New Orleans Pelicans: Power ranking the Southwest Division
#3 – Memphis Grizzlies
The first real surprise of the list, I have the Memphis Grizzlies falling in the middle of the pack. The Grizzlies have a lot of good, but not a lot of great, which I expect to catch up to them sooner rather than later.
Everything in Memphis starts with athletic freak Ja Morant. To be honest, I’m not nearly as high on Morant as many in the media are. I think offensively- he is still incredibly inconsistent game-to-game. His outside shot is streaky at best, and he tends to compound mistakes. Defensively he is a liability and is routinely picked out on that side of the floor.
He’s an impressive young talent; that is undeniable. The issue is in a West that continues to improve- I don’t like him as the best player on a team.
They made the playoffs last year, but it took injuries and dysfunction to multiple teams better than them to do so. It’s hard for me to imagine such lightning strikes twice.
Outside of Morant, this team lacks above-average talent. Dillon Brooks is probably the second-best player on this team, which is probably not a good thing. Brooks is a high-energy defender who has bothered the likes of Steph Curry with his motor and quickness. Offensively he is a mess, one of the biggest mixed-bags the NBA has to offer.
Their off-season moves depleted their talent even further, losing Jonas Valanciunas to the Pelicans and replacing him with the package of Zaire Williams, Steven Adams, and Eric Bledsoe. Williams had an awful year at Stanford and was drafted highly because of what he did in high school. Adams and Bledsoe looked outdated with the Pelicans last year. Their inability to stretch the floor hurt the team dramatically and won’t fair any better in Grind City.
The likes of Kyle Anderson, Desmond Bane, and De’Anthony Melton are fine players, but no one you want to turn on League Pass to watch. This team is painfully average, with an uber-talented conductor at the helm. This team has the 10 seed written all over them.