The Memphis Grizzlies are off to a 4-0 start to the NBA regular season. This is only the second time in franchise history Memphis has started a campaign undefeated through four games. Ty Jerome is an early front runner for a multitude of awards (even after a stinker of a game by his standards against the Utah Jazz Monday night) and Cameron Boozer has looked every bit the Rookie of the Year almost a week into the 2026-2027 season.

That last bit about the time being discussed is important, of course. Context matters. The Memphis Grizzlies are literally less than a week in to their season. The teams that they have beaten have a combined record of 2-9. Their upcoming game against old friend Ja Morant and the Portland Trail Blazers, also currently undefeated, may be a better measure of how "good" the team actually is.

But in the grand scheme, how "good" the Grizzlies are is irrelevant. And however you interpret this early season success is entirely up to you - for better or worse.

The Ty Jerome Rorschach Test

Ty Jerome has been off to the best start of his professional (and probably basketball) career this season. He is currently third in the NBA in points per game, behind only Luka Doncic and Anthony Edwards.

You read that right. Two All-NBA, MVP-level players year in and year out when healthy. And then Ty Jerome.

A calf injury and then the Grizzlies pivoting to The Great Tank of 2026 after trading Jaren Jackson Jr. all but ended Jerome's chances at being impactful last season. But he is very much showcasing what he is capable of early in this campaign. He can score off the pick and roll. He can execute back cuts and come off of screens without the ball. He can create offense for others (his 6.5 assists per game is second among the current top-10 players in scoring per game).

In a word? Ty Jerome is offense.

But when you look at the start of Ty Jerome, how you interpret his current state says more about you than it does about him. Would it be amazing for Jerome, who is on one of (if not the) best (for a team) non-rookie contracts at $9.2 million this season, to continue this pace, win Most Improved Player, opt out of his $9.6 million owed to him in a player option next season and make double that amount on his next contract?

Sure would. And whether it be Memphis or another NBA franchise, someone would pay it. He's that impressive offensively right now.

But precedent and past performance suggest that Ty will cool off. It already happened a bit against the Utah Jazz on Monday night. And the Memphis Grizzlies, while currently among the NBA's elite, almost certainly will not remain there. Such is life when you have two or three actual "veterans" on your roster.

That's not to say that Memphis isn't a good team. Maybe they are a playoff contender! But there's a reason why those outside the Grizzlies sphere of coverage saw this team as a 25-30 win squad. Could they beat those odds and win the necessary games to be a top-6 seed in the Western Conference? For sure!

But how LIKELY is it that Jerome stays this offensively elite, or is it more likely he cools off and regresses to his personal mean (which in fairness is still a pretty good basketball player)? Should Memphis buy in and extend Ty sooner rather than later when able, or should they see how they can get a first round pick from the Thunder (who are now without both Cason Wallace and Jalen Williams for an extended period of time) instead?

What you think says more about your perception of the franchise than it does about the Grizzlies.

"...The future's not ours to see..."

70 years ago, Alfred Hitchcock's film The Man Who Knew Too Much was released. It featured a song performed by Doris Day that had been written a couple years earlier by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. called "Qué Será, Será (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)". It went on to win the Oscar that year for Best Original Song. Chances are you have heard the song (here it is as sung by Ned Flanders, if you haven't) - here's the most famous part of the song, the beginning/first chorus.

When I was just a little girl
I asked my mother, What will I be?
Will I be pretty? Will I be rich?
Here is what she said to me

Que sera, sera
Whatever will be, will be
The future is not ours to see
Que sera, sera
What will be, will be

Jay Livingston and Ray Evans

Almost three fourths of a century later, the Memphis Grizzlies are putting this philosophy to the test in a basketball sense.

Does the team achieve at a level where they win enough to make the postseason? Wonderful - but don't expect Memphis to be a "buyer" at the trade deadline. What if the team tumbles and falls, or suffers a catastrophic injury to a key player or two like the previously mentioned Thunder?

This coaching staff and front office will not "sell" their best players, because their best players are key cogs of their future. With the exception of Ty Jerome, the likes of Zach Edey, Cameron Boozer, and Cedric Coward aren't going anywhere.

So what's a team overachieving in the moment with a clear long-term vision to do?

Take things as they come, of course. But is that the right path to choose?

The Memphis Grizzlies do see their future. But their "Qué Será, Será" moment is more of a focus on letting this team be, whatever that reality is. Some will see that as the "process" working - the young talent acquired gelling under the schemes of Head Coach Tuomas Iisalo and his staff. Others will see the winning as a byproduct of the schedule, not of the strength of the team. Ty Jerome will possibly be re-signed and see as the point guard of the future.

Life will be good.

If losing comes, it's expected with an inexperienced roster so dependent on players with three or fewer seasons in the NBA - and will almost certainly mean saying bye to Jerome (for draft capital that increases in value by the game). But others will remember the end of the prior era, and point the finger of blame at those that blew up the most exciting (and perhaps disappointing) time in Memphis Grizzlies history.

This will be frustrating to some...and expected (in an understandable way) to others.

All the while, the Memphis Grizzlies will continue to march toward their next attempt at a great team. Perhaps they arrive sooner rather than later. But the nightly analysis of their current state and opinions of whether or not the team is ahead of schedule is an activity that is left to the media and fan base.

To the team? It's business as usual. Come what may.