Memphis Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman sat at a podium approximatively 16 hours after his team was swept in the first round of the NBA playoffs against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
With the bright lights of the news conference room shining onto Kleiman inside the Don Poier Media Center, he didn’t wait for any questions to be asked before setting the tone.
“Disappointing season,” Kleiman said. “A lot to sort through here. Forty-eight wins, good for an eight seed, but who cares? It’s not good enough.”
The Grizzlies entered the season with championship expectations. Kleiman’s tone on April 27 was urgent. A first-round sweep was well below expectations, and that’s not something the Grizzlies are shying away from.
Here are five takeaways from Kleiman’s end-of-season news conference.
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More work needs to be done
Kleiman was candid in his assessment of the team. In recent years, he’s ended and started seasons talking about the confidence the organization has in terms of competing for a championship.
After April 27, it’s clear that the organization believes more work needs to be done. Memphis can’t go into next season relying solely on the internal growth and development of young players.
“I don’t think we can look back at this series and this season and say, ‘Oh, we’re close,'” Kleiman said. “No, we’re not close. There’s a lot of work to be done.”
Grizzlies non-committal on Tuomas Iisalo
A day after Grizzlies interim coach Tuomas said, “yes, why not” when asked about his desire to be the next permanent head coach, Kleiman addressed the future of the position. He said he’s focused on digesting everything from the season.
“I have not made any decisions on the coaching front at this point,” Kleiman said.
The non-committal approach suggests that Memphis will likely vet other options for the position instead of immediately removing the interim tag and giving Iisalo the job.
Confidence remains in Core 3
The reality is the Grizzlies’ core three of Desmond Bane, Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. have won only one playoff series in five seasons. Injuries, suspensions and other outside factors have played a role, but there has been a string of underwhelming performances mixed into those results.
Kleiman took a step back and looked at the big picture when evaluating those results.
“At the peak times of what this group has done, it’s right there and there is so much to hold on to,” Kleiman said. “And there’s been so much growth. They’re beginning to enter their prime. I think for each of them, there are significant steps that have been taken in a really positive direction.”
Kleiman said the Grizzlies will keep a “very open mind” in terms of building the team going forward. He reiterated that his February comments on not trading Morant haven’t changed.
This is also a big offseason with a potential Jackson contract extension looming. Kleiman said Jackson remains a priority.
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Unintentionally young
Kleiman continued to emphasize that the Grizzlies were “unintentionally younger” this season.
“We’re not trying to make the team younger,” Kleiman said.
Zach Edey was initially the only rookie expected to start, but then Jaylen Wells took advantage of an increased opportunity and seized a starting role from veteran wing Marcus Smart. Kleiman said again that even though the Grizzlies liked Wells out of the draft, he thought Wells was going to be spend a lot of time in the G League and having a mostly developmental year.
Admitting the wrongs
Kleiman shared two examples of mistakes he made when building the roster this season. The first came from a decision made before the season, when Memphis decided to decline Jake LaRavia’s contract.
“The mistake was there,” Kleiman said. “… I think Jake could’ve helped us down the stretch.”
Kleiman did not regret his decision to trade Marcus Smart in February, pointing out the flexibility the team now has going into the offseason. However, another February decision is where the miscalculation came.
The Grizzlies were high on GG Jackson and Vince Williams Jr. as players who could make strong impacts in the second half of the season. Neither player ended up having a major role.
“Coming off serious injuries in both cases, I think I probably overweighted just how much of a burden they’d be able to effectively take on at a really high level in the context of a playoff push at that time,” Kleiman said.
Damichael Cole is the Memphis Grizzlies beat writer for The Commercial Appeal. Contact Damichael at [email protected]. Follow Damichael on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DamichaelC.
