It wasn’t the Grizzlies season anyone imagined. It was definitely not the one I imagined.

And I have proof. 

So if you’ll allow it, a quick personal story: 

I got engaged last spring. My wife and I began planning the wedding almost immediately. 

Fall wasn’t an option because of football (not everyone will understand). Summer was going to be too hot to have a ceremony outside. 

So we settled on spring 2024, trying to find the perfect wedding venue around the Grizzlies schedule to make it fit. We decided on the last weekend of the regular season because that would interfere the least and give us time to squeeze in a quick honeymoon, unless there was a play-in game, before coming back for the start of the playoffs. 

Because surely, the Grizzlies were going to be in the playoffs, right?

Oops. 

I’m now writing this fresh off a lovely 10-day trip, booked at the latest possible moment. Lesson learned: Always be prepared to make adjustments.

The timing worked out perfectly anyway. The fun part of NBA draft season is approaching.

It just so happens that Saturday, April 27, is the final day for college players and international early entrants to put their name in the player pool. 

That means as soon as Sunday, Memphis can begin hosting and attending workouts for amateur players. Almost always, a few of those names leak out. 

We are also less than two weeks away from the NBA draft combine, scheduled from May 12-19 in Chicago. It will be another key scouting opportunity and chance for players to gather feedback before choosing to remain in the draft or go pro by May 29. 

So finally, draft mania is arriving.

Soak it in, Memphis. It will have to scratch the Grizzlies itch until summer league in July. 

Lottery luck

The Grizzlies will go into lottery day on May 12 with a 31.9% chance to jump into the top four of the NBA Draft. In a year without clear tiers at the top of draft boards, it’s not obvious they would need to make a move up to grab one of the players at the top of their list. 

But it would be nice, and it would certainly add value to trade possibilities if they got lucky. 

One question remains for those of us who are superstitious: Who is going to represent the team on lottery night?

In 2018, the year they landed the No. 4 overall pick and drafted Jaren Jackson Jr., the Grizzlies sent Elliot Perry and a young man named Courtney Love, an eighth-grade student at Grizzlies Prep who was taking care of his legally blind mother. 

In 2019, they sent Perry and his lucky socks again. They jumped up to No. 2 and selected Ja Morant. 

So will it be Perry again? 

That doesn’t appear to be set in stone, at least not yet. 

No matter the choice, it is a personal belief Memphis should take a similar angle and send someone who represents the best of this city.

It never hurts to have good karma. 

Ja Morant signs with Mike Miller’s agency

While away, there was just one piece of important news that I missed. 

Morant has a new agent. It’s former Grizzlies player Mike Miller. That appears to be a celebrated choice, based on the social-media reaction. 

But there was never really a reason to sweat, Grizzlies fans. Don’t let the Lakers’ legion of social-media fans scare you.

Morant didn’t provide much of an answer as to why he dropped Jim Tanner of Tandem Sports and Entertainment earlier this month.

He simply said, “I felt like it was time.”

Perhaps it was a hint that his search for a replacement was going to be swift. 

Miller still lives in Memphis. He and the entire Morant family have a longstanding relationship that dates back prior to his time as an agent. He is a comfortable option. 

But when Miller broke onto the scene in 2023, he was just a rookie to the agent game. He’s not anymore. 

Miller now has a period of sustained success in representing some of the game’s blossoming young stars, such as Orlando’s Paolo Banchero and Wendell Carter Jr.

He’s plenty fit to take on a client like Morant, and this is a match that should reflect both Morant’s current commitment to the franchise and a fresh start as he enters into the prime of his career. 

“My job is just to grow with him,” Miller told The Daily Memphian’s John Martin. “I’m trying to be there as a mentor, to help him with routine, with habits. Just always be there for what he needs.”

Morant just inked a max deal with the Grizzlies in the summer of 2022. He still believes he can win in Memphis and wants to win in Beale Street blue, as he expressed in his exit interview earlier this month.

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