As the Memphis Grizzlies head to Nashville for training camp on Tuesday, Sept. 29, the loudest question isn’t just about Zach Edey’s health or what Cameron Boozer’s rookie season might look like. It’s the way the whole roster stacks up - who gets the starting nod, who settles into the bench mix, and which players are left fighting for one of the final roster spots.
Some pieces already feel set. Ty Jerome looks like the point guard starter, Cedric Coward projects at the two, Boozer at the four and Edey at the five. That leaves the three spot as the real battleground, with Jerami Grant and Jaylen Wells both making strong cases.
Grant brings the heavier scoring punch. He put up 18.6 points per game for the Portland Trail Blazers last season before landing in Memphis with Kris Murray in the Ja Morant deal.
The 6-7 wing has been a steady starter for most of his NBA career, and even last season, when he came off the bench in 19 of his 58 regular season games, he still showed the kind of scoring profile that makes him hard to ignore. He’s also a proven catch-and-shoot threat, hitting 38.9 percent of his threes on 5.8 attempts per game over four seasons in Portland.
Wells, though, has his own argument. He doesn’t create offense the way Grant does, but he brings more on the defensive end.
At 23, he also fits the profile of a player who can handle starter-level minutes over the course of a long season. Wells has spent most of his career in the first five, starting 143 of his 148 regular season games, and he’s been reliable from deep too, making 35 percent of his threes on 5.1 attempts per game.
That matchup creates another possible wrinkle: Grant could end up as the scoring jolt off the bench. Jerome has spent plenty of his career in that kind of role, but with him now projected to start, the Grizzlies may have a bench spark plug spot waiting for Grant instead.
The bigger picture is that Memphis has a lot of bodies and, at least for now, a lot of choices. The team’s depth is more about quantity than proven quality, but Tuomas Iisalo has options. The bench rotation should include whichever of Grant or Wells does not start, along with Isaiah Stewart, Scotty Pippen Jr., Cam Spencer and Quinten Post, even if Post’s role stays limited.
There’s also no shortage of wing and guard traffic. Olivier-Maxence Prosper, GG Jackson, Taylor Hendricks and Karim Lopez are all in the mix to play either the three or the four, while Javon Small is a lock to get minutes in some capacity, even if the exact amount remains unclear.
Memphis has 19 players on standard contracts, which means four of them will not survive to the final 15-man roster. Right now, D'Angelo Russell and Murray look like the clearest names out, which leaves Micah Peavy, Jordan Hawkins and Walter Clayton Jr. in a tighter battle.
If those three perform at a similar level in camp and preseason, the decision may come down to fit. Clayton had a rough rookie season but showed flashes of playmaking at point guard in Iisalo's offense.
Hawkins offers more off-ball value and looks like the better outside shooter. Peavy, at 6-7, brings the most size of the group and can handle either the two or the three.
That’s the shape of Memphis entering camp: a roster built to create choices, not just fill slots. At this stage of the rebuild, that may be exactly the point.
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Grizzlies Just Opened A Bigger Backcourt Question Before Camp
The Grizzlies have already made one of the clearest roster decisions of their new era by waiving DAngelo Russell before training camp even gets underway. After the offseason trade of Ja Morant to Portland, Memphis moved quickly to signal that its focus is no longer on patching together a veteran backcourt, but on leaning into a reset built around younger guards and draft assets.
Russell had arrived earlier in the offseason, but the fit never looked like a long-term one for a team reworking its timeline. Memphis still has several guards on the roster, and the bigger picture now centers on how the franchise surrounds young pieces such as Cameron Boozer and Zach Edey while it sorts out the backcourt hierarchy for the season ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Grizzlies Just Made A Sharp Backcourt Call Before Opening Night
Memphis kept its backcourt moving this week as it continued to sort out the roster ahead of opening night. DAngelo Russell arrived as part of a recent six-team trade, but the Grizzlies are still working through the practical side of that deal while balancing their guard rotation and cap situation before the season begins.
Brendan Hausen is the latest addition, giving Memphis another young guard look after the team brought him in as an undrafted rookie. The Grizzlies remain responsible for Russells fully guaranteed expiring salary, so this was as much about roster management as it was about the on-court picture, and the bigger question now is how the final guard group settles once the regular season gets underway. [Read more 🡒]