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What we learned about Grizzlies' future during run to summer league title game Before the NBA Summer League title game, Cedric Coward gathered his Grizzlies teammates around him for a final motivational message.
If we play like us, nobody can beat us," said Coward, who was mic'd up on the ESPN broadcast of the July 19 game in Las Vegas.
"Its that simple.
It was an understandable message, given the Grizzlies had basically annihilated their previous two opponents, jumping out to double-digit leads and controlling the pace of the games en route to blowout wins.
With four starters on standard NBA contracts, the Grizzlies had looked like a summer league super team.
Until the fourth quarter of the championship game.
Memphis entered the quarter against the Golden State Warriors with a 10-point lead, but the Warriors stormed back thanks to a strong performance from longtime Memphis Tigers villain Yaxel Lendeborg and ultimately took the summer league title 94-90.
The Grizzlies struggled to score in the final minutes and literally threw away their last chance to tie the game when Olivier-Maxence Prosper's inbounds pass went over the head of Cam Boozer and out of bounds in the final seconds.
Between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, the Grizzlies played nine summer league games, going 5-4.
Here are our takeaways.
Cam Boozer's Grizzlies career starts strong It wasn't surprising that Boozer the No.
3 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft was a focal point of the Grizzlies and largely played well.
And it's notable that he played eight of the nine games, including five in seven days, even as plenty of teams rested their top draft picks.
He wasn't perfect by any stretch.
He had some rough shooting nights, for one.
But what was impressive throughout the week in Las Vegas was his ability to affect the game without needing to score.
On draft night, Boozer said he and center Zach Edey would "automatically become one of the best rebounding duos in the league." That isn't particularly hard to envision, given Boozer's performance in summer league, especially the way he consistently crashed the offensive glass.
He is going to play a major role for the Grizzlies in 2026-27 and beyond, and nothing he did in summer league suggested he isn't ready for that.
Javon Small impresses Small was a rookie in 2025-26, and he got more playing time than he probably expected because of the Grizzlies' seemingly never-ending injury crisis that completely derailed the season.
It was hard to judge him in those minutes, especially toward the end of the season, when the roster was increasingly made up of players on 10-day contracts.
The Grizzlies handed Small the reins as their starting point guard throughout summer league, and he played well throughout.
He scored when he needed to score, facilitated when he needed to facilitate and brought energy and effort on both sides of the ball.
Memphis has an overcrowded roster and an uncertain pecking order at point guard, with Ty Jerome and Scotty Pippen Jr.
seemingly ahead of Small in the rotation.
But Small showed at the very least that he belongs on an NBA roster and can be an effective point guard when needed.
Who else stood out for the Grizzlies? Coward had a bit of an up-and-down summer league, by his lofty standards, but he played well down the stretch and looked like the best player on the floor on plenty of occasions in the title game.
He was a first-team NBA All-Rookie honoree in 2026 and is slated to be a starter for the Grizzlies this season.
The chemistry he built during summer league with Boozer won't hurt, either.
Undrafted center Carson Cooper signed a two-way deal with the Grizzlies after the draft.
He had his best game in Las Vegas in the championship, scoring 16 points on 7-for-8 shooting off the bench.
He'll be behind Edey, Isaiah Stewart and Quinten Post in the Grizzlies' center rotation, and he'll likely get plenty of run in the G League early on.
If he plays like he did against the Warriors, he might be able to carve out an NBA roster spot for himself in the future.
The Grizzlies had three draft picks in 2026, but Boozer was the only one who played significant minutes in summer league.
No.
21 Karim Lopez played in only one game because of a hamstring injury he suffered during the pre-draft process, while No.
32 Richie Saunders was unavailable because he's still recovering from a torn ACL he suffered in February.
Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at [email protected] or on X @thejonahdylan.