Despite winning 48 games in a competitive Western Conference last season, the Memphis Grizzlies earned the 8th seed and could not avoid being in the 2025 NBA Play-In Tournament. They lost a heartbreaker to the Golden State Warriors in their first play-in game before beating the Dallas Mavericks at home days later. Ultimately, they were swept in the first round by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
To start the offseason, the Grizzlies made the difficult decision to trade Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic. This sparked significant retooling efforts to build a more balanced team around Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr.