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Three games Grizzlies fans should circle on the 2026-27 schedule

With the full NBA slate set to release Thursday, here are three games that Grizzlies fans will be looking forward to.
Sam Trigg|
Jan 24, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) looks on from the sideline against the Miami Heat during the fourth quarter at Kaseya Center.
Jan 24, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) looks on from the sideline against the Miami Heat during the fourth quarter at Kaseya Center. | © Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

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Memphis Grizzlies

With the NBA releasing its Opening Week and Christmas Day schedules Tuesday, followed by the NBA Cup schedule Wednesday and the full schedule Thursday, NBA and Grizzlies fans are ready to mark down the marquee games.

I believe these three could be the most exciting games for Memphis.

Ja Morant back in Memphis

It is hard to imagine a more anticipated game for Grizzlies fans than the first time Ja Morant returns to Memphis in a Portland Trail Blazers uniform.

After the Grizzlies selected Morant with the No. 2 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, it did not take long for him to become the face of the franchise and one of the most recognizable athletes in the world. Morant helped Memphis get back into playoff contention, reignited the culture of the Grizzlies and helped put the franchise back on the national radar.

For years, it was hard to picture the Grizzlies without Morant.

That changed on June 29 when Memphis traded him to the Portland Trail Blazers, ending a seven-year run that included some of the best moments in recent franchise history. The trade came after years of off-the-court issues, injuries and disagreements with the front office, eventually leading Memphis to move on from the player it once built its entire future around.

That trade split Grizzlies fans.

Some wanted Morant to remain in Memphis and believed the team should try to work through the issues with the player who helped bring the franchise back to relevance. Others felt like it was time for Memphis to move forward and begin building around a new group, led by Cedric Coward, Zach Edey and the No. 3 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, Cameron Boozer.

But regardless of how Grizzlies fans felt about the trade, I think most will be interested to see what happens when Morant returns to FedExForum.

There will be questions about the reception he gets, but I am more interested in what Morant himself looks like.

Will Memphis see the high-flying, playmaking guard who became one of the most exciting players in the NBA? Or will it be the more frustrated and disengaged version of Morant that showed up during the final part of his Memphis career?

One thing I do know is: Memphis will be watching.

No. 1 vs No. 3 — AJ Dybantsa vs Cameron Boozer

The Grizzlies’ matchup with the Washington Wizards could be one of the most intriguing games on the schedule because of the two players selected at the top of the 2026 NBA Draft.

Washington selected AJ Dybantsa No. 1 overall out of BYU, while Memphis took Duke’s Cameron Boozer at No. 3. The two 6-foot-9 prospects have been linked since their high school days, when they faced each other multiple times in some of the biggest matchups in the prep basketball circuit.

One of those matchups came in 2025 at the title game of the AVANCE at L’ATTITUDE Classic, where Dybantsa scored 43 points, while Boozer had 42 points and 15 rebounds as Boozer’s team won 95-76.

Both entered college and the NBA as two of the most highly regarded players in their class, making their first professional matchup an early chance to see how the two young stars compare.

The Wizards have also rebuilt their roster with veterans and developing young talent around Dybantsa, giving Washington a group that could be much more competitive than its 17-65 record from last season suggests.

For Boozer, it is an opportunity to show Washington what it passed on and what it could be missing in Memphis for years to come. For Dybantsa, it is a chance to show the Wizards and the rest of the NBA why he was worth the No. 1 pick.

That alone makes Grizzlies-Wizards a game worth tuning into.

Former head coach homecoming

Taylor Jenkins is coming back to Memphis, but this time he will be on the other sideline.

This will be a fun one as Jenkins spent six seasons as the Grizzlies’ head coach after Memphis gave him his first opportunity to lead an NBA team in 2019. He became the franchise’s all-time leader in regular-season wins with 250 and helped turn a young Memphis team into a consistent playoff contender.

Then everything changed in March 2025, as Jenkins was fired.

The timing of the firing made it one of the more surprising coaching decisions in recent sports history. Memphis was 44-29 with only nine games remaining in the regular season when the organization decided to move on, handing the job to current head coach Tuomas Iisalo.

Iisalo was hired to Jenkins’ staff as a lead assistant in July 2024 after the Grizzlies brought him over from Paris Basketball. Now, after sitting out the 2025-26 season and being hired as head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks on April 30, Jenkins will get a chance to go against the man who holds his former job, in his former home. Jenkins previously worked as an assistant coach in Milwaukee during the 2018-19 season.

There is also some history behind Jenkins’ return. After being hired by the Bucks, he became the fifth former Grizzlies head coach to get another NBA head-coaching job after being fired by Memphis, joining Lionel Hollins, Dave Joerger, David Fizdale and J.B. Bickerstaff.

I am interested to see the reaction Jenkins gets when he is announced as the opposing team’s head coach at FedExForum. He coached some of the best teams in franchise history and was on the sideline for some of the biggest moments of the Grizz NXT GEN era, and some fans say they still miss him as coach.

Now with a new roster in Milwaukee and a new roster in Memphis, Jenkins will have the opportunity to show Memphis whether it made the right or wrong coaching decision.

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Sam Trigg
SAM TRIGG

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