The Memphis Grizzlies shocked the NBA world when they decided to fire head coach Taylor Jenkins after nearly six years on the job. This came out of nowhere; while the Grizzlies haven’t been playing their best basketball as of late, it was odd to see a team that was sitting in a playoff spot choose to make a seismic change with there being less than a month away to go before the playoffs.
In Jenkins’ place, the Grizzlies have elevated assistant coach Tuomas Iisalo to the interim head coaching job. Thus far, the change hasn’t yielded results quite yet; Memphis has gone 1-3 with Iisalo at the controls, although to be fair, those defeats came against the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, and Golden State Warriors — a ridiculously difficult stretch.
It will be interesting to monitor which direction the Grizzlies organization will be taking when it comes to handling their head coaching opening in the offseason. While it is expected that Iisalo will be considered for the job, opening the search to every available candidate will help make sure that the Grizzlies don’t rush the process of finding the best possible option suited to take on the job and elevate Memphis into the contending team that they have the talent to be.
With that said, this is the best replacement option that the Grizzlies must pursue to keep Ja Morant and company pleased after what is shaping up to be a rough ending to the 2024-25 campaign.
Grizzlies must hand over the head coaching controls to Sam Cassell
There’s no secret that the Grizzlies organization is fond of Tuomas Iisalo; he was a hire made directly by the organization (he wasn’t brought on by Taylor Jenkins), which goes to show how much belief the Grizzlies brass has in the 42-year-old interim coach.
Having worked with the team extensively over the past year, Iisalo is familiar with Ja Morant and company, and this familiarity should help cushion whatever adjustment period every team has to go through when they undergo a coaching change.
But there seems to be a rot festering within the Grizzlies at the moment; there is plenty of noise surrounding Morant and his discontent with his role, while the dust-up between Desmond Bane and Santi Aldama is never a good sign of a harmonious locker room.
What the Grizzlies need is a head coach with the gravitas to command the locker room, someone who could rein in Morant and have him fall in line. Iisalo was part of the locker room that had its fair share of rocky moments, so perhaps what the Grizzlies need is a fresh voice from the outside to take command.
Enter Sam Cassell.
Cassell, a former point guard who played 15 years in the NBA, was a leader throughout his playing days, which made his transition to the bench as an assistant coach rather easy. He has been an assistant coach for four different teams beginning in 2009, and he most notably established himself as a welcome presence on the sidelines during his time under Doc Rivers.
For starters, Cassell will command the respect of Morant; the 55-year-old doesn’t take too kindly to nonsense and would instill the necessary discipline that this young Grizzlies team needs. And there’s a pattern of success that follows Cassell wherever he coaches. At the moment, he is an assistant coach on Joe Mazzulla’s staff on the Celtics, the reigning champion.
Cassell has been in the running for a head coaching job for years, and it’s rather odd that teams have passed up on him. The rumor is that he doesn’t do well on interviews. But he has paid his dues in the NBA and deserves a shot at helming his own team. With the Celtics, Cassell knows how to install an elite offensive system, and his time under Rivers means that the defensive knowhow is there as well.
The smart money is still on Iisalo when it comes to betting on who the next Grizzlies head coach would be. But Morant, it must be noted, reportedly hasn’t taken too kindly to his diminished role under the team’s new offensive system that’s been strongly influenced by the arrival of Iisalo from France.
It’s unlikely for the Grizzlies to choose a head coach over their superstar player. This is why Cassell should be someone the Grizzlies have high up their list, as not only does he have the experience and the knowhow, he also has the ability to command the respect of Morant and the rest of the locker room, which is exactly what the team needs at the moment.
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