MEMPHIS – His calendar isn’t out of sync.
But considering the past year Ja Morant and his team endured, it’s just simpler to process this new beginning with the ultimate end goal in mind.
The realities that exist for the Grizzlies on the eve of October’s start to training camp are framed by the expectations that loom next June.
“Let’s be locked in way more mentally, focusing on whatever is needed to be ready for June,” Morant said of the revamped Grizzlies’ hopes to still be competing in the month the NBA Finals begin. “It’s a long season, but that’s what our mindset needs to be, starting from Day 1. We need to practice and play and be ready like we’re a championship team.”
In some ways, Memphis on Monday was similar to the NBA’s 29 other teams that used Media Day platforms to set positive tones ahead of the upcoming season. But there are factors that make the Grizzlies distinctively unique among teams that consider themselves title contenders.
The Grizzlies open training camp Tuesday with their star core of Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane healthy and available for the first time in two years. They’ve made major changes to the staff of assistants under sixth-year coach Taylor Jenkins. And after enduring battle scars, growing pains, injuries and adversity, the Grizzlies are primed for a breakthrough.
Media Day is mostly about talk. So, the Grizzlies fulfilled that obligation. But there was a different layer of meaning behind their words entering camp this time. This team is no longer mainly motivated to disprove doubters or to demand respect from league prognosticators.
A more mature Grizzlies team is eager to go about business a different way.
With Morant back after missing all but nine games last season to a suspension and shoulder surgery, the Grizzlies’ two-time NBA All-Star is committed to leading with a laser-like focus.
With Jackson and Bane alongside ready to learn from a frustrating 27-55 season, the Grizzlies are poised to bounce back from missing the playoffs for the first time in five years.
And with 7-foot-4 rookie lottery pick Zach Edey positioned to fill the team’s biggest void with a chiseled 290-pound frame and expanded game, Memphis believes it has retooled for a run back to contender status in the vaunted Western Conference.
“I don’t think there’s really anything else to be said,” Jackson said of channeling last season’s pain into this season’s progress. “We can’t wait to get back (at it). It’s been a long summer. Make something out of what happened. There were a lot of trials and tribulations, and you’ve got to make it worth it. So, we’re just trying to put that all together.”
From the ownership and front-office level, there’s still a tremendous amount of belief and confidence in what this team can accomplish. The Grizzlies are just two seasons removed from this same core fueling five straight postseason appearances and two consecutive second-place finishes in the West standings.
In Morant, Jackson and Bane, the Grizzlies have invested max-level contracts in all three players and surrounded them with solid veterans in Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard. Edey, the NCAA’s two-time national college player of the year out of Purdue, anchors a group of new additions.
By all accounts, the Grizzlies are ready to turn their potential into promise.
“Having Ja, Desmond and Jaren, that’s one of, if not the best, three-man cores in the NBA,” said Zach Kleiman, Grizzlies president of basketball operations and general manager. “We’ve spent years trying to think about what are the type of players that fit best around them. It’s been a while since we had everyone out there at the same time. But I believe in the fit. We’re ready to hit the ground running. We need to show we’re capable of playing with expectations.”
The Grizzlies open camp with somewhat limited depth due to recent injuries in offseason workouts. Swingmen GG Jackson and Vince Williams Jr., who both cashed in on promising seasons amid the roster’s rash of injuries last season, will miss the start of the season.
Jackson had surgery last month on a broken bone in his foot and will be reevaluated in early December. Williams will likely miss at least a month to recover from a stress fracture in his leg.
Kleiman confirmed the Grizzlies will enter camp with 13 players on standard NBA contracts, with two spots available. While the training camp roster stands at the league max of 20 total players, the Grizzlies have flexibility to maneuver in the coming weeks to address needs.
For now, the priority is to get the veteran core reacclimated with one another early in camp and see who else emerges from the roster to potentially fill voids. The Grizzlies hold three days of camp in Nashville before opening the preseason Monday against the Mavericks. It’s the first of five exhibition games before the Grizzlies’ regular-season opener Oct. 23 on the road at Utah.
After seeing his frontline stars play only a handful of games together last season, Jenkins looks forward to setting a new standard with those familiar faces over the initial days of camp.
“These guys are wired a little differently than we’ve been in the past,” Jenkins assured of a more businesslike approach entering the season. “We realize we haven’t done enough. It’s a shared purpose on what we can control, knowing we want to get back to our winning recipe. There’s excitement but we have to be on a mission, a mission we control every single day.”
Stack up enough of those kinds of days starting now.
Eventually, that workday calendar flips to June.