3 Reasons Ja Morant will not be able to save the Memphis Grizzlies

The Western Conference is insanely competitive

Even if the return of Ja Morant does have the great impact that some believe it will, the Memphis Grizzlies will have the tall task of fighting their way out of their current early-season hole. That won't be easy to do in the Western Conference. As they stand, the Grizzlies are 14th in the conference. They're already seven games back (in the loss column) from the team sitting in the seventh seed. That's a huge hole 16 games into a season.

And who knows how much that hole will grow over the final nine games before the return of Morant. But let's say hypothetically that the Grizzlies are able to begin to work their way up the West standings, could anyone envision them surpassing the likes of the LA Clippers, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento Kings, Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns, and Denver Nuggets (who all have better rosters and a head start in the standings)?

That's not even counting the upstart Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder who have a huge step on the Grizzlies at the moment (eight and nine games ahead, respectively). The Grizzlies are in an undesirable place right now in the West standings.