Grizzlies Notes: Morant, Adams, Smart, Rose

Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant won’t be eligible to play until December as he serves his 25-game suspension, but the plan is for him to remain around the team on a full-time basis during that period, according to Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.

As Cole writes, team officials consulted with the NBA and confirmed that Morant will be permitted to practice with the Grizzlies and to travel on road trips. He simply can’t be in the arena for games.

“I think it’s great to have, I think it’s great for the group that he can be with us,” Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman told reporters. “The NBA has basically said that as long as Ja continues to stay on track, he is going to be cleared to participate in all team activities.”

Although Morant will be able to take part in practices and scrimmages, he’ll likely be part of the second or third unit during those sessions so that head coach Taylor Jenkins can get a look at the lineups he’ll have available for the first 25 games of the season.

“He and I talked about as we go into camp, it’s a unique situation where even though he’s allowed to practice, I’ve got to start diving into not just what our opening night roster is going to be, but seeing those different combinations,” Jenkins said, per Cole.

Here’s more on the Grizzlies:

• Veteran center Steven Adams, who hasn’t appeared in an NBA game since January due to a right knee injury, has been cleared for live play, but the team will be “conservative” in ramping him up, Kleiman said on Monday (Twitter link via Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian). Adams told reporters that there were some complications during his recovery process, adding that it would be “irresponsible” for him to say he could play a full game right now. However, he believes he’s “in a pretty good spot” (Twitter links via Cole).
• While the veteran leadership that Marcus Smart and Derrick Rose will provide was one reason why the Grizzlies targeted them this offseason, both veterans made it clear on Monday that they’re not in Memphis to “babysit” Morant or any other Grizzlies youngsters, according to Cole and Jonah Dylan of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. “I’m not here to follow you around, I’m not here to cheerlead, I’m here to push you,” Rose said of how he’ll approach his relationship with Morant. “In the league, there are very few opportunities where players get a chance to play with somebody that has a similar style of play. I’m very fortunate to be in a situation where a lot of people look at his game and they kind of compare our games together. But he’s on a whole other level.”
• Acquired from Boston in a three-team trade in June, Smart is already connecting with his new teammates in Memphis, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic. “It’s been great,” Smart said on Monday. “As they told you already, I’ve been talking defense in there with those guys, but you realize right away that this is a group of guys that are hungry. They want to win and are trying to get better. They’re asking me questions; we’re laughing and joking, but we’re excited.”
• Iko notes in the same story that Jenkins is open to trying different strategies on offense with Morant out for the first 25 games of the season and will experiment with different lineups in the preseason.