{"id":834272,"date":"2026-09-13T07:00:49","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T07:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/834272\/"},"modified":"2026-09-13T07:00:49","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T07:00:49","slug":"horace-grant-on-his-nephew-and-the-memphis-grizzlies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/834272\/","title":{"rendered":"Horace Grant on his nephew and the Memphis Grizzlies"},"content":{"rendered":"

After the 2025-26 season, teams across the Western Conference realized that competing with young, fast and well-rounded teams like the OKC Thunder and San Antonio Spurs would require more than simply maintaining the status quo.<\/p>\n

They needed a unique edge.<\/p>\n

The Minnesota Timberwolves responded by adding LaMelo Ball and Jonathan Kuminga, the Denver Nuggets added six-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan, the Lakers added Walker Kessler as their primary big man, while the Houston Rockets acquired former DPOY Marcus Smart.<\/p>\n

The Memphis Grizzlies<\/a>, meanwhile, failed to make any headline-worthy move.<\/p>\n

After finishing last season with just 25 wins and as the 13th seed in the West, the Grizzlies have been mostly patient throughout the 2026 offseason, yet Horace Grant<\/a> believes that his \u201cnephew,\u201d Jerami Grant\u2019s arrival, can make the upcoming campaign better for the Grizzlies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey picked up Boozer. They\u2019ve got Scotty Pippen Jr. there coming off injury. I think he\u2019s going to be solid for them. They\u2019ve got a nice little team,\u201d Grant said<\/a> in an interview. \u201cMy nephew\u2019s been around the league for many years, so he knows the growing pains are going to be there. With his veteran leadership and with Boozer, I think they\u2019ll be respectable as a young team.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Grizzlies need to fight it out<\/p>\n

There is no denying that Memphis has made an impressive selection with their No. 3 overall pick by drafting Cameron Boozer.<\/p>\n

He averaged 18.0 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.5 steals over the 2026 Summer League, demonstrating his ability to make a game-changing impact on both ends of the court.\u200b<\/p>\n

Now, with Jerami Grant alongside him, Memphis has an intriguing offensive duo on its hands. Grant averaged 18.6 points on 38.9 percent shooting from the three-point range last season, giving the Grizzlies a player capable of stretching the floor.<\/p>\n

Then there is the rest of the roster.<\/p>\n

The Grizzlies also have D\u2019Angelo Russell, who can effortlessly average 15-18 points per game while also operating as the team\u2019s primary ball handler. Meanwhile, the pacy Scottie Pippen Jr. will also return from injuries this season.<\/p>\n

On the defensive end, the Grizzlies have some of the most polarizing traditional players in newcomer Isaiah Stewart and 7\u20193\u201d giant Zach Edey, as well as Quentin Post.<\/p>\n

Apart from them, the Grizzlies also have players like Jaylen Wells and Kris Murray, who can provide fresh energy coming off the bench.<\/p>\n

What is the realistic expectation for the Grizzlies?<\/p>\n

None of this makes the Grizzlies a top-six franchise in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n

The conference is simply too competitive for that kind of prediction.<\/p>\n

Thunder and Spurs already have strong young cores, while several other teams have aggressively upgraded their rosters. But that does not mean the Grizzlies cannot compete or make their presence felt.\u200b<\/p>\n

Under head coach Toumas Iisalo, Memphis could potentially establish itself as one of the conference\u2019s more difficult teams to face if its players develop quickly and the roster stays relatively healthy.\u200b<\/p>\n

Even reaching the playoffs through the Play-In Tournament would represent a major improvement from last season and could be considered a successful campaign.<\/p>\n

The NBA has always produced unexpected underdogs.\u200b Teams that nobody takes seriously in November can look completely different by April, and with some luck, the Grizzlies can be one of those teams in the upcoming season.<\/p>\n

About the author\"\"<\/p>\n

NBA Writer at Basketball Network<\/p>\n

Yakshpat specializes in compiling intriguing takes from NBA talk shows and podcasts, covering old-school stories and the hottest buzz from the league. Before joining Basketball Network, he worked as the Editor-in-Chief and a writer for several sports digital platforms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After the 2025-26 season, teams across the Western Conference realized that competing with young, fast and well-rounded teams…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":834273,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3795],"tags":[7,17047,7265,294,10835,1016,5673,3175,293,177,4070,6,38872,1063,1083],"class_list":["post-834272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-memphis-grizzlies","tag-basketball","tag-cameron-boozer","tag-dangelo-russell","tag-grizzlies","tag-horace-grant","tag-isaiah-stewart","tag-jerami-grant","tag-latest-news","tag-memphis","tag-memphis-grizzlies","tag-memphisgrizzlies","tag-nba","tag-scottie-pippen-jr","tag-teams","tag-zach-edey"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/117262449935824315","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834272","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=834272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/834273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=834272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=834272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=834272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}