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Ja Morant Could Return Friday

January 14th, 2021 at 6:50pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Star Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant, the 2019/20 Rookie of the Year, has had his availability status for Friday’s bout against the Timberwolves upgraded to “questionable,” Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.

This is the first time Morant has been listed as questionable since incurring a Grade 2 left ankle sprain in a 116-111 victory against the Nets on December 28. A return tomorrow for the 6’3″ guard out of Murray State would be on the early side of the initial three-to-five-week recovery projection given at the time of the injury. Tyus Jones started in Morant’s stead, averaging 9.5 PPG and 6.75 APG.

The Grizzlies have weathered the storm without their lead playmaker relatively successfully thus far. The club is currently 4-4 across the eight games Morant has missed for Memphis and is the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference.

Morant looked to be on track for his first All-Star berth before the ankle sprain, averaging 26.3 PPG, 6.3 APG, 2.3 RPG, 0.7 SPG and 0.7 BPG during the first three games of his sophomore season.

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Anderson Gets Chance To Show What He Can Do

January 11th, 2021 at 6:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder
  • Forward Kyle Anderson is averaging career highs in points, rebounding and assists for the injury-riddled Grizzlies and he feels a measure of vindication, Mark Giannotto of the Memphis Commercial Appeal writes. “I feel like I could have been doing this in this league, but I put a lot of work in and finally proving to myself that I can do it,” said Anderson, who is signed through the 2021/22 season.
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2020/21 NBA G League Draft Results

January 11th, 2021 at 1:03pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA G League held its draft for the 2020/21 season on Monday afternoon.

In a typical year, the G League draft lasts four rounds and teams are only required to make two selections. However, this year’s draft was just three rounds and teams weren’t required to make any picks.

Because only 17 of 28 NBA G League affiliates (plus the G League Ignite) are participating in the revamped season at Walt Disney World in Florida, and because teams aren’t permitted to bring extra players to training camp for health and safety reasons, roster spots will be at a premium in the NBAGL this season, and the draft reflected that. Only 25 players were selected.

With the first overall pick, the Greensboro Swarm – the Hornets‘ affiliate – nabbed former Wizard Admiral Schofield. The 42nd overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft, Schofield averaged 3.0 PPG and 1.4 RPG in 33 games (11.2 MPG) as a rookie before being traded to the Thunder during the offseason. Oklahoma City waived him last month.

With the second overall pick, which they acquired in a trade earlier in the day, the Memphis Hustle selected former Baylor standout Freddie Gillespie, who had been in camp with the Mavericks. Gillespie recently spoke to JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors about his desire to make it to the NBA and his plans to begin his professional career in the G League. He’s now in position to suit up for the Grizzlies‘ affiliate.

Here are the full 2020/21 G League draft results:

Round One:

  1. Greensboro Swarm (Hornets): Admiral Schofield (Tennessee)
  2. Memphis Hustle (Grizzlies): Freddie Gillespie (Baylor)
  3. Canton Charge (Cavaliers): Antonio Blakeney (LSU)
  4. Iowa Wolves (Timberwolves): Allonzo Trier (Arizona)
  5. Lakeland Magic (Magic):  Tahjere McCall (Tennessee State)
  6. Canton Charge: Anthony Lamb (Vermont)
  7. Oklahoma City Blue (Thunder): Zavier Simpson (Michigan)
  8. Lakeland Magic: DJ Hogg (Texas A&M)
  9. Westchester Knicks (Knicks): Justin Patton (Creighton)
  10. Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Rockets): Armoni Brooks (Houston)
  11. Raptors 905 (Raptors): Kevon Harris (Stephen F. Austin)
  12. Rio Grande Valley Vipers: Jarron Cumberland (Cincinnati)
  13. Oklahoma City Blue: Vince Edwards (Purdue)
  14. Austin Spurs (Spurs): Jonathan Kasibabu (Fairfield)
  15. Raptors 905: Gary Payton II (Oregon State)
  16. Memphis Hustle: Anthony Cowan Jr. (Maryland)
  17. Iowa Wolves: Dakarai Tucker (Utah)
  18. Salt Lake City Stars (Jazz): No pick
  19. N/A

Round Two:

  1. Delaware Blue Coats (Sixers): Jemerrio Jones (New Mexico State)
  2. Fort Wayne Mad Ants (Pacers): Oshae Brissett (Syracuse)
  3. Westchester Knicks: No pick
  4. Iowa Wolves: No pick
  5. Long Island Nets (Nets): No pick
  6. Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario (Clippers): No pick
  7. Fort Wayne Mad Ants: Quincy McKnight (Seton Hall)
  8. Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario (Clippers): No pick
  9. Santa Cruz Warriors (Warriors): Selom Mawugbe (Azusa Pacific)
  10. Raptors 905: No pick
  11. Memphis Hustle: No pick
  12. Austin Spurs: Anthony Mathis (Oregon)
  13. Erie BayHawks (Pelicans): No pick
  14. Greensboro Swarm: No pick
  15. Austin Spurs: Kaleb Johnson (Georgetown)
  16. Santa Cruz Warriors: No pick
  17. Memphis Hustle: No pick
  18. Oklahoma City Blue: Rob Edwards (Arizona State)
  19. Salt Lake City Stars: No pick

Round Three:

  1. Greensboro Swarm: No pick
  2. Erie BayHawks: No pick
  3. Westchester Knicks: No pick
  4. Delaware Blue Coats: Braxton Key (Virginia)
  5. No picks from 43-57

The teams that didn’t make any picks will fill their rosters with affiliate players and returning rights players, meaning they didn’t need to draft anyone and/or didn’t have the open spots to do so.

As Jonathan Givony of ESPN and Blake Murphy of The Athletic noted (via Twitter), NBAGL teams overwhelmingly opted for youth, passing on most of the notable veteran NBA players in the draft pool. That group included Michael Beasley, Mario Chalmers, Lance Stephenson, Emeka Okafor, and Shabazz Muhammad, among others.

Former Nets first-rounder Dzanan Musa removed his name from the draft pool before the event began, per Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link).

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Grizzlies’ Jonas Valanciunas Cleared To Return

January 10th, 2021 at 11:11am CST by Arthur Hill

Jonas Valanciunas has been cleared to return to action after a potential brush with COVID-19, the Grizzlies center announced on Twitter.

“False alarm. Everyone around me is healthy and I am cleared to get back on the court,” he wrote. “Thank you all for the support. Stay safe!”

Valanciunas was told to leave the bench before halftime of Friday’s game due to contact tracing. He would have missed three more games if he had been subjected to a seven-day quarantine under the NBA’s health and safety protocols.

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Unique Homecoming In Memphis For Gasol

January 9th, 2021 at 1:48pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum
  • New Lakers center Marc Gasol, a three-time All-Star and the 2013 Defensive Player of the Year with the Grizzlies, had an interesting homecoming experience during a 108-94 defeat of Memphis this week, per Mark Giannotto of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Facing a FedExForum arena bereft of fans due to a raging pandemic, the 35-year-old big man noted that, “In your mind,” Gasol said, “the stands also are full.” Though Gasol was traded to the Raptors during the 2018/19 season en route to a title with Toronto, this marked his first game back at the arena where he became a star.
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Grizzlies’ Jonas Valanciunas Leaves Game Due To Contact Tracing

January 8th, 2021 at 9:59pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Grizzlies center Jonas Valanciunas was instructed to leave the bench before halftime of the team’s game against the Nets due to contact tracing, according to ESPN’s Royce Young.

Valanciunas did not test positive for COVID-19 but under the league’s protocols, he’d have to quarantine for seven days before being cleared to return if he continues to register negative tests. Memphis plays three more games during that span.

A number of teams have been left shorthanded due to healthy and safety protocols this week, including Boston, Philadelphia and Dallas. Valanciunas is one of Memphis’ key inside players, averaging 15.0 PPG and 11.4 RPG heading into Friday’s game.

Valanciunas is the second Grizzlies player whose availability has been impacted by the coronavirus this season, Evan Barnes of the Memphis Commercial Appeal notes. De’Anthony Melton missed four games earlier this season due to health and safety protocols and returned on Sunday.

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Grizzlies Sign Tim Frazier

January 4th, 2021 at 6:37pm CST by Luke Adams

6:37pm: The signing is official, pursuant to the NBA’s hardship roster rules, according to a team press release. The Grizzlies took advantage of the league’s rule tweaks and made it a 10-day contract, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

12:31pm: The Grizzlies are set to complete the first NBA transaction of the 2021 calendar year, with Shams Charania of The Athletic reporting (via Twitter) that the club has reached a deal to sign free agent point guard Tim Frazier.

While terms of the deal haven’t been reported, it will almost certainly be a non-guaranteed minimum-salary contract.

Frazier, 30, has a total of 272 regular season NBA games for six teams under his belt. In 2019/20, he appeared in 27 games for the Pistons, averaging 3.6 PPG and 3.4 APG on .362/.333/.792 shooting in 13.1 minutes per contest. He was cut by Detroit last February to accommodate a deadline-day trade.

The Grizzlies don’t currently have an open roster spot available, but won’t have to waive a player to add Frazier, since they’ll sign him via the hardship provision, according to Charania.

The NBA can grant a team a hardship exception when that team has at least four players who have missed three or more games due to injury or illness and are expected to miss at least two more weeks. A hardship exception allows the club to add an extra player to its 15-man roster, increasing its roster limit to 16. When one of the four injured players is ready to return, the team must once again reduce its roster count to 15.

The Grizzlies have been without Jaren Jackson Jr. (knee), Justise Winslow (hip), and Jontay Porter (knee) all season so far, and recently lost Ja Morant for several weeks due to an ankle sprain. Morant missed his third consecutive game on Sunday, making Memphis eligible for a hardship exception.

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NBA Tweaks Rules For Hardship Provision, 10-Day Contracts

January 4th, 2021 at 3:37pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has made a small adjustment to its roster rules for the 2020/21 season, allowing teams to sign players to 10-day contracts via the hardship provision before the annual window for standard 10-day signings opens, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).

As we outlined earlier today, the hardship provision allows a team hit hard by the injury bug to add an extra player to its roster if that club has four injured players who meet certain criteria. The Grizzlies are the first team this season to be granted a hardship exception.

A player signed via the hardship provision later in the season would receive a 10-day contract. But since 10-day deals can’t be signed until January 5 in a normal league year (February 23 this year), players signed via the hardship provision before that date receive minimum-salary contracts that are non-guaranteed but cover the full season. Once those players are cut, their cap hits are adjusted to reflect the amount of days they were under contract.

As Marks explains (via Twitter), allowing teams to sign players to 10-day contracts via the hardship provision earlier in the season opens the door for a hard-capped team to add a player. The cap hit for a 10-day contract worth the veteran’s minimum would be just $110,998 — even the teams that are closest to the hard cap would be able to squeeze that figure onto their books. A number of those teams wouldn’t be able to sign a player to a standard (full-season) minimum contract yet though, even if the contract is non-guaranteed and they’re granted a hardship exception.

Additionally, Marks notes, the rule tweak gives teams some protection in the event of a major injury. If a player suffers a season-ending injury while on a 10-day deal, he’d be owed the rest of his 10-day salary — if he suffers a season-ending injury while on a non-guaranteed standard contract, he’d be owed his full-season salary.

Players are typically only permitted to sign a maximum of two 10-day contracts with the same team in a single league year, but a 10-day deal signed using the hardship provision won’t count against that limit, tweets Marks.

Tim Frazier‘s deal with the Grizzlies via the hardship provision hasn’t been officially announced yet, but it seems likely Memphis will take advantage of this rule tweak and sign the veteran guard to a 10-day contract.

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Grayson Allen Sprains Left Ankle

December 31st, 2020 at 10:20am CST by Luke Adams
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Ja Morant Expected To Miss 3-5 Weeks With Ankle Sprain

December 29th, 2020 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant is expected to miss the next three to five weeks recovering from a left ankle injury, the team announced today (via Twitter). According to the Grizzlies, Morant was diagnosed with a Grade 2 sprain after undergoing tests today.

The 21-year-old suffered the injury on Monday night in the second quarter of Memphis’ game vs. the Nets, when he landed on Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot‘s foot while trying to contest a shot. He left the court area on a wheelchair.

While the injury could have been worse, it’s still an unfortunate setback for Morant, who was looking to build off his Rookie of the Year campaign and was off to a strong start this season. In his two full games before suffering the injury on Monday, he averaged 36.0 PPG and 8.0 APG on .583/.333/.813 shooting.

With Morant sidelined, the Grizzlies will have to lean more heavily on Tyus Jones in the short term. De’Anthony Melton also should see an uptick in minutes once he clears the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols.

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