The Isaiah Stewart trade is now in the books, and for Memphis, it lands like the kind of move that had been staring the Grizzlies in the face for a while. Fans have every reason to be excited about Stewart as a culture fit and as dependable Zach Edey insurance. But the biggest winner here may be Tuomas Iisalo.
Iisalo’s first season in Memphis was anything but smooth. The roster was battered by injuries early, then eventually shifted into tanking mode, which left him trying to piece together lineups without a full frontcourt to work with.
There are still real questions about his substitution patterns and about how he can best get the most out of his top talent. Even so, it’s hard to hammer him too hard when so much of the season was spent without the kind of healthy big-man rotation his system clearly needs.
That’s where Stewart comes in. Memphis badly needed another rim protector, and the need became even more obvious when Zach Edey went down again after a strong 11 games.
The Grizzlies went 7-4 with Edey and showed clear improvement on both ends, especially defensively. Without him, the frontcourt issues got exposed fast, and Iisalo’s system took the hit.
Jock Landale gave the team his best offensive season, but he didn’t bring the rim protection Memphis needed. The center spot turned into a revolving door, and after the trade deadline the Grizzlies chose not to add more bodies, aiming instead to maximize draft positioning. That made sense for the rebuild, but it also underlined how thin the front line had become.
Stewart should help in a way the Grizzlies have been missing. He can score some, he can stretch the floor a bit, but the real value is what he does around the rim.
That defensive presence is exactly what Memphis lacked. Christian Koloko offered a useful boost in a small sample, even without much offensive involvement, but the Grizzlies let him go after two 10-day contracts and the paint defense slipped.
If Edey had stayed healthy and Memphis had another dependable defensive backup center, the team might have been in the playoff conversation. Stewart isn’t just a fill-in; he looks like the kind of piece that can actually stabilize those minutes and give Iisalo something he didn’t have enough of last season.
The Grizzlies clearly understood this offseason that the non-Edey minutes were a problem. Cam Boozer may end up being a franchise-altering pick after going third overall this summer, but outside of Boozer, Stewart might be the most important addition Memphis made.
For Iisalo, the fit is obvious: rim protection, toughness, and three-point shooting. After a rough debut season, he now has a roster with more room to grow and, in Stewart, maybe the ideal veteran to help push the next phase forward.
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