The Grizzlies are ramping up towards 2024-25 season

Desmond Bane and Brandon Clarke's returns signal another component of the Grizzlies' sights towards the 2024-25 season -- one with pros and cons.

This week has seen some pretty cool developments. Trey Jemison had the best game of his NBA career Tuesday night in a decisive win. Scotty Pippen Jr. returned on Wednesday after a 3-week back injury — dropping dimes and dunking on players.

Perhaps the biggest, most important development though happened off the court.

In pregame on Tuesday, Taylor Jenkins provided some injury updates on Desmond Bane and Brandon Clarke. He indicated that Bane would be back soon, and Clarke could follow at the end of the month — while also mentioning they’re both doing 5-on-5. The next day, in Grizzlies PR’s inactive report, Desmond Bane was listed as “doubtful” for Wednesday’s game — which in Grizz terms is, “hey not this game but probably in the next couple games.” And now Bane is listed as questionable for tonight’s game against the Thunder with an eye towards a return after a sprained ankle that sidelined him for 2 months.

Desmond Bane and Brandon Clarke’s returns signal that the Grizzlies are looking to close the vicious 2023-24 season strong by ramping up for the 2024-25 campaign.

Now people will ask — and are asking — if it’s a good idea.

There are pros and cons for sure. I see both sides of the coin.

The obvious con is injury risk. Yes, adding another long-term injury to the fold before the season closes in a stretch of games with no playoff implications would be a massive blow ahead of next season. On the other hand, if the rationale is “don’t risk injury,” then should Bane be in bubblewrap until October? Reminder: Jaren Jackson Jr. hurt his foot in offseason training before the 2022-23 season and missed 15 games. Ja Morant had his season-ending shoulder injury in a walkthrough. Injuries can happen in and out of games.

When the Grizzlies bring back Bane and Clarke, they will be smart about it. There will be games the two sit due to “injury recovery maintenance” — a designation we’ve seen from players with long-term injuries before. I don’t see them playing 30+ minutes often either.

People will also point to lottery positioning, and how their returns could hurt their odds of a top-4 pick. You have to note — there’s not much movement for the Grizzlies. They’re wrestling with Raptors for the 6th best lottery odds, currently tied with them. Reminder though, the Raptors owe a top-6 protected pick to the Spurs. Is there potential incentive to let Toronto pass the Grizzlies in the lottery odds to prevent a division foe from getting 2 top-8 picks? Something to consider. Then, they have 3.5 games separating them and the Brooklyn Nets for 8th-best odds, and the Nets have no incentive to bolster their lottery odds because it goes to Houston regardless. And they can’t really move up to 5, as Portland has a 3.5-game separation over them.

So there’s not much left to do to hurt their lottery odds. They will have the 6th or 7th best lottery odds regardless.

Which brings me to my overarching point: there’s value in bringing them back for several games to close the season.

Desmond Bane’s return signals a small shift towards normalized, optimal roles for the players around him. Young guys like GG Jackson and Vince Williams will have a high-level playmaker to play off of, capitalizing off the gravity and looks he generates within the flow of the offense. In addition, it’s a nice chemistry builder ahead of next season, especially in the case of GG Jackson who hasn’t played a minute alongside Bane yet.

With Clarke, it’s nice to have him come back for a “cameo,” as Zach Kleiman referred to his return as in the trade deadline press conference. The achilles injury is a devastating injury, and returning even for a couple games could be good to overcome potential mental hurdles. In addition, there’s a big difference between not playing any games for 12 months (a return this season) and 18 months (waiting for 2024-25).

When it comes to injuries and prevention of them, I pivot to the point too that for guys like Desmond Bane and Brandon Clarke that they should play if they’re comfortable doing so — under the assumption the benefit outweighs the risk, in the eyes of the organization. If they want to get game reps in before the end of the season, it’s totally fine. They’re key players for this team going forward.

At the end of the day, everything the Grizzlies have done in 2024 — since the injuries to Ja Morant, Marcus Smart, and Desmond Bane — has been to gear up for 2024-25 and beyond. The front office replenished their asset collection and adjusted their books to give them more flexibility going into the offseason. They’ve provided reps to young guys like GG Jackson, Vince Williams, Ziaire Williams, and Jake LaRavia to get further evaluation on their skillsets and fits going forward.

And now, Desmond Bane and Brandon Clarke’s returns signal another element of their 2024-25 ramp-up: to get reps for two key components in next season’s plans, alongside players that have emerged into those plans.

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