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Mike Conley's Continued Development

Mike Conley
Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports

Mike Conley has improved in every one of his six NBA seasons, and, partially due to the league's cadre of elite point guards, has become one of the league's most underrated players. One of the league's best defenders, Conley was third in the NBA in steals per game, is a great decision-maker and serves as the team's second-leading scorer.

If Conley takes the next step, he will earn some much-deserved All-Star consideration, and will lead the Grizzlies to the NBA Championship.

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Bench Depth

Mike Miller
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Due in part to the highly-criticized trade of Rudy Gay, the Grizzlies might have the most complete bench in the NBA. In Ed Davis, the team has one of the league's most athletic young big man to spell Gasol and Randolph, provide excellent shot-blocking and fill in for extra minutes in the event that either big is injured or in foul trouble.

Tayshaun Prince provides a little bit of everything, and will relish a full season as a contender in Memphis, after years of toiling away for the lottery-bound Detroit Pistons. With the free agent addition of Mike Miller, the team has the three-point specialist they needed in the Conference Finals against the Spurs, and an elite end-of-game offense-defense platoon at shooting guard with Tony Allen.

Throw in the explosive scoring of guard Jerryd Bayless, and first-year coach David Joerger will have plenty of options to close out playoff games.

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The Best Post Play in the NBA

Marc Gasol
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA Today Sports Images

They say that dominant post play is dead in the NBA. Not in Memphis. In Randolph and Gasol, the Grizzlies boast the best power forward-center combination in the NBA. The duo is good for about 40 points and 20 rebounds per game, and anchor the defensive block on the other end of the court, as well.

In case either of the starters go down, the Grizzlies have more-than-capable insurance policies in the explosive Davis and seven-foot Kosta Koufos, fresh off his best season as a member of the Denver Nuggets.

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Defense Wins Championships

Tony Allen
Troy Taormina-USA Today Sports

With Mike Conley and Tony Allen, the Grizzlies have two of the best on-the-ball defenders in the NBA. With the flux of explosive scoring guards, they could not have two better options to mitigate the play of scorers like Chris Paul and James Harden, while Allen can cover the league's top small forwards, as well.

Tayshaun Prince provides more championship pedigree and more D off the bench, and if scorers can make it through the perimeter, they have Randolph, Gasol and/or Davis waiting for them on the block.

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The 2003-04 Detroit Pistons

Zach Randolph
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Two All Stars in the post, a solid-but-unspectacular point guard, a defense-first philosophy, multiple playoff runs under their belt and a deep and experienced bench. Sound familiar? It should.

Like the Pistons team that won it all, the Grizzlies will have to fight through flashier and maybe even more talented teams, via toughness, rebounding, clutch shooting and chemistry. Come playoff time, the Grizzlies will be overlooked in favor of teams like the Clippers and Thunder, but it will be the Grizzlies holding up the Larry O'Brien Trophy in June.

Alexander Diegel is a columnist for Rant Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @ItsaDiegel, "like" him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.

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