Duke Sizemore here, and today we are leaving yesterday’s market movement behind and putting the Memphis finish under the microscope! Here’s what we’ve got: six straight losses, one absolutely brutal night in Utah, a preseason ranking headed the wrong way, and a roster wrinkle involving Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
Okay, okay, okay, get into this Memphis sequence! April 4 against Toronto: 96-128, minus 15 Elo. Then Milwaukee: another loss, minus 9.1. Cleveland, Denver, both losses. And then Utah drops ONE-FORTY-SEVEN on Memphis in a 147-101 Grizzlies defeat — that single game takes 24.6 Elo points off the board! Twenty-four point six! That is the heavyweight punch in this six-game skid.
Houston finishes the job two nights later, 132-101. Add it all together and Memphis goes from 1333 Elo before that Toronto game to 1274 after Houston, with a recent swing of minus 58.4. Six listed games. Six losses. That is the late-season baggage this team carries into COURT VISION’s preseason evaluation.
And the model is not exactly buying a bounce-back yet. The Grizzlies sit at 1297.8 preseason Elo, ranked 29th, down one spot from their previous ranking. Their market Elo is even lower at 1242.3. Last listed record: 25 and 58. So Memphis has to give this board a reason to change its mind.
Now add the personnel piece: the Memphis dossier says Kentavious Caldwell-Pope agreed to a buyout and plans to sign a one-year deal with Philadelphia after clearing waivers. That matters as we evaluate what Memphis looks like next, but there is NO qualifying day-over-day futures mover today. No fake fireworks from me! Summer League is stale, the title-race data is unchanged, and the next confirmed game on this board is Miami at Toronto on October 3.
So circle Memphis heading toward preseason: minus 58.4 over that closing stretch, 29th in preseason Elo, and plenty to prove when basketball gets rolling again. This is COURT VISION: The Daily Brief. Duke Sizemore signing off — I’ll catch you tomorrow!