Happy New Year! The beginning of the season began as rather promising for Memphis. The Grizzlies jumped out to a 15-9 start. They have subsequently dropped nine of their last twelve games, and sit at 18-18 entering 2019. They are two games out of the 8 seed in the West as of this writing. FiveThiryEight is giving them a 27% chance of making the playoffs.

The beginning to the 2018-19 season gave Memphis plenty of nice surprises. Jaren Jackson Jr. is a unicorn. Mike Conley and Marc Gasol have been relatively healthy. Garrett Temple has been a fantastic addition.

As we begin to move forward with 2019, here are some resolutions for the Grizzlies.

Stay Disciplined Ahead of the Trade Deadline

It may be very tempting for Memphis to do something short-sighted to make a playoff push this season. Conley and Gasol aren’t getting any younger, and one can argue the team has a fiduciary duty to maximize their window. There is a difference between making a calculated run at the playoffs this spring and doing something non-sensical, however.

JJJ has completely changed the timetable for this franchise. There is now a visible life after Conley&Gasol. Hand in hand with getting more help for the long tenured duo to remain competitive in their twilights, the Grizzlies need to build around Jackson as well. That has inspired some, uh, interesting ideas.

Inspired by @JoeMullinax's 2-part series Building Around Jaren Jackson Jr., a 2nd poll question- which hypothetical deal would you most support for MEM?

A. Malcolm Brogdon for D. Brooks/2019 2nd/2021 Lottery Protected 1st
B. Andrew Wiggins for C. Parsons/two 2022 2nd round picks

— Grizzly Bear Blues (@sbnGrizzlies) January 2, 2019

How bout no? Malcolm Brogdon is already 26 years old and hits free agency after this season. Sending Dillion Brooks, a 2nd rounder, and a protected first rounder two years into the future makes no sense, especially for a team that already is down on first rounders as they owe a pick to Boston.

Wiggins has an argument for worst contract in the NBA among non injury-riddled players (i.e. Chandler Parsons). In the first year of his five-year, $147.7 million extension, Wiggins is 352nd in PIPM, and 252nd in RPM. If Memphis wants, the Chandler Parsons nightmare can be over after this season. The team can stretch the final year of his contract, incurring cap hits of ~$8.3 million for three seasons, should they not want to swallow the $25.1 million he is owed next year. There is no lost opportunity cost for having him on the books for the remainder of this season.

Trying to send MarShon Brooks in a trade for Kelly Oubre is a smart move. Taking on an albatross contract is not.

Send the Pick to Boston This Year

Memphis is probably safe on this one, but it’s worth reiterating. The Grizzlies owe the Celtics a top-8 protected pick this year. If not conveyed it becomes top-6 protected in 2020, and unprotected in 2021.

Outside of human space alien Zion Williamson, the 2019 draft class is not being hyped.

Additionally, given the ages of Conley and Gasol, it’s possible in 2021 the Grizzlies are basically JJJ trying to drag the team to not-the-worst-record in the league.

Point being, there is a realistic scenario where Memphis ends up sending a better pick in the future, in a year that features a better draft class. Given how bad the East is, and how poor a start the Suns got off to, the Grizzlies will most likely not finish with a bottom 8 record this season. They just need to make sure that comes to fruition.

Play JJJ at the 5 More

Should the Grizzlies realize they don’t have a realistic chance at the playoffs anymore at any point this season, they should start giving Jackson Jr. more minutes at center. So far JJJ has spent 67% of his minutes at power forward, and 33% at center.

The common refrain regarding Jackson coming out of Michigan State was he was miscast as a power forward, and his best position in the NBA will come at center. Well, landing on the team with Marc Gasol tends to impede such a position switch.

It would be wise to give Jackson all the non-Gasol center minutes if they are functionally eliminated say sometime in March. This will create an issue with Joakim Noah, but perhaps the team can just waive him so he can look for more playing time elsewhere.

Jackson’s best position in the NBA likely remains as a center. Should Memphis end up with 15-20 essentially exhibition games later this season, it would be wise to try to groom him with the long-term in mind.