Although T.J. Shorts’ season with his French team isn’t over yet, reports from Europe suggest that the American/Macedonian point guard plans to leave Paris Basket this summer, turn down EuroLeague offers, and pursue an NBA opportunity with the Memphis Grizzlies.
According to BasketEurope, Shorts is expected to depart the French capital and head back to the United States in hopes of making an NBA roster for the first time. Since graduating from UC Davis in 2019, he has steadily built a strong career in Europe, climbing the ranks to reach the highest levels of competition.
Shorts’s Quick Rise
T.J. Shorts is currently wrapping up his second season with Paris Basketball, a relatively young club founded in 2018 that has strong NBA connections. The team is led by former Minnesota Timberwolves General Manager David Kahn and coached by ex-NBA player Tiago Splitter, who previously played for the Spurs, 76ers, and Hawks. As the team has ascended, so too has Shorts. After guiding Paris to the 2023-24 EuroCup title — Europe’s second-tier club competition — he has now helped them qualify for and compete in the EuroLeague, the continent’s top-tier tournament.
Throughout his European career, Shorts has earned a string of individual honors. In the 2023-24 season, he was named MVP of both the EuroCup and the French LNB league. The previous year, while with Telekom Baskets Bonn, he claimed MVP honors in Germany’s Bundesliga and the Basketball Champions League, Europe’s third-tier competition. In 2021-22, he led the Bundesliga in scoring and won MVP in the Europe Cup, the continent’s fourth-tier competition, while playing for Crailsheim.
For four consecutive seasons, Shorts has dominated at progressively higher levels, making a strong case as the best guard at each step. As the EuroLeague postseason awards near, he remains a frontrunner. Having already led the regular season in assists, earned All-EuroLeague First Team honors, and collected MVP awards for the Play-In Round and for November, Shorts could add even more accolades to his impressive résumé — both in France and across Europe.
Already Has Ties To The Grizzlies
At this stage of his career, the NBA is the final step remaining for T.J. Shorts — and fortunately for him, one of his strongest supporters now holds real influence at that level.
The clearest link between Shorts and the NBA is Tuomas Iisalo, the newly appointed head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies. Iisalo previously coached Shorts at both Telekom Baskets Bonn and Paris Basketball before making his own move to the NBA in the summer of 2024. When Paris lured Iisalo away from Bonn in 2023 with significant financial backing, he brought along several players from his former squad — Shorts included.
As the coach who has helped guide and elevate Shorts at every stage of his European rise, Iisalo is arguably the most credible advocate for Shorts’ potential NBA impact. If Shorts does earn a spot on the Grizzlies’ roster, he’ll be joining a team in need of reliable depth at the point guard position, especially given the injury history of star guard Ja Morant.
On paper, the fit is compelling. The real question now is whether Shorts — undersized by NBA standards — can consistently hold his own at the game’s highest level.
Chance Of Making The Grizzlies Rotation
Back when he was President of the New York Knicks, Isiah Thomas once said of the 5’8 firebrand Nate Robinson, “if he was 6-2, he probably would have been the second, or even the first, pick in this draft”. In a similar vein, it is entirely fair to say that were he not 5’9, Shorts would have played in the NBA already.
The entirety of the European basketball knows of Shorts’ dominance with the ball. Despite the aptness of his surname, Shorts can get to wherever he wants off of a live dribble, even against the high-calibre defences of the EuroLeague (which somewhat lack for the same level of athleticism that the NBA tries to monopolise, but which make up for it with added physicality). He scores from all three levels, and is an excellent playmaker for others off of that threat, an excellent floor general who can also create and make shots in isolation when the moment calls for it. Shorts is skilled, fearless, shifty and reliable. Just like a star point guard should be.
To be sure, the complicated multi-positional defensive schemes of the NBA will be a challenge for Shorts, who is a one-position defender disadvantaged even at that one position. Speed, hands, reads and gumption can only make up for so much.
However, Shorts’ skill level on the offensive end has already proven it can work anywhere. The EuroLeague is almost invariably stocked with players who either were, could be or will be in the NBA at some point, and in amongst this NBA pedigree, he proved he was ahead of most of the pack.
If BasketEurope’s reporting is correct, Shorts will join the Grizzlies for at least summer league, and likely for training camp. Whether the 27-year-old starlet at the height of his powers will be able to play his way into an NBA rotation is the only remaining unknown. And the answer to that question is very likely to be yes.
