45 Points, Zero Stars, Four Wins: Memphis Is the NBA's Weirdest 4-0 Team

Four games into the post-Ja Morant, post-Jaren Jackson Jr. era, the Memphis Grizzlies are undefeated. That sentence would have read like a typo in August. It reads like a scouting report now.

The Grizzlies are 4-0 after beating Utah 123-103 at home, Golden State 111-108 on the road, Sacramento 123-112, and Utah again 110-105. They're averaging 116.8 points and allowing 107.0, a plus-9.8 margin. And the engine of all of it is a 29-year-old journeyman who had cracked 30 points exactly once in 253 career NBA games before this season.

Ty Jerome opened the year with 45 points on 17-of-25 shooting, including 5-of-10 from three, in the win over the Jazz — the most points by a Memphis player in a season opener, eclipsing Morant's 44 in 2020. He hasn't exactly cooled off: 29.8 points, 6.5 assists and a plus-15.8 rating across the four games, on 50.6 percent shooting.

The context matters as much as the numbers. Memphis spent the offseason tearing down the core that defined the last seven seasons — Morant shipped to Portland, Jackson to Utah — and the home opener doubled as a tribute to the late Brandon Clarke. This was supposed to be a rebuilding year measured in draft capital, not wins. Instead, the Grizzlies are one of three 4-0 teams in the Western Conference alongside Houston and Oklahoma City and sit atop the Southwest Division.

The supporting cast is doing real work. Rookie Cameron Boozer is averaging 14.8 points and 10.5 rebounds while shooting just 27.9 percent from the floor — the rebounding and free-throw touch (18-of-19) are carrying him through a brutal shooting stretch, and he already has a 25-point, 13-rebound night at Golden State on his résumé. Cedric Coward has been the quiet efficiency story: 13.3 points and 9.7 rebounds on 51.6 percent shooting, including 8-of-11 from deep. He missed the Golden State game, and the Grizzlies have listed him on injury reports already this season, so his availability is worth tracking.

There's a tempting narrative here about Jerome finally getting a starting job and running with it. His career splits support a version of it: as a starter, he's averaged 19.5 points and 5.4 assists in 30 games, versus 8.5 points coming off the bench.

But the 4-0 deserves an asterisk, and the numbers say so. Memphis's strength of schedule sits at minus-9.04 — that start came against soft competition, and a points-based power rating slots them 25th in the league at minus-6.74 despite the perfect record. Their net rating of plus-6.5 is solid, not overwhelming, and the underlying profile is closer to "scrappy overachiever" than "conference threat." Jerome shooting 50.6 percent from the floor and Boozer shooting 27.9 percent are both likely to drift toward the middle.

The real test arrives Thursday in Portland, where the Trail Blazers are 3-0 and averaging 129.3 points. That's the first opponent on this schedule with both a pulse and a healthy roster, and it's a genuine measuring stick for a defense that has yet to be stressed.

None of this diminishes what Memphis has done. A team that traded away its two franchise pillars and got nothing but picks and promise back is 4-0 because a career backup turned into a 30-point-per-night problem and two rookies are rebounding like veterans. It probably won't last at this volume. But the Grizzlies have already bought themselves something more valuable than a fast start: proof that the rebuild has a functioning floor.