Memphis Grizzlies
Marquee player who needs a fresh start: Marcus Smart
In somewhat surprising fashion, the Memphis Grizzlies have emerged as one of the better teams in the Western Conference this season. What has been most impressive is the fact that the team has been able to accomplish this without the team playing at their best. One player who continues to struggle to find his sweet spot with the team is Marcus Smart. He's looked out of place for the first year-plus of his time with the Grizzlies and it's hard to envision that changing over the course of the second half of the year.
At this point, there's a real chance that Smart would be better suited to finding a new team at some point in 2025. I'm not sure if he's going to be awarded that, even despite his struggles, but it has to be at least a conversation that takes place in the front office. Smart is too good of a player to be struggling this much with the Grizzlies. There's a very real chance that he's just not a good fit on the team. And that's Ok if it does happen to be the case.
Miami Heat
Marquee player who needs a fresh start: Nikola Jovic
With the way the Miami Heat have played as a team so far this season, there are several different players you can highlight as candidates who may benefit from a fresh start sooner rather than later. The easy answer here is probably Jimmy Butler. However, for the sake of uniqueness, I decided to pick another player. I went with Nikola Jovic. As a player who has shown some promise through the first few years of his career with the Heat, I believe he may not fit perfectly with how the team wants to play.
He has potential and could one day be a key contributor to a playoff team but for the Heat, I do believe this team would rather see Bam Adebayo play the power forward position than for a small forward to play next to him, which would push him to the center position. That's probably where the decision to select Kel'el Ware in the 2024 NBA Draft comes into play. Jovic would probably be better suited on a different team in 2025 but I'm not quite sure that's something we're going to see play out.