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A line of more than 100 Memphis Grizzlies fans formed in the walkway at AutoZone Park ahead of a Redbirds game on Sept. 12.

Many fans wore Grizzlies jerseys as new center Isaiah Stewart made his way to a table with a seat waiting for him. When fans spotted Stewart, a loud ovation and cheers broke out.

Stewart smiled and clapped back in appreciation.

The Grizzlies acquired Stewart this summer after he spent five seasons with the Detroit Pistons. It didn’t take long for him and his new teammates to begin connecting.

“You compete against these guys for a few years. Now you’re teammates with them and you get to know who they are as a person,” Stewart said. “That’s been great. Getting to know the guys and seeing who I’m rocking with.”

Stewart has already begun working out with several Grizzlies players. Saturday’s Redbirds game marked his first public community appearance since joining the team.

The Grizzlies traded for Stewart in part because of his gritty nature. He’s known as a player who will protect his teammates, defend the rim and bring a vocal presence.

Those attributes align with the direction Memphis is taking with its young core. After his first workouts with his new teammates, Stewart has already picked up on some of those qualities.

“These are very physical, athletic guys,” he said. “They’re ready to go, and I’m excited to be able to compete with them. I think we’re going to be able to show the city a lot. I look forward to competing with them.”

During Stewart’s five seasons in Detroit, he experienced the team’s transition from the worst record in the NBA to a team that became one of the Eastern Conference’s best.

Memphis is now going through its own rebuilding process.

Stewart, 25, is young by NBA standards, but he believes his experience in Detroit uniquely qualifies him for the opportunity in Memphis.

“It’s an experience I can bring here to this group,” he said. “And also just letting them know it’s about patience. We have to stack days. It doesn’t happen overnight.”

Damichael Cole is the Memphis Grizzlies beat writer for The Commercial Appeal. Contact Damichael at damichael.cole@commercialappeal.com. Follow Damichael on X, formerly known as Twitter, u/DamichaelC*.*

All 30 teams have dropped identical graphics featuring their respective team logos in a grainy and airbrushed effect. The campaign is running around the theme of "obsession" and there were some leaks around April that were rumored to be Christmas jerseys, but it is actually speculated to be for the NBA Cup, which personally makes sense given the theme and how the league is pushing for more competitive games throughout the tournament.

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Previously ranked #11

"Zach Kleiman is perhaps the NBA's best drafter not named Presti. Desmond Bane and Santi Aldama at No. 30, GG Jackson at No. 45, Jaylen Wells at No. 39, Cam Spencer at No. 53 and Cedric Coward at No. 11 all represent significant wins relative to their slots. His only especially notable miss was trading up for Ziaire Williams, only to watch Trey Murphy land in his original slot. Scotty Pippen Jr. and Jay Huff both developed into real NBA players as Memphis' two-way signings. The ability to identify and develop young talent is the single most important trait a small-market front office can have, and the Grizzlies have it in spades.

They are also appropriately unsentimental. The moment they realized the Bane-Jaren Jackson Jr.-Ja Morant core was not capable of seriously contending, they broke it up and got a premium for two of them. They didn't get greedy with Morant either. Lesser front offices would have pretended the situation was salvageable in the hopes of eventually getting positive value. The Grizzlies prioritized their culture enough to understand that just getting Morant out of the building was enough. Morant publicly challenged the coach, and the front office was secure enough to stand alongside that first-year coach rather than the beloved homegrown star. That's strong organizational alignment.

Still, the transition from Taylor Jenkins to Tuomas Iisalo could have been handled better. A March coach firing is messy, and considering the staff overhauls the front office demanded in that offseason, it's worth wondering why they didn't just fire Jenkins then. Similarly, their supposed determination not to bring Dillon Brooks back under any circumstances looks questionable now that he's become a transformational cultural figure for two different organizations. Even if the decisions made sense in a vacuum, they were handled pretty clumsily.

There's also the question of track record. Look at the first six teams we covered: the last three NBA champions, the last two runners-up in the Finals, and a former championship GM who laid the foundation for Boston's 2024 title. The Grizzlies haven't advanced beyond the second round under Kleiman, and their win-now moves (notably the Marcus Smart trade) weren't as successful as their rebuilding maneuvers. Still, that's a small track record, and many of Kleiman's more ambitious star pursuits were ruined by the market the Grizzlies play in. That's what makes their draft surplus so tantalizing. The Grizzlies have the picks now to build an organic juggernaut."

Bill Simmons: "We still don't have evidence that the NBA works in New Orleans. You could blame the owners, you could blame the city—it's not a big enough market. Whatever you wanna say, despite the fact that there are a good handful of hundreds of thousands of fans, I don't think the franchise has ever been successful there."

[continued...]

Bill Simmons: "It's just never worked [in New Orleans], and I am not sure they should have an NBA team. I feel way differently about Portland—even Memphis, which you mentioned earlier."

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Source: The Bill Simmons Podcast

So are we waiving Murray, Johnson, Taj and probably Kenny to get to 15 roster spots? Saunders-Mashack-Cooper 2-way?

On the Memphis Grizzlies official youtube