{"id":581262,"date":"2026-02-04T06:13:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T06:13:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/581262\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T06:13:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T06:13:16","slug":"grizz-nation-sounds-off-about-jjj-trade-and-teams-future-in-memphis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/581262\/","title":{"rendered":"Grizz Nation sounds off about JJJ trade and team\u2019s future in Memphis"},"content":{"rendered":"

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – On 92.9 FM ESPN talk radio Tuesday, all the talk on The Gabe Kuhn Show was about the Grizzlies\u2019 big trade<\/a> sending big man Jaren Jackson Jr. to the Utah Jazz.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a big fan of where we\u2019re going with the Grizzlies,\u201d said caller Icy Smooth, \u201cYou\u2019ve got to be positive about the draft capital. If you\u2019re not positive about that, then man, there\u2019s no helping you.\u201c<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have the same amount of 1st round draft picks… 13 in the next seven years… as OKC and the Nets,\u201d replied host Gabe Kuhn, \u201cthere is a range of outcomes that comes from doing a full-fledged rebuild.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"GabeGabe Kuhn, host of The Gabe Kuhn Show on 92.9 FM(Action News 5)<\/p>\n

Kuhn said the Grizz getting rid of Jackson is the final nail in the coffin for \u201cGrizzNextGen,\u201d which just three years ago featured crowd favorites Dillon Brooks, Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and Triple-J.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think it\u2019s a heck of a day,\u201d Kuhn told Action News 5, \u201cI think it\u2019s an admission of defeat, officially. Obviously, Desmond Bane, the trade this off-season led us down this road to a certain extent, but it\u2019s an admission of defeat for the \u2018GrizzNextGen\u2019 era, right?\u201c<\/p>\n

Caller Josh said the quiet part out loud for many longtime Grizz fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m one of the fans that wanted to trade,\u201d he said, \u201cthat had been wanting to trade Jaren for a while. I don\u2019t know, I think the \u2018Grit and Grind\u2019 era kind of spoiled me.\u201c<\/p>\n

\"MemphisMemphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. (8) looks toward a referee during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo\/Abbie Parr)(Abbie Parr | AP)<\/p>\n

The \u201cGrit and Grind\u201d era with Mike Conley, Marc Gasol, Tony Allen and Zach Randolph was a hard act to follow. The young players who came behind them never achieved the same level of success, going to the playoffs just once in eight years.<\/p>\n

Caller Tony said the front office should be the next to go.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that Zach Kleiman, his days are numbered,\u201d said Tony, \u201cI think Coach Iisalo doesn\u2019t have any business coaching anywhere near the NBA. You\u2019re gonna get rid of players? Let\u2019s get rid of the front office.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo Tony,\u201d replied Kuhn, \u201cyou\u2019re saying they\u2019re rebuilding the wrong thing?\u201c<\/p>\n

\"GabeGabe Kuhn, host of The Gabe Kuhn Show on 92.9 FM(Action News 5)<\/p>\n

The last \u201cGrizzNextGen\u201d player standing is superstar Ja Morant, with trade rumors swirling around him for weeks now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Ja,\u201d said Kuhn, \u201cyeah, I think Ja is next.\u201c<\/p>\n

As for the team\u2019s future in Memphis? The Grizzlies current lease agreement with the city keeps them playing at FedExForum until 2029.<\/p>\n

Kuhn is optimistic that a new, long-term deal can be reached.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a lot of things that could be outside the city\u2019s control by the end of it, but ultimately, I think the Grizzlies will stay in the City of Memphis,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Copyright 2026 WMC. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – On 92.9 FM ESPN talk radio Tuesday, all the talk on The Gabe Kuhn…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":581263,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3785],"tags":[78385,11375,5271,7,4500,53107,5270,2102,98,5266,130,535,78386,5269,78387,5264,5598,178,78382,423,11433,78388,293,177,5263,5268,6,5267,5272,655,1217,9776,5262,5273,78384,20844,78383,3067,422,427,3972,5274,5265,5259,5261,5260],"class_list":["post-581262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-utah-jazz","tag-92-9","tag-all-star","tag-bartlett","tag-basketball","tag-breaking-news","tag-city-of-memphis","tag-collierville","tag-contract","tag-draft","tag-east-arkansas","tag-espn","tag-fans","tag-gabe-kuhn","tag-germantown","tag-grizznextgen","tag-i-40","tag-interview","tag-ja-morant","tag-jaren-jackson-junior","tag-jazz","tag-jjj","tag-lease","tag-memphis","tag-memphis-grizzlies","tag-mid-south","tag-missouri-boothill","tag-nba","tag-north-mississippi","tag-olive-branch","tag-players","tag-radio","tag-reactions","tag-severe-weather","tag-southaven","tag-talk-show","tag-trade-deal","tag-triple-j","tag-update","tag-utah","tag-utah-jazz","tag-utahjazz","tag-west-memphis","tag-west-tennessee","tag-wmc-action-news-5","tag-wmc5","tag-wmctv"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=581262"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581262\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/581263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=581262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=581262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=581262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}