Grizzlies Left Outside Top 5 in NBA Young Core Rankings

The Memphis Grizzlies have one of the most exciting young cores in the NBA. It seems Bleacher Report does not believe that young core should rank in the top five. Their Zach Buckley named the Grizzlies as an honorable mention in his latest piece ranking the league's top young cores.

Let's be clear: This is not an easy judgment call. The league is littered with quality young teams, and these rankings are somewhat subjective.

That said, it's easy to argue that Buckley is a bit too low on the Grizzlies.

Here was Buckley's top five:

1. San Antonio Spurs

2. Washington Wizards

3. Oklahoma City Thunder

4. Houston Rockets

5. Utah Jazz

At first blush, something leaps out: The Thunder are behind the Wizards?

Chalk that up to time's tendency to fly. Buckley is weighing players 24 and under here. Out of the Thunder's big three of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, and Jalen Williams, only Holmgren meets that threshold. So, that's not unreasonable.

As far as the Grizzlies go, the case could be made over either the Rockets or the Jazz.

Houston's group includes Amen Thompson, Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr., and Reed Sheppard. That's a nice group, but both Thompson (shooting) and Sengun (shooting and defense) have functional limitations that could hold them back from superstardom. Smith Jr. has been closer to a high-end role player in his four NBA seasons, and Sheppard has been underwhelming.

Arguably, Boozer alone should put the Grizzlies over the Rockets. He looks like a surefire franchise player, but in fairness, he hasn't played an NBA game yet.

So why should the Jazz rank ahead?

Perhaps Keyonte George is enough to justify that decision, but his defense is likely to be problematic for years to come. Otherwise, plenty of pundits would take Zach Edey, Cedric Coward, and Karim Lopez over Ace Bailey, Isaiah Collier, Brice Sensabaugh, and Kyle Filipowski.

But Darryn Peterson was drafted ahead of Cameron Boozer. I had Boozer higher on my board, but obviously the Jazz did not, so this ranking is fair as well:

For the time being.

If Boozer looks like the better player, this flips quickly on its head.

So, for now, Buckley's rankings were well constructed. There are no complaints here, but it will be interesting to revisit this conversation next summer.

Memphis has plenty to prove. Lopez should resemble a rotation player, Boozer should resemble a future star, and Edey just needs to stay healthy. If Coward can marginally improve, those developments should be enough to put the Grizzlies ahead of the Jazz, and maybe even the Rockets in these rankings.

For now, fans can only be excited about the possibilities.