The Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Pelicans have been mirror images of each other of late.
Both clubs boast talented-if-mercurial-and-injury-prone multi-time All-Stars from the 2019 NBA Draft, in Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant and Pelicans power forward Zion Williamson. Both teams have found some postseason success over the last few years, and were expected to build upon that with deep runs by now.
Neither has achieved much in the playoffs (Morant has won a single playoff series, Williamson has never been healthy for the playoffs), and both clubs are looking lottery-bound as the rest of the Western Conference has passed them by.
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The Grizzlies are off to a mediocre 4-6 start to the young year, good for just the No. 10 seed in the West. The 2-6 Pelicans, meanwhile, look like one of the worst teams in the conference.
Another big issue for the Grizzlies and Pelicans? Both number among the smaller markets in the league, and while Memphis has managed to build a fanbase, New Orleans has never effectively taken a foothold in the community — perhaps, in part, as a result of its struggles to build a consistent winning culture.
Still, FedEx Forum numbers have been thinning out lately. Per Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, Memphis ranked 26th out of 30 teams in home attendance for the 2024-25 NBA season. Morant, warts and all, is the main attraction, and he has sat out 21 or more games across each of the past four completed seasons.
This year, Morant appears to be at odds with new head coach Tuomas Iisalo. After being caught taking key plays off during a 117-112 loss to the shorthanded Los Angeles Lakers last week, Morant appeared to shade Iisalo’s coaching decisions, to the point where the Grizzlies suspended him for a game. Now, rival clubs are circling and considering a trade. Morant may be a depreciated asset, but when dialed-in, he’s still a star.
Mannix notes that the league is eyeing expansion to address clear NBA interest in the growing Las Vegas market and in Seattle (which has been without an NBA club since 2008), but that it could also instead seek to move specifically the Grizzlies or Pelicans to those locales.
“And the Grizzlies, frankly, need to sell those tickets. While expansion is the NBA’s preferred method to get teams in Seattle and Las Vegas, relocation has been discussed, as NBA commissioner Adam Silver told SI last month. And while no league official would come within 100 miles of publicly naming relocation candidates, the Grizzlies and Pelicans—small-market teams with arena deals that expire before the end of the decade—are often whispered as the most likely targets.”
Williamson, meanwhile, has been even less healthy since making the pros. He has only played more than 30 games twice across his six-season NBA career. The talented Duke product’s availability and fitness have been the source of constant stress for his franchise. He has already suffered his first injury setback this season, and was recently shelved for at least a week with a strained left hamstring.
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