Grizzlies star big man Jaren Jackson Jr. has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 left ankle sprain, the team’s PR department tweets.
Jackson suffered the injury during the first quarter against the Hawks on Monday. He is considered week-to-week, the team adds.
This could impact the Grizzlies’ playoff position. They’re currently in fourth place in the Western Conference, one game ahead of Houston. They have a 5 1/2-game cushion on the teams currently sitting in the top three play-in spots.
However, the team’s other star, guard Ja Morant, is also currently sidelined with shoulder soreness. On Monday, coach Taylor Jenkins expressed optimism that Morant would return soon.
“I don’t think there’s any long-term concern. It’s just some day-to-day soreness that he’s been navigating,” he said. “Not feeling comfortable with how the arms been raising after taking a hit or two over the course of the last couple of weeks. He’s been playing through it, and obviously, I think it’s just more of a short-term situation.”
Jackson is averaging 22.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.3 steals in 29.4 minutes per game. The forward/center has appeared in 59 games and needs to see action in six more to qualify for NBA postseason awards. He’d have to return by early April to make that happen — Memphis has seven games in April before the postseason begins.
With Victor Wembanyama out for the season, Jackson is considered a top candidate for the Defensive Player of the Year award. That has major implications in terms of Jackson’s future earnings.
As we recently detailed, if Jackson wins the DPOY award this season, he’d become eligible for a super-max contract extension, starting at up to 35% of the 2026/27 salary cap.