The Memphis Grizzlies were seen as a potential championship contender heading into the 2023-24, but due to injuries and the off-the-court issues that limited superstar Ja Morant’s availability, they instead fell to a lowly level of mediocrity not witnessed in several years, as they finished off with the seventh-worst record in the association at 27-55.
Despite this, however, excitement for what this team can accomplish in 2024-25 is rather high among Grind City nation, and franchise legend Zach Randolph recently went about and preached enthusiasm about his former employers on a recent episode of Podcast P with Paul George, predicting that Taylor Jenkins’ core will likely be at full strength next season and even provided a bit of personal insight into the health status of the team’s current cornerstone point guard.
Zach Randolph provides insight on health of Grizzlies star Ja Morant
“Everybody was injured but next year everybody’s going to come back healthy. I talked with Ja, I [saw] him a couple of weeks ago. He’s looking good and he’s ready so he’s been working. His shoulder’s healing. Jaren [Jackson Jr.], he’s healthy. We got Brandon [Clarke] coming back. Marcus [Smart’s] going to be back healthy. [Desmond] Bane, he’s healthy so next year we’re going to be a team to be reckoned with. We’re gonna be right back at the top next year, guaranteed.”- Zach Randolph
With this core of Morant, Desmond Bane, and Jaren Jackson Jr. leading the charge, prior to this past season the Grizzlies had accumulated an overall regular season record of 107-57 from 2021-2023 and claimed the franchise’s only two Southwest Division titles along the way.
Unfortunately, all three of these studs saw limited action this past campaign, particularly Morant who was held to just nine games played as a result of a 25-game suspension to kick off the year and a right shoulder subluxation that required season-ending surgery in early January.
Now, with a full summer ahead of them for this team to get some much-needed rest and rehabilitation, the hope is that, come next season, Memphis’ core will come in at full strength and reclaim their status as one of the best ball clubs the devastatingly competitive Western Conference has to offer.
Based on Randolph’s thoughts and intel, everything seems to be on the right track for the franchise.
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