Smith’s decision earned him another similarity to Edey: unanimous preseason All-American.

The French star even put a number on what he would define a successful season: Wembanyama wants the No. 6 seed, at minimum.

All of this is to say that the lead-up to the 2025-26 season has been less than ideal for the Grizzlies. They have some interesting new pieces (Jerome, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cedric Coward), but ...