Taylor

Jenkins

The terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed, but they should be public soon. Jenkins finished second in the league’s coach of the year voting and led Memphis to the second-best record in the NBA this season. This has been a season of awards for the Grizzlies after Ja Morant won the league’s most improved player award, and Zach Kleinman won the league’s executive of the year award. The Grizzlies will try to build on their 56-26 season next season, and they will have some key decisions to make this off-season, namely with unrestricted free-agent guard, Tyus Jones.

Kleiman received 16 of 29 first place votes while Cleveland Cavaliers President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman and Chicago Bulls Executive VP of Basketball Operations Artūras Karnišovas tied for second place. This was well deserved for the 33-year-old, as the Grizzlies had the second-best record in the NBA this season (56-26), matching the franchise single-season record for victories in the process.

The Grizzlies have now had four consecutive games postponed as the NBA takes an increasingly cautious approach toward return-to-play guidelines for teams with COVID-19 cases. The Wizards, for instance, will play on Sunday for the first time in two weeks after having six games postponed. The good news is that Adrian Wojnarowski reports the Grizzlies “have no new players entered into the Health and Safety protocol,” and Wednesday could very well be their last postponement -- their following game is scheduled for Saturday vs. the Spurs.

Memphis did not have the eight players required to play Wednesday night in Portland, which led to that game being postponed. There was just one positive case of COVID-19 within the team, and the league is erring on the side of caution by pushing back the next three contests.. Another road game against Portland (January 22) and two home games against the Kings (January 24 and 25) will be made up at a later date. The earliest that the Grizzlies will be able to play in a game in January 27 against the Bulls.

Jenkins had coached the Austin Toros in the G League in 2012-13, and then was hired as an assistant with the Hawks from 2013-2018. Last season, he followed Mike Budenholzer to Milwaukee, when coach Bud was hired to coach the Bucks. As Woj notes, Jenkins is third NBA head coach to come directly off of Mike Budenholzer’s coaching staff, joining Utah’s Quin Snyder and Brooklyn’s Kenny Atkinson.