Ja Morant's return is still the biggest Memphis Grizzlies offseason storyline | Giannotto

Jaren Jackson Jr. pondered all of the reasons this Memphis Grizzlies season didn’t go as planned, all of the injuries and setbacks that left him alone on the court among this team’s core and could have broken his spirit. How did he stay positive through it all?

That was the question posed to him Monday, now that the entire organization could survey the wreckage with this campaign from hell officially over. The first words of his answer perhaps told the story better than anything else.

“The day we found out about 12,” Jackson said, referring to Ja Morant’s nickname, “that was a low day for everybody.”

That, of course, was back in January, when Morant suffered a season-ending labrum injury that required surgery and this season fundamentally changed. It ultimately forced the Grizzlies to ditch whatever playoff hopes they had. As this group convened one last time before heading their separate ways, it’s an event that still lingers over everything.

The biggest offseason storyline facing the Grizzlies remains the return of Morant, just as it was at the end of last season and the beginning of this one. Everything else this group wants to do can't happen until he’s back to being a superstar, which feels like the lasting impression left by this season.

So there was a lot said during the franchise’s annual end-of-season media availability.

General Manager Zach Kleiman reiterated he’s in the market for another big man. GG Jackson II and Vince Williams Jr. were praised for emerging as bright spots through all the losing, with futures that figure heavily into the Grizzlies’ plans when they might not have if this roster hadn’t resembled a MASH unit the last few months. There’s a lottery pick in this year’s NBA draft to consider and back-of-the-rotation decisions to make with a logjam of wings.

But none of it matters without Morant.

A team that was once rightfully hailed as being ahead of schedule is now tasked with making up for lost time, largely because he's played so little over the past 13 months – first because of his own decision-making and then because of awful injury luck.

“Obviously I always want to be out there, fighting with the team,” Morant said Monday in his first comments to reporters since suffering a torn labrum in a workout. “I couldn't, which I had to deal with.”

It’s so hard to deal with the evaluation of the season we all just watched, particularly how it devolved into a parade of 10-day contracts down the stretch. But those first 34 games – the opening 25 when Morant served an NBA suspension for last summer’s second gun incident and the nine he played before getting hurt – shouldn’t be easily forgotten. They were certainly more revealing than anything that happened the past few months.

The Grizzlies looked completely out of sorts without Morant, going 6-19 to begin the season despite having Desmond Bane, Jackson and Marcus Smart in most of those games. The back half of the rotation was a mess, and this was before the injury situation went from bad to worse.

Then, once Morant’s suspension ended, Memphis almost immediately looked a lot like the regular-season juggernaut it was the two seasons prior to this one. It just lasted all of 17 days before Morant was gone again. It seemed so cruel in the moment, and served to reinforce how important Morant – and Morant’s availability – will be after a couple regular seasons in a row in which the Grizzlies found ways to win without him at times.

MORE: Everything Ja Morant said during Memphis Grizzlies' end of season media availability

Kleiman confirmed Morant is on schedule in his recovery from surgery and expects him to be cleared for basketball activities again halfway through the offseason. He also praised Morant’s demeanor and the “significant strides” made off the court after all the tumult that derailed him a year ago. As Derrick Rose put it: “I know a pro when I see one, and he’s a pro.”

“To be able to achieve what we’re setting out to achieve, you have to carry yourself with urgency and purpose, and I think Ja’s doing that,” Kleiman said.

Like Jackson noted Monday, just making the playoffs or getting a top-four seed in the Western Conference isn’t enough anymore for these Grizzlies. Morant, Bane and Jackson are all signed to nine-figure contracts now, and the franchise has all three signed only for the next two seasons.

As good as Jackson and Bane have become, there’s only one way the Grizzlies will reach their lofty goal of bringing a championship to Memphis – through Morant.

"I think we can do it next season, honestly,” Morant said. “God willing, everybody stays healthy.”

They don’t need divine intervention as much as they need him.

You can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Mark Giannotto via email at mgiannotto@gannett.com and follow him on X: @mgiannotto

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Ja Morant's return is still biggest Memphis Grizzlies offseason story