The Memphis Grizzlies are no longer being viewed as a team retooling around one more run. Evan Sidery reported Monday that the franchise is now expected to “kickstart a full-scale rebuild,” with Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. already gone for premium assets and Ja Morant likely next.
That is a stark shift for a team that spent the last several seasons trying to thread two timelines at once. The Grizzlies entered the 2025-26 season with the idea that Morant could still anchor the present while younger pieces developed around him, but the roster has now been stripped down far more quickly than most expected.
The biggest turning point came on June 15, 2025, when Memphis sent Bane to Orlando in a deal that brought back Cole Anthony, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and a stack of first-round capital. Then on February 3, 2026, the team moved Jackson Jr. to Utah, leaving Morant as the last major name standing from the core that once looked built to contend.
Sidery’s report adds the next logical step: the Grizzlies are expected to build around the No. 3 pick, Zach Edey, Cedric Coward and Jaylen Wells. That group gives Memphis a new foundation, but it also underscores how far the franchise has moved away from the veteran spine it once relied on.
The 2025-26 standings reflect the reality of the situation. Memphis finished 25-57, a record that left it near the bottom of the Western Conference and positioned it in the lottery instead of the playoff race.
Morant’s own numbers still show a player who can drive an offense when healthy, as he averaged 19.5 points and 8.1 assists in 20 games. But with the front office now leaning toward a reset, his place in the next version of the team appears increasingly uncertain.
Memphis has already collected premium assets, but the latest report suggests the goal is no longer to patch the roster. The goal now is to start over.
