Three questions the Grizzlies face heading into training camp
With training camp about to tip off, here’s what to watch for as your favorite team prepares for the 2015-16 season. Some of these questions will be answered quickly; others could linger into the regular season. Either way, here are three things that will define the first month of this new season:
Do the Grizzlies have enough shooting?
It's the same main problem for this team every year. Change coaches, it persists. Shake up management, it sticks around. Bring in new players on the periphery of the core, it remains. Spacing, it's essential—and the Griz have always had issues with it. The Grizzlies finished 22nd in three-point percentage last year while also hoisting up the second-fewest attempts in the league. They didn't do much to bring in anymore long-range assassins this offseason.
At what point is this core starting to get too old?
Keeping the same core together year after year can be incredibly valuable on a winning team. The Grizzlies are the poster boys of that. Mike Conley, Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol and Tony Allen have all been in Memphis since at least 2010, some earlier. But one issue with keeping the same group together for a long period is that they all age together. Conley has the bad ankles. Allen is already 33. Randolph, 34. And Gasol is finally on the wrong end of 30.
Who should start at shooting guard and small forward?
It can be a good problem when you have too many good players. This hodgepodge of wings on the Memphis roster could fall under that "good problem" category. Memphis traded for Jeff Green to complement Tony Allen and Courtney Lee last season. It nabbed Matt Barnes this summer, too. Allen has gone back and forth from the bench in the past. Does he finally stick there this year? If so or if not, with four quality wing players, who gets the bulk of the minutes?
