Grizzlies: 6 priorities for the 2026 offseason
The Memphis Grizzlies' season has come to a somber close. What should the Grizzlies' priorities be this offseason to embark on a rebuild?
The Memphis Grizzlies campaign has come to a close, and it was a whirlwind of a season that felt divided into many segments.
The early season returns for impressions on a new coach, a lottery rookie, and a shuffled supporting cast were quickly overshadowed by an abundance of injuries to key players, then Ja Morant’s very public dissatisfaction from something the coaching staff did. Those factors led to a slow start.
Then, the Edey stretch came next. He returned from injury, and even without a fully healthy roster, the team felt more complete. They were 7-4 in games Edey played this year, and they outscored their opponents by over 17.5 points per 100 possessions.
Once Edey was out, Morant came back, and the stretch resembled a “weather the storm until the calvary comes back.”
The help’s return didn’t fully matter. Ty Jerome and Scotty Pippen Jr. returned at the end of January, beginning of February. Brandon Clarke returned for 5 quarters before straining his calf. Edey never returned. It also didn’t matter, because reports came out that the Grizzlies were entertaining trade offers for Ja Morant. From there, the Grizzlies just hung around as everyone waited for the shoe to drop. What dropped though was unexpected:
Jaren Jackson Jr. traded to the Utah Jazz in a deal that brought young prospects, cap relief, and draft capital — bringing Memphis towards having the most first-round picks among any other team aside from Oklahoma City and Brooklyn. It was a full roster upheaval that saw them trade Jackson, John Konchar, Vince Williams, and Jock Landale. It signaled an era wrapping up and a rebuild imminent.
For the remainder of the season, the team focused on the development of young players and the cautious health of its roster.1
So now, the Grizzlies are entering an offseason where the intention is clear: rebuild. They’ll be sixth in lottery odds. How things shake out with the Orlando Magic and Phoenix Suns in the play-in tournament could lead to another lottery pick. Complex decisions are ahead, and the priorities feel clear.
Ja Morant resolution
Let’s start with the elephant in the room. The Grizzlies have to come to a resolution with their relationship with Ja Morant. It’s going to be tough, uncomfortable, and popular.
How we got here is something that can be saved for another day. Nonetheless, a combination of availability, off-court issues, stagnation, and organizational tension have created a situation where the best thing for both parties is to move on.
The resolution comes down to where Zach Kleiman draws the line in the sand of a trade. What’s the threshold for him to make a deal? Early reports from ESPN’s Shams Charania suggested a package of picks and young prospects. I’m not sure that package will be had. However, suitors should emerge after teams don’t achieve their desired outcomes in the postseason.
If the Grizzlies can get salary fodder, a solid prospect, and a pick, then maybe it suffices.
It’s going to be an unpopular move, but this resolution is necessary for both parties to move forward.
Zach Edey health/contingency plan
The Grizzlies will be going through another offseason where Zach Edey is recovering from another ankle surgery — his second procedure in a calendar year. It’s worrisome when you factor in the foot history with bigs that are massive. The wish, hope, and dream is for modern medicine to prevail.
This year, the Grizzlies had signed Jock Landale to replace Jay Huff as their 5th big man. He performed quite well in those minutes, but he also received more playing time than expected because of Edey’s injury and Brandon Clarke, who was also hurt for all but 2 games this year.
The Grizzlies need to bring in a big body in some capacity, and you can argue that they should target two centers for depth.
They have mechanisms to bring in more size. They have a monstrous traded player exception. A trade is the likely mechanism to do so, and the Grizzlies could seek a big in a Morant deal or one that balances the positional makeup a bit more.
They can also draft that 5th. Aday Mara may not be the guy with their first pick and will likely be gone before their second pick, but he’d absolutely rule. I like Jayden Quaintance and Patrick Ngongba, but I worry about going with a big man whose seasons were derailed by lingering injuries. Other big men I’d like in Memphis: Motiejus Krivas, Tarris Reed, and Zuby Ejiofor.
They could target a veteran through trade or free agency, then sign another one to a two-way contract. This would be my preferred plan.
Regardless, Edey’s health will be significantly important this summer, and their contingency plan for his availability may be just as important.
The other potential need (PF)
Sneakily, the Grizzlies have another potential need to address this summer: the power forward position.
Santi Aldama is the incumbent, and he’s a viable starting option. While people may scoff at what he provides defensively, his skillset meshes with Edey’s quite well and with Iisalo’s system. He’s a dribble-pass-shoot 7-footer. The combination of shooting and passing in particular is good to have in the frontcourt when Edey is more of a paint-oriented play-finisher. His playmaking acumen is functional in Iisalo’s system, where they run a lot of Flow and pick-and-roll offense.
Off the bench, the Grizzlies have three different players that can compete for this spot: GG Jackson, Taylor Hendricks, and Olivier-Maxence Prosper. All three players provide different skills, but they’re all bigger forwards that are good athletes and can shoot the ball.
If the Grizzlies decide to go with a different direction — and a high draft pick in Cam Boozer and Caleb Wilson’s range could force them too — they need to identify a plus-level playmaker for the 4 spot to complement Edey and open up different dimensions to their offense.
How they address the power forward position could signal what type of team they want to build.
The traded player exception
The Grizzlies have the largest traded player exception in NBA history, allowing them to absorb up to $28.8M in salary.
They will likely use it to take on salary in some capacity. Teams will look to trim costs to stray further from the luxury tax, open up different options in free agency, and simply go in a different direction. When the Grizzlies generated a $25M traded player exception after the Mike Conley trade, they acquired a lightly protected first-round pick to take Andre Iguodala’s salary.
We’ll likely see another trade in this capacity. I’m curious about the direction they go here. It shouldn’t be used as a dump-and-waive mechanism to simply acquire another pick. I’d like for them to add a veteran that can help them on and off the floor.
As the playoff and transactional landscape unfolds in the coming months, we can toy around with different options. One angle I’d like to keep in my back pocket is how Denver manages the Peyton Watson situation. He had a big breakout this year but wasn’t offered an extension coming into the season. To avoid deeper luxury tax penalties, could they dangle Cam Johnson in trade talks? If so, the Grizzlies absorb his money outright with pick compensation. They could have Johnson around as a veteran that can keep things organized, raise the offensive floor, and be a good locker room presence. Then, they could look to trade up for assets at the deadline.
Just keeping an eye on that.
They could also use this in a sign-and-trade, similar to what the Hawks did to pick up Nickeil Alexander-Walker last offseason.
Regardless, the Grizzlies should look to use this TPE to add someone that can help the young players in a rebuild.
Veterans
And that leads me to veterans. The Grizzlies should ensure they have the right veterans around the young players, and Zach Kleiman did mention that after the trade deadline.
Taj Gibson was a signal of it. He’s been around young teams like the Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards, and Charlotte Hornets in recent years. He fits the role of the Udonis Haslem types — hardly used on the floor but can really mentor young players and serve as a bridge between the players and coaching staff. He’s on a non-guaranteed deal, so it’d be surprising if he’s back.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will likely pick up his $22M player option this summer. I’m not sure what he’d net in a trade, unless the Grizzlies are taking back bad money in terms of money and extra years. He’s a 3-and-D veteran with championship experience and a good presence in the locker room.
The two interesting players are Ty Jerome and Santi Aldama. They’re both young veterans. Jerome has been sort of an extension of the coaching staff on the floor with how he runs the offense and was a dynamite when he played — averaging 19.7 points and 5.7 assists (just 1.8 turnovers per game) in just 22.6 minutes per game. Jerome has been around a bunch of different teams, including an early 2020s Oklahoma City Thunder team in a rebuild. Aldama is on the NBPA, which can offer good perspective for young players growing into leaders, but his off-court value is also tied to his corporate knowledge with the organization and what it takes to be a playoff team in Memphis.
Both players raise the floor of an offense, and they will keep the system more organized. They’re productive and on good contracts. If the Grizzlies happen to be a surprise team next year, they have playoff experience. However, when you blend productivity and good contracts, they should hold the most trade value on the team for the offense.
I wouldn’t really be for an offseason trade unless it’s an offer you can’t refuse — mainly with a first-round pick. Jerome and Aldama achieve a good level of veterans that are more playable and impactful. The GrzNxtGen era showed the value of that with guys like Steven Adams, Jonas Valanciunas, and Tyus Jones. If it’s not Jerome and Aldama fulfilling that role, the Grizzlies have to ensure they have veterans that can play significant, helpful minutes with their young players.
The Grizzlies’ roster will likely shuffle, and through it, it’ll be interesting to see what kinds of veterans they bring into the organization.
Stay in the top-7 — or jump into it
How the Grizzlies operate at the NBA Draft lays the foundation for likely the rest of the decade. The Grizzlies are 6th in lottery odds with a 37.2 percent chance at a top-four pick, then a 9 percent shot at the number one pick.
At the same time, it’s just as likely they fall from 6th, as they have a 54.2 percent chance at picks 7-10.
The lottery balls are out of the Grizzlies’ control. Statistically speaking, the Grizzlies have roughly a 75 percent chance at selecting 1 of the 7 between AJ Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer, Darryn Peterson, Caleb Wilson, Keaton Wagler, Kingston Flemings, or Darius Acuff.
That is a significant opportunity to add a guy that can be a pillar for the next era.
The fall-off from that 7 to 8 could be steep, but you also never know who can rise through this process. Mikel Brown Jr. and Jayden Quaintance are young and talented but come with real injury risk. Nate Ament will get buzz there, but he’s physically far off from contributing at a top-10 pick level. Yaxel Lendeborg is older yet super productive, but not necessarily an inspiring top-10 pick. I have Aday Mara as a top-10 guy, but it wouldn’t make sense for Memphis. If they are outside the top-7: Brayden Burries, Labaron Philon, and Dailyn Swain.
Lottery luck would be great to jump up to get one of the top-7. If the Grizzlies fall to 8-10, they have a boatload of assets to move up — particularly a Lakers’ 2027 top-4 protected, best of Utah/Cleveland/Minnesota’s pick next year, a 2029 top-2 protected swap with Orlando, a 2030 first-round pick from the Magic, and a 2031 first-round pick from the Suns. They can even use their assets to move up into the top-4.
No matter which way the lottery balls fall, the Grizzlies should look to do whatever it takes to land one of those 7 prospects. Between this pick, whatever happens with the Magic/Suns pick, and their 32nd selection — on top of their treasure chest of draft capital — I’d expect the Grizzlies to be active on draft night.
The Grizzlies will have their first offseason of the rebuild. It’s important they use this to build a roadmap for a promising future that can unlock higher outcomes than what we’ve seen in past iterations. In addition, they’ll have to sell fans on why the future is bright and why there’s still joy in the presence, despite the fact that franchise star Ja Morant has likely played his last game as a Grizzly.
It’s going to be a fascinating offseason. They have tools to operate their rebuild in a significant capacity this summer — draft capital, financial flexibility, and trade mechanisms to accompany a promising group of young players and a coach with a good vision. I wouldn’t anticipate inactivity. Zach Kleiman and company have the tools in place to sell Memphis Grizzlies fans on brighter days off Beale Street next season and beyond.
Lottery balls would help all of this, so may the odds ever be in Memphis’ favor.
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You know… what about 10 other teams in the league did too.