Herrington: What are the Grizzlies doing this summer? Just listen to them.
The Memphis Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman listens to Javon Small speak at a June 27 press conference. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)
Chris Herrington
Chris Herrington has covered the Memphis Grizzlies, in one way or another, since the franchise’s second season in Memphis, while also writing about music, movies, food and civic life. As far as he knows, he’s the only member of the Professional Basketball Writers Association who is also a member of a film critics group and has also voted in national music critic polls for Rolling Stone and the Village Voice (RIP). He and his wife have two kids and, for reasons that sometimes elude him, three dogs.
If you really want to know what the Memphis Grizzlies are up to, here’s a novel suggestion that’s so far proven reliable: Just listen to them.
It can sometimes be hard to see — or hear — what’s right in front of you. But not only has this been a tumultuous couple of months for the Grizzlies: getting swept out of the playoffs in April followed by a coaching hire and the trade of franchise stalwart Desmond Bane. It’s also been a perhaps unusually candid couple of months.
At a season-closing media session after the playoff loss, Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman asserted the team simply wasn’t close enough to competing at the league’s highest level and would need to get “uncomfortable” this offseason. At the same time, he insisted the team would not trade star guard Ja Morant and would prioritize a new contract extension for forward Jaren Jackson Jr.
This is an excerpt of this story. To read more, please click here and subscribe.
Topics
Memphis Grizzlies NBA free agency Subscriber Only NBAThank you for supporting local journalism.
Subscribers to The Daily Memphian help fund our not-for-profit newsroom of nearly 40 local journalists plus more than 20 freelancers, all of whom work around the clock to cover the issues impacting our community. Subscriptions - and donations - also help fund our community access programs which provide free access to K-12 schools, community organizations, and more. Thank you for making our work possible.
Chris Herrington on demand
Never miss an article. Sign up to receive Chris Herrington's stories as they’re published.
Enter your e-mail address
Related stories
Herrington: Memphis Grizzlies’ NBA Draft intrigue starts at No. 16
Chris Herrington outlines four different things the Memphis Grizzlies could do with their first-round pick in this week’s 2025 NBA Draft.
Grizzlies Podcast: End of season, arrival of NBA Draft
Drew Hill and Chris Herrington wrap up the NBA season, talk about this week’s big NBA trade and open the door to this week’s NBA Draft.
Grizzlies Draft Day Notebook: Roundups, reactions and more
A roundup of mock drafts and draft-related rumors, musings on the potential Grizzlies ramifications of leaguewide pre-draft trades and other new thoughts and observations.
Want to comment on our stories or respond to others? Join the conversation by subscribing now. Only paid subscribers can add their thoughts or upvote/downvote comments. Our commenting policy can be viewed here.