November 11, 2026
November 11, 2026
Memphis Grizzlies 2025-26 Season: The Year the Core Came Apart
The Memphis Grizzlies’ 2025-26 season marked the end of an era that had once promised championships on Beale Street. A 48-win team from the year before was reshaped in June, fractured in November and dismantled by February. Ja Morant played only 20 games. Jaren Jackson Jr. was traded to Utah. Memphis finished 25-57, and the franchise emerged with a rookie core and a stockpile of draft picks instead of a contender.
The front office signaled its intentions before the draft. On June 15, 2025, general manager Zach Kleiman sent Desmond Bane to Orlando for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony and a haul of future first-round picks. As ESPN detailed, it was one of the richest pick packages of the offseason.
Bane had been the steady shooter beside Morant and Jackson for five seasons. Losing him meant the Grizzlies were betting on depth, defense and draft capital. Caldwell-Pope brought championship experience, while Anthony added scoring punch off the bench. The trio of Morant, Jackson and Bane that had defined Memphis basketball was suddenly a duo.
Tuomas Iisalo entered his first full season as head coach after being hired permanently in May. The Finnish coach favored pace and pressure, and Memphis ranked seventh in the league in tempo. His system demanded effort from everyone, including the stars.
The draft added a player who would outlast the turbulence. Memphis traded the 16th pick, Yang Hansen, to Portland to move up to No. 11 for Cedric Coward. The long, athletic wing from Washington State looked ready from opening night. He would become the brightest thread running through a difficult year.
The backcourt gained one more piece in free agency. Ty Jerome arrived after a breakout year in Cleveland, adding a crafty playmaker to an already crowded guard rotation. A calf strain would delay his debut by months.
The opener offered a glimpse of what Memphis hoped to be. Morant scored 35 points in a 128-122 win over New Orleans on October 22. The good feeling did not last long.
Tension boiled over after a 117-112 loss to the Lakers on October 31. Morant went scoreless in the second half and missed all seven of his shots after halftime. Afterward, he deflected questions toward the coaching staff with clipped answers. According to NBA.com, Iisalo had challenged his leadership and effort, and Morant responded in a tone the team deemed inappropriate. The Grizzlies suspended him one game for conduct detrimental to the team.
That moment defined the Grizzlies’ 2025-26 season more than any single result. It exposed a gap between the franchise star and the coaching staff. Memphis went 6-9 in November, and the questions grew louder. The Grizzlies did win three of four NBA Cup group games, but the Lakers claimed the group and the knockout berth.
Zach Edey offered the most hope of the early season. The towering center had undergone ankle surgery in June and missed the first 13 games. He finally debuted on November 15, and the Grizzlies began to breathe again.
Edey bullied opponents in the paint. On November 30 in Sacramento, he poured in 32 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in a 115-107 win. That victory capped a three-game winning streak. Memphis then ripped off a 7-2 stretch that pulled it back to 11-13.
Just as the team found its footing, the floor gave way. A stress reaction in that same left ankle sidelined Edey in early December. He averaged 13.6 points, 11.1 rebounds and 1.9 blocks across only 11 games. The NBA.com injury update later confirmed he would miss even more time.
Others filled the void for a while. Jackson scored 31 in a 121-103 rout of the Clippers on December 15. Santi Aldama erupted for 37 points twice in four days. Morant dropped 40 on Philadelphia on December 30, though Memphis fell 139-136 in overtime. The year ended at 15-18, close enough to the play-in line to keep belief alive.
January broke the season. Memphis won only three of 14 games, and Morant went down with a left elbow sprain. The Grizzlies slid toward the bottom of the Western Conference.
On February 3, 2026, Kleiman made the move that confirmed a new direction. Jackson, Jock Landale, John Konchar and Vince Williams Jr. went to Utah. Memphis received Walter Clayton Jr., Kyle Anderson, Taylor Hendricks, Georges Niang and three future first-round picks.
Jackson had been a pillar for eight years. He was a two-time All-Star and the 2023 Defensive Player of the Year. He left averaging 19.2 points and 1.5 blocks in 45 games. Trading him meant the Grizzlies’ 2025-26 season was no longer about the present.
Morant was available for roughly a month, yet no deal arrived. Offers never matched Memphis’s asking price. As Action News 5 reported, Kleiman framed the pivot as organizational direction rather than a verdict on one player.
Kleiman also insisted this was not a five-year rebuild. He pointed to Coward, Jaylen Wells and Edey as the foundation. Morant, meanwhile, never returned to the floor. The Grizzlies shut him down on March 24 after 20 appearances, in which he averaged 19.5 points and 8.1 assists.
With the veterans gone, the floor belonged to the kids. Coward averaged 13.6 points and 5.9 rebounds across 62 games. Wells led the team with 865 total points, and Cam Spencer appeared in a team-high 72 games. Spencer also handed out 400 assists, more than anyone else on the roster.
GG Jackson II added 12.5 points per game in 55 appearances. Clayton, fresh from Utah, received a long look at point guard. Jerome had finally debuted in late January, pouring in a team-high 20 points against Minnesota. He averaged 19.7 points across 15 games, a reminder of what injuries had stolen. Eric Gordon, acquired from Philadelphia two days after the Jackson deal, added veteran calm.
Those minutes still came with growing pains. A winter storm had postponed a January game against Denver, and Memphis won the March 18 makeup 125-118. That night was a rare bright spot. Memphis lost eight straight in mid-March and dropped 14 of 17 games in March.
The end arrived at FedExForum on March 25. San Antonio rolled to a 123-98 victory, and the Grizzlies were officially eliminated from postseason contention.
April offered no relief. Memphis lost all seven games, closing with a 132-101 defeat in Houston on April 12. The final numbers at Basketball Reference show a 25-57 record and a 13th-place finish in the West. The team ranked 25th in offensive rating and 24th in defensive rating.
The Grizzlies’ 2025-26 season will be remembered as the year Memphis stopped waiting for its old core to heal. The Bane trade opened the door, and the Jackson deal walked through it. Morant’s suspension, injuries and stalled trade market closed the chapter for good. In late June 2026, the Grizzlies traded him to Portland for Jerami Grant and Kris Murray.
The losses carried a reward. Memphis landed the third pick in the 2026 draft and selected Duke forward Cameron Boozer. Coward earned First Team All-Rookie honors, proof that the June gamble on his talent had paid off. Wells, Spencer and a healthy Edey give the franchise a young spine to build around.
The year also brought deep sorrow. Brandon Clarke, a beloved forward limited to two games by a calf injury, died in May 2026 at 29. His loss weighed heavily on a fanbase that had already endured so much.
Memphis entered 2025-26 clinging to a contender’s identity. It left with a blank canvas, a war chest of picks and a rookie class that refused to fold. The rebuild started here.
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