. Obviously these nine games are important for playoff seeding, and then there’s the postseason to in a few weeks.
Then, the offseason. I won’t dive into it in its totality until the season is over, and when I have more knowledge on what exactly the Grizzlies can do financially this summer. Regardless, they have Jaren Jackson Jr.’s contract to settle. First, second, and third priority for Memphis — hopefully All-NBA makes it less complicated. The coaching decision is crucial as well. Then, Santi Aldama’s restricted free agency. Before accounting for any of that, the Grizzlies can open up roughly $6M in cap space and be around $50M away from the luxury tax, per Cleaning the Glass. They will also have their picks from 2027 to 2032 for trades.
These next few months will be important in re-solidifying the Memphis Grizzlies as a dangerous championship contender in the Western Conference.
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