Grizzlies Rumors

Hornets Notes: Simpson, Wells, Salaün, Flagg, G. Williams

Hornets guard KJ Simpson took to social media (Twitter links) to profusely apologize to Jaylen Wells, who was taken off the court on a stretcher and sustained a broken right wrist after being fouled by Simpson while he was in the air going up for a dunk (YouTube link). Simpson was ejected for a Flagrant 2 foul upon review.

My prayers are with @jaylen_wells, I know we already spoke and are good friends bro but again I just wanted to express not only to J but to his family as well how deeply sorry I am,” Simpson wrote. “I would never purposely do that to anyone. I’m just extremely sorry.

Especially with the talent J is. I know he’s gonna be special and just from the many times our paths have crossed I’m blessed to know he’s an even better person with an amazing story. I just wanted to again say sorry to J and his family I can’t say it enough.”

The Grizzlies wing accepted Simpson’s apologies, replying (via Twitter), “Much love brother. Thank you.”

Here’s more on the Hornets:

  • No. 6 overall pick Tidjane Salaün is wrapping up his first season with Charlotte. While the 19-year-old has struggled with efficiency during his rookie campaign, he has looked much more comfortable — and been more productive — since the start of March, writes Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. The French forward says he wants to improve in multiple areas in the offseason. “I would like to continue to develop some winning habits,” Salaün said. “Get faster on defense, keep blocking out the player and on offense, play my game, try to develop my ball-handling, some good passes and keep the game simple. And be the most efficient. That’s it.”
  • Winning the draft lottery would give the Hornets the opportunity to select consensus top prospect Cooper Flagg, who just finished his freshman season at Duke. In a column for The Charlotte Observer, Scott Fowler explains why he thinks landing with the Hornets could be a good thing for Flagg, whose family lived in North Carolina while he was attending college. Instead of going to a team with a track record of success, Flagg could become an icon in the area if he’s able to help turn the Hornets into a winner, Fowler notes. Charlotte has the NBA’s longest postseason drought, last making the playoffs in 2016.
  • 2024/25 has been a disappointing season for the Hornets, with injuries once again being a major issue. Forward Grant Williams, who tore the ACL in his right knee in November, says he’s making good progress in his recovery, according to Boone. “I’m feeling great, positive,” Williams told Boone. “That’s really the one word that I’ve tried to stay consistent with throughout this whole process. … The team, they are not rushing me. They are just focused on making sure I get better every single day and taking it one day at a time. I’m trying my best just to stay focused on the moment, and attacking every single little thing with the right mentality and come back stronger than I was before.”

Southwest Notes: Exum, Paul, Edey, Reeves

Dante Exum could make a surprise early return from his left hand surgery. The Mavericks guard has been upgraded to questionable for their game against the Lakers on Wednesday, Mike Curtis of the Dallas Morning News tweets. Exum was expected to miss the remainder of the season after fracturing his left hand in mid-March.

Anthony Davis (adductor strain) is listed as probable to play in Wednesday’s game.

We have more from the Southwest Division:

  • Chris Paul isn’t sure if he’ll continue to play beyond this season. Paul, who will be a free agent again this summer, said he’s enjoyed his time in San Antonio, he told Mike Monroe of The Athletic. “You never know where your career, your journey, is going to take you,” said Paul, who is averaging 8.8 points and 7.6 assists per game with the Spurs. “I would never have imagined I would be here in San Antonio and have my career end with never coming here.”
  • Lottery pick Zach Edey has been on a nice run as the season winds down. The Grizzlies‘ rookie center has averaged 16.7 rebounds in three April outings. He had a double-double against the Lakers late last month. Edey doesn’t mind doing the dirty work. “That’s always been my favorite type of game,” he told Michael Wallace of Grind City Media. “These are games when refs let you play, let you bang, and it gets physical. That’s always been the kind of game I thrive in.”
  • Rookie Antonio Reeves led the Pelicans with 23 points in a loss to Milwaukee on Sunday. The second-round pick out of Kentucky is averaging 13.7 points over the last six games. He’s signed to a three-year, $5.41MM deal.

Grizzlies’ Jaylen Wells Diagnosed With Broken Wrist After Fall

8:42 pm: Wells has a broken right wrist, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets. The Grizzlies rookie is able to move his extremities and will continue to receive medical care.


8:19 pm: Grizzlies rookie forward Jaylen Wells was taken off the court on a stretcher on Tuesday after a hard fall while getting fouled on a dunk late in the first half at Charlotte, according to ESPN.

Wells was fouled from behind on Hornets guard KJ Simpson and landed face first on the court. Upon an official review, Simpson was assessed a Flagrant 2 foul, resulting in an automatic ejection.

Fred Wells, Jaylen’s father, posted on Twitter that “Jaylen is awake and alert. Wanted 2 know the score! Swollen wrist. Face, jaw and back pain. About to get X-ray and CT.”

Wells, drafted with the No. 39 pick, has been one of the league’s most accomplished rookies this season. He quickly emerged as a starter, averaging 10.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists in just over 26.1 minutes while appearing in every game. He’s also one of the Grizzlies’ top perimeter defenders.

If Wells has to miss some time, it could seriously hamper Memphis in the postseason. The Grizzlies are currently tied with three other teams with a 46-32 record and are trying to avoid the play-in tournament. It’s been a tumultuous time as of late for the team, which recently fired head coach Taylor Jenkins.

Vince Williams Jr. figures to absorb a majority of Wells’ minutes if he’s sidelined, with John Konchar also getting a bump in playing time.

Five West Teams Have 32 Losses In Regular Season’s Final Week

The Thunder clinched the No. 1 seed entering the Western Conference playoffs two-plus weeks ago, but the remaining 19 postseason seeds are up for grabs in the final week of the 2024/25 regular season, according to the NBA (Twitter link).

There isn’t too much drama in the East, with the Cavaliers and Celtics leading the conference for the entire season. Four other clubs — the Knicks, Pacers, Bucks and Pistons — are guaranteed of making the playoffs, while the Magic, Hawks, Bulls and Heat will be in the play-in tournament. But the final seeds are technically still up in the air.

The West is a totally different story, however. Five teams — the Nuggets, Clippers, Warriors, Timberwolves and Grizzlies — each have 32 losses, with the Nuggets holding a slim half-game lead on their competitors by virtue of having one more win.

After losing four straight, the Nuggets are currently 47-32, while the Clippers, Warriors, Timberwolves and Grizzlies all have identical 46-32 records. They are, in that order, the current Nos. 4-8 seeds in the West.

This is the first time since the current playoff format was introduced in 1983/84 that the Nos. 4-8 seeds in a conference are within a half-game of each other in the standings 78-plus games into a season, per the NBA (Twitter link).

It’s also just the second time teams ranked 3-8 in a conference are within two games of each other 78-plus games into a season, with the other also coming in the West back in ’17/18.

The 48-30 Lakers currently hold the No. 3 spot, but could theoretically end up anywhere from No. 2 to No. 8 (moving up to No. 2 would require the Lakers to win their final four games and the Rockets to lose their final three; Houston is guaranteed of being either No. 2 or No. 3)

If the Lakers hold onto the No. 3 seed — certainly not a given considering how unpredictable and close the West is — and there ends up being a five-way tie between the current 32-loss clubs, then the final standings would be as follows, according to ESPN researcher Matt Williams (Twitter link via ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk):

  1. Timberwolves
  2. Clippers
  3. Warriors
  4. Nuggets
  5. Grizzlies

The Suns have the league’s highest payroll, but are in imminent danger of falling out of the West’s play-in picture. Phoenix has dropped six straight and is three games behind No. 9 Sacramento and two-and-a-half behind No. 10 Dallas with only four games remaining.

Grizzlies Notes: Defense, Jackson, Iisalo, Aldama, Morant

The Grizzlies‘ offense has been under the spotlight since Taylor Jenkinsouster last week due to the massive changes the coaching staff made to its system coming into the season and the steps the team has taken recently to undo some of those changes. However, the Grizzlies’ play on the defensive side of the ball has been a bigger issue during the club’s recent slide, William Guillory of The Athletic wrote this week after the Warriors put up 134 points against Memphis in a Tuesday win.

The Grizzlies performed better defensively in Thursday’s win over Miami, but a unit that had the NBA’s seventh-best defensive rating prior to the All-Star break has still ranked just 20th in the league since then.

Although Defensive Player of the Year candidate Jaren Jackson Jr. missed five games during that stretch due to an ankle sprain, the team’s decline in effectiveness on that end of the court can’t be chalked up to being without its top rim protector for a little over a week. Jackson has posted a 115.2 defensive rating during his time on the court since the All-Star break, compared to a 106.4 pre-All-Star mark.

Here’s more on the Grizzlies:

  • Who exactly is new Grizzlies interim head coach Tuomas Iisalo? In another story for The Athletic, Guillory profiles Jenkins’ replacement, noting that the Finnish assistant was a relative unknown to most NBA fans before his promotion last week. “He’s a really smart guy. No bulls–t,” Grizzlies wing Desmond Bane said. “It’s all about winning and how you get there. Nothing else really matters. He’s not a man of many words if you ain’t talking about basketball.”
  • The Grizzlies and Santi Aldama didn’t agree to a rookie scale extension prior to the 2024/25 season, but locking up the forward in restricted free agency this summer is reportedly a priority for the front office. Speaking to Cyro Asseo de Choch of HoopsHype, Aldama said he wasn’t bothered by putting off contract talks until the 2025 offseason. “Yeah, figure it out later,” he said. “At the end of the day, I want to be somewhere where we’re winning and where we’re fighting for the right stuff. I think here, we got a great thing going. We have a great relationship here, so I would love for it to keep that way. I’m just focusing on taking it day by day, getting better day by day. And that stuff will take care of itself.”
  • In case you missed it, Grizzlies star Ja Morant was fined $75K earlier today for making finger-gun gestures during Thursday’s game in Miami. Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal explains why the NBA hit Morant with a fine for that gesture even though there are several players around the league who perform similar celebrations.

Ja Morant Fined $75K For Finger-Gun Gestures

Ja Morant was fined $75K for making finger-gun gestures during Thursday’s game at Miami, the NBA announced (via Twitter). The statement from the league notes that the Grizzlies guard was warned about the gestures earlier this week.

Morant displayed the gesture (Twitter link) multiple times on Thursday, according to James Jackson, Will Guillory and Alex Andrejev of The Athletic. He did it after scoring his first basket midway through the first quarter and again after hitting a three-pointer in the third quarter.

Guns are a sensitive issue regarding Morant, who was twice suspended for displaying a firearm in social media videos. The NBA didn’t punish him after he and Warriors guard Buddy Hield exchanged the gestures during Tuesday’s game, but he was asked to refrain from using it again, according to Jackson, Guillory and Andrejev.

Sources tell the authors that representatives from the league reached out to both teams, calling the gestures inappropriate and instructing them to tell Morant and Hield to stop. The teams reportedly argued that the gestures aren’t intended to promote violence.

Morant talked about the finger-gun celebrations and his perception around the league after hitting a dramatic game-winning shot to beat Miami.

“Every little thing,” he said. “If somebody can say something negative about me, it’s going to be out there. I don’t care no more. … I’m used to it. I’ve pretty much been a villain for two years now.”

He also said “I love it” when asked about playing the villain role.

Pacific Notes: Durant, Hield, Morant, Curry, Kawhi

Asked on Wednesday during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show (Twitter video link) about possible offseason trade destinations for Kevin Durant, ESPN’s Shams Charania said there was mutual interest between the Suns‘ star and a handful of potential suitors ahead of February’s trade deadline. According to Charania, that list of teams included the Timberwolves, Knicks, Rockets, Spurs, and Heat.

“Those are the types of teams, from my understanding, that had interest then,” Charania said. “And I expect them all to be in the mix this offseason.”

Charania didn’t explicitly mention the Warriors, but that’s likely due to the fact that Durant was known to be resistant to a Golden State reunion in February. If his stance changes this summer, it’s possible the Warriors could once again emerge as a suitor.

One report this week suggested that Durant is open to the idea of returning to Phoenix next season, but a trade still appears to be the most likely outcome. Unlike in February when the Suns unilaterally gauged the market for the veteran forward without consulting him, the team and Durant’s camp would likely work together on any deal this offseason, Charania notes.

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

  • The NBA is looking into an incident from Tuesday’s Warriors/Grizzlies game when Golden State sharpshooter Buddy Hield and Memphis guard Ja Morant aimed finger-gun gestures at one another, according to Charania and Tim MacMahon of ESPN. A video of that brief interaction can be found here (via Twitter). The NBA has fined players for that gesture in the past and is likely especially sensitive to this case since Morant has been suspended twice in the past for waving around an actual gun in social media videos.
  • Stephen Curry racked up 52 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists, and five steals in the Warriors‘ win over Memphis on Tuesday and told reporters after the game that he feels rejuvenated after taking a week off to recover from a pelvic injury in March, per ESPN. “I feel in a good rhythm,” Curry said. “The week off helped. The tank is pretty full.” Steve Kerr said a couple weeks ago that he wanted to get Curry some rest, but the Warriors coach no longer seems as concerned about his star guard’s condition. “I think (the week off) helped and I think two rounds of golf on this road trip helped,” Kerr said, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
  • After missing the first two-plus months of the season while recovering from a knee procedure and then playing on a minutes limit for several more weeks after that, Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard has recaptured his All-NBA form, having averaged 25.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.8 steals per game with a .521/.397/.825 shooting line in 13 March outings. Law Murray of The Athletic takes a look at Leonard’s resurgence and the 33-year-old’s desire to enter the offseason healthy.

NBA Announces Finalists For Sportsmanship, Teammate Of The Year Awards

The NBA announced the 2024/25 finalists for a pair of awards on Wednesday, naming the six players who are eligible to win the Sportsmanship Award for this season, as well as the 12 players who are in the running to be named Teammate of the Year.

The Sportsmanship Award honors the player who “best represents the ideals of sportsmanship on the court,” per the NBA. Each of the league’s 30 teams nominated one of its players for the award, then a panel of league executives narrows that group to six finalists (one from each division) and current players voted for the winner.

The trophy for the Sportsmanship Award is named after Joe Dumars, the Hall-of-Fame guard who won the inaugural award back in ’95/96. This season’s finalists are as follows (via Twitter):

Holiday is the only one of this year’s finalists for the Sportsmanship Award who has earned the honor in the past — he won it in 2021. Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey won the award last season.

Meanwhile, the NBA also announced its finalists for the Teammate of the Year award for 2024/25. According to the league, the player selected for the honor is “deemed the best teammate based on selfless play, on- and off-court leadership as a mentor and role model to other NBA players, and commitment and dedication to team.”

The voting process is similar to the Sportsmanship Award — a panel of league executives selects 12 finalists (six from each conference) for the award, then current players vote on the winner.

Holiday is a three-time Teammate of the Year, while Timberwolves guard Mike Conley has also won the award twice, including in 2024. However, neither of those veterans is a finalist this season.

The Teammate of the Year finalists are as follows (via Twitter):

Grizzlies Rumors: Coaching Change, Morant, Jackson, Aldama, More

When Grizzlies head of basketball operations Zach Kleiman held a brief media session over the weekend to discuss his decision to fire head coach Taylor Jenkins, he said he believes the coaching change will give the team “clarity of direction.” As Ramona Shelburne, Tim MacMahon and Michael C. Wright write for ESPN.com, that was almost certainly a reference to an offensive system that was overhauled ahead of the season and has continued to undergo changes since then.

Jenkins had been tasked this season with overseeing and blending the competing visions of newcomers Tuomas Iisalo and Noah LaRoche, according to ESPN’s trio, who note that both assistant coaches received seven-figure salaries when they were hired. Memphis also reportedly paid a seven-figure buyout to Paris Basketball in order to secure Iisalo, whose system leaned on pick-and-roll schemes, pacing, offensive rebounding, and transition offense; LaRoche’s system prioritized spacing and relocations while mostly eschewing pick-and-rolls and dribble handoffs.

“They were going all-in on these new concepts,” one source told ESPN.

The fact that the Grizzlies were deferring so heavily to a pair of new assistants after overhauling Jenkins’ coaching staff signaled to others in the organization, including the players, that the head coach was on the hot seat entering the season.

“Players aren’t stupid,” another source told ESPN. “They know where this is heading when you fire five assistants after the season.”

The short-term returns on the offensive changes were positive, as the Grizzlies got off to a 35-16 start and led the NBA in scoring, pace, and offensive rebounding while ranking dead last in ball screens per game. However, as Shelburne, MacMahon, and Wright detail, opponents began adjusting to Memphis’ new system and star guard Ja Morant expressed frustration both publicly and privately about the way in which the ball had been taken out of his hands.

The Grizzlies began running significantly more ball screens and handoffs in March, but the decision to move on from both Jenkins and LaRoche suggests the Grizzlies felt there were too many cooks in the kitchen and wanted to give Iisalo – the new interim head coach – the opportunity to simplify the offense this spring.

Addressing the coaching change in an episode of ESPN’s Hoop Collective podcast this week (YouTube link), MacMahon stated that the move was about “optimizing” Morant.

“That was a primary motivator for this decision,” MacMahon said (hat tip to RealGM). “There has been noise about Ja being unhappy all season long. There has been noise about, ‘Hey, you know, could Memphis look to move Ja this summer?’ More so, ‘Could Ja look to get out of Memphis this summer? Could Ja look to to force a trade, or at least request a trade? And would Memphis shop him this summer?’ There’s been a lot of that.

“I was texting with a GM after (the coaching change) happened and he said, ‘I would have told you I thought they were definitely going to (shop Morant). Ja was out on them. They won games without him. They have to be sustainable.’ And he said, ‘This is a move that goes in the face of that.’ Basically this is a, ‘Hey Ja, you’re still our guy. Everything we do is going to be based on what’s best for you. What optimizes you.’ They got away from that for a lot of this season and they’re leaning back hard into it.”

Besides the concerns about the offense, there was also a belief in Memphis that Jenkins had lost the locker room and that players – including Morant – were tuning out the team’s longtime head coach, ESPN’s trio reports. One rival Western Conference player told ESPN that the Grizzlies had “lost all of (their) swagger,” while a team source added, “You could just tell no one was on the same page.”

Here’s more on the Grizzlies:

  • Kleiman publicly shot down trade speculation involving Morant last month, and the steps the team is taking to “optimize” him show those comments weren’t just lip service. However, there are still doubts around the NBA about whether the star point guard can lead a team to a title, according to Shelburne, MacMahon, and Wright. “Does he sell tickets? Yes,” one rival GM told ESPN. “Is he a top-25 player when healthy? Yes. Can he win multiple series as the best player? No. Not sure most years you can win even one. Plus he is always hurt.”
  • The Grizzlies are “committed” to extending Jaren Jackson Jr. and re-signing restricted free agent Santi Aldama this offseason, sources tell ESPN.
  • Within ESPN’s report, Shelburne, MacMahon, and Wright cite sources who say Draymond Green came close to signing with Memphis when he reached free agency in 2023. That isn’t new information, but a source close to Green insists the longtime Warrior wasn’t just using the Grizzlies as leverage, telling ESPN that he came “very” close to ending up in Memphis via a lucrative sign-and-trade deal. As ESPN’s trio details, the Grizzlies believed Green’s “experience, basketball intelligence and toughness” was just what they needed as they lost Dillon Brooks and dealt with the aftermath of Morant’s suspensions for off-court behavior.
  • After failing to land Green, Memphis added Marcus Smart instead, but that acquisition didn’t work out as planned due in large part to Smart’s recurring injury issues — he was traded away in a salary-dump deal last month. Since missing out on Green and losing Brooks, the club has also attempted to acquire Mikal Bridges and Dorian Finney-Smith, sources confirm to ESPN, but was unable to land either player.

And-Ones: P. Gasol, Head Coaches, Tanking, Incentives

Former NBA star Pau Gasol is gaining momentum to become the CEO of the NBA’s proposed European league, according to a report from Eurohoops. Citing Gasol’s “strong links” to both the NBA and European basketball, a league source tells Eurohoops that the idea of the Spaniard taking on the CEO role for the new league has “universal approval” among the NBA’s governors.

A six-time All-Star and two-time champion in the NBA, Gasol played for FC Barcelona at the start and the end of his professional career, winning Spanish League championships in 1999, 2001, and 2021. He also compiled a lengthy list of accomplishments in international tournaments, winning three Olympic medals (two silvers, one bronze), a World Cup title, and three EuroBasket championships with Spain’s national team.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • The Grizzlies and Kings currently employ interim head coaches and will be looking to name a permanent coach after the season. Tim Bontemps of ESPN breaks down the pros and cons of the jobs in Memphis and Sacramento, while Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report considers which other head coaches might be on the hot seat this spring, including Willie Green of the Pelicans and Chauncey Billups of the Trail Blazers.
  • Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic is the latest NBA writer to propose suggestions for how the league could address its tanking problem. Vorkunov’s ideas include having the lottery determine the top eight picks (instead of four), further flattening the lottery odds, and automatically assigning the two worst teams the fourth and fifth overall picks.
  • ESPN’s Bobby Marks highlights some incentive clauses in player contracts to keep an eye on during the season’s final two weeks, including Rockets forward Dillon Brooks ($1MM) and Timberwolves forward Julius Randle ($1.4MM) getting bonuses for their teams making the playoffs. Magic forward Jonathan Isaac must appear in at least four of Orlando’s final six games to reach the 70-game threshold, which would assure him of a $2.6MM bonus, Marks notes.