The Memphis Grizzlies are almost at training camp, and Tuomas Iisalo walks into it with a roster that’s young, crowded, and still very much in flux. This is a team in the middle of its second rebuild in less than a decade, and the early months will be about sorting out roles as much as building lineups.
A few things already feel settled. Cameron Boozer, the No. 3 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, is not coming off the bench.
Cedric Coward, coming off a reigning All-Rookie NBA 1st Team season, is also locked into a starting role. Zach Edey looks like another pillar, even with Isaiah Stewart and Quinten Post now in the mix.
Iisalo has previously pointed to Edey as a key piece for Memphis on both sides of the floor.
That leaves the two spots that matter most right now: point guard and small forward.
At point guard, the competition has real teeth. Ty Jerome, efficient in a small sample size, would seem to have the edge.
But Scotty Pippen Jr. brings a two-way impact that Jerome doesn’t, and Cam Spencer has already logged plenty of minutes in a combo guard role. With Ja Morant gone, Memphis needs someone to hold that job down - at least for this season - and it does not look like a one-man race.
The wing spot next to Coward is just as unsettled. Jaylen Wells has already shown he can help the Grizzlies, and he’s a former All-Rookie player too. But GG Jackson enters a contract-extension-eligible year with plenty to prove, and Jerami Grant, the biggest name Memphis got back in the Morant trade, averaged more than 18 points per game for Portland last season.
Who Iisalo chooses to start will say plenty about what he values first. And that choice may not stay fixed for long.
This could turn into a season-long search, with the answer shifting by matchup, by week, maybe even by game. Still, the Grizzlies need a place to begin, and they have enough depth to make the decisions difficult.
If Iisalo rolls out a Jerome/Coward/Grant/Boozer/Edey starting five, the next layer of the roster still matters a lot. Scotty Pippen Jr., Isaiah Stewart, Quinten Post and Jaylen Wells would all be in the mix.
Add GG Jackson and Cam Spencer, and Memphis suddenly has 11 players with legitimate cases for minutes. Olivier-Maxence Prosper, who flashed at times to finish last season, and Karim Lopez, the other first-round pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, only add to the squeeze.
There just aren’t enough minutes to satisfy everyone unless Iisalo goes with a 13-man rotation, which seems unlikely.
And the battle doesn’t stop there. Memphis also has D’Angelo Russell, Taylor Hendricks, Walter Clayton Jr., Micah Peavy, Jordan Hawkins and Kris Murray in the mix.
Two of those six will make the final roster. Four won’t.
Russell appears to be the likeliest cut. He can still score, but he remains on the roster mainly for possible trade purposes, with his roughly $5 million salary tied to the recent deal Memphis made with New Orleans. He does not fit the direction the Grizzlies are heading.
The rest of that group is fighting for more than just a spot in camp. Hendricks and Clayton Jr. came to Memphis in the Jaren Jackson Jr. trade, with the draft picks and the large trade exception from that deal - roughly $28.9 million - standing out as the real prize. Peavy and Hawkins arrived in a recent trade, while Murray came over as the other piece in the Grant/Morant deal with Portland.
For those players, the stakes are simple: a full roster spot or the uncertainty that comes with being released and possibly landing on a two-way contract. Iisalo has a lot to sort through, especially at the bottom of the roster.
The question is whether all that competition turns into real edge. That’s what he needs to find out.
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Grizzlies Fans Face A New Watching Decision For Next Season
Memphis fans who want to follow the Grizzlies at home will have a different setup to sort through next season, as the team is moving its local TV and streaming access into a new digital home. The arrangement keeps preseason and regular-season games available to local viewers, while DAZNs subscription options will give fans a few ways to watch depending on how much they want to pay and what features they want included.
One familiar part of the experience is staying put: Pete Pranica, Brevin Knight and Rob Fischer will remain on the broadcast call, giving the team continuity even as the viewing platform changes. For fans, the bigger question now is how the new access model will feel in practice once the games are underway, especially for those used to the old routine of flipping on a regional broadcast and settling in. [Read more 🡒]
Grizzlies Still Have A Real Chance If This New Core Holds Up
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Zach Edey remains one of the biggest swing pieces in that effort, because the teams best stretches last year came when he was on the floor for meaningful minutes and helping anchor the defense. Add in new arrival T.J. Jerome, who flashed real scoring ability in limited work last season, and Memphis has enough of a new core to keep the season from turning into a full reset if the pieces click the way the front office hopes. [Read more 🡒]
Grizzlies Just Reignited A Nashville Debate Memphis Fans Can't Ignore
The Grizzlies are heading back to Nashville for preseason work again next fall, keeping a familiar late-summer routine in place as the franchise continues to stretch its footprint across Tennessee. The team will hold its 2026 training camp at Belmont University, with the annual stay in Music City running from Sept. 29 to Oct. 2.
It will be the third straight year Memphis has used Nashville for its preseason camp, a detail that only adds fuel to an old conversation around the franchises state-wide reach. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has already voiced interest in seeing the Grizzlies play some games in Nashville and serve more broadly as Tennessees team, while also making clear that Memphis remains an important NBA market. [Read more 🡒]