- The Grizzlies will be on national TV a franchise-record 18 times, notes Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. They will be part of the NBA’s traditional showcases on both Christmas Day and Martin Luther King Day.
Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. will miss the start of the upcoming season after offseason surgery for a stress fracture in his right foot, but an orthopedics doctor tells Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal that Jackson should be back to normal once he completes the rehab process.
Dr. Kenneth Jung, who specializes in foot and ankle fractures, notes that overuse is the most common cause of stress fractures. The broken bone normally takes six to eight weeks to fully heal, though Jung says it can sometimes be as long as three months. The Grizzlies expect Jackson to be sidelined for four to six months, which would have him ready to play sometime between November and January.
“Obviously once the bone heals, whether it takes two months or three months, then you’re starting to work back into basketball shape,” Jung explained. “That’s why they may have given themselves a little leeway, whether it’s four months or six months. He’s got to get built back up to be able to play an entire season. The other part is his body will de-condition somewhat while he’s letting the bone heal. You’re going to need some time to build that back up to get back onto the court.”
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Spurs rookie Jeremy Sochan has decided to bypass an opportunity to play for Poland in the EuroBasket tournament, according to Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops. Sochan, who didn’t play during Summer League after being placed in health and safety protocols, will focus on getting ready for his NBA debut. “After long discussions with the San Antonio Spurs, my agent and family, we decided that I should stay in San Antonio and continue preparing for my first season in the NBA, the most important and longest season of my career so far,” Sochan said in a statement released by the Polish Basketball Association.
- Rockets coach Stephen Silas shouldn’t have any concerns about job security heading into his third NBA season, Kelly Iko of The Athletic writes in a mailbag column. Houston has posted the league’s worst record the past two years, but management still has faith in Silas to oversee the rebuilding process and was happy with the development of the team’s young players last season. Iko also notes that the front office allowed Silas free rein to build his coaching staff this summer.
- This could be a crucial season for Rockets big man Usman Garuba, Iko adds in the same piece. After injuries limited him to 24 games in his rookie season, a sprained left ankle prevented him from playing in Summer League. Garuba was a first-round pick last year and Houston would like to use him as a small-ball center off the bench, but he will have plenty of competition for that role.
More details are emerging about the NBA schedule, including a Christmas Day contest with the Warriors hosting the Grizzlies, tweets league insider Marc Stein.
It will be a rematch of their hotly contested Western Conference semifinals series that Golden State won 4-2 on its way to the championship. That intense series is remembered for an ejection and a one-game suspension for Memphis’ Dillon Brooks for a hard foul that left Gary Payton II with a fractured elbow.
It will mark the first Christmas Day appearance for the Grizzlies in their 27-year history, dating back to their days in Vancouver. The team’s popularity has increased with last season’s playoff run and the emergence of Ja Morant as one of the league’s most exciting players. The Warriors are a perennial part of the Christmas schedule and defeated the Suns in Phoenix last December 25.
Stein reported earlier today that the Lakers will travel to Dallas for another Christmas Day matchup. The NBA typically schedules five games on the holiday, which is the first major national showcase of the new season.
League sources tell Stein that the full schedule for the 2022/23 season is expected to be released this week (Twitter link).
With the future of the Jazz uncertain following the trade of Rudy Gobert and news that the team is open to moving its other 2022 All-Star (Donovan Mitchell), 2021 Sixth Man of the Year Jordan Clarkson is keeping an even keel, writes Sarah Todd of the Deseret News.
“My vibe is always good,” Clarkson said of his attitude while dealing with the Jazz’s tenuous outlook. “This is my ninth year going into the league. I know how the business of basketball works… This is all part of what it is. But my preparation never changes and I’m going to wake up every morning and be me and do what I do. Everything is good.”
There’s more out of the West:
- New Kings shooting guard Kevin Huerter is bringing his playoff pedigree to Sacramento and hopes to help Sacramento reach the postseason, writes Jarrod Castillo of NBC Sports Bay Area. “I feel like I’ve been through a lot there, having that playoff experience,” Huerter said. The 6’5″ wing added that he’s “hungry to win” with his new club.
- In his first full season for the Mavericks, power forward Davis Bertans needs to return to the level of long-range shooting that earned him his current $80MM contract, writes Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com. During the 2019/20 season, Bertans connected on 42.4% of his 8.7 three-pointers a night. Last season, in 22 games for Dallas, he connected on 36% of his 3.9 looks a game, a solid but not elite percentage.
- Veteran swingman Dillon Brooks appears likely to earn a contract extension offer from the Grizzlies, writes Chris Herring of the Daily Memphian in a subscriber-exclusive story. However, Herring expects Brooks to reject such an offer. During the 2021/22 season, Brooks was limited to just 32 games. When he could suit up, he averaged 18.4 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 2.8 APG and 1.1 SPG.
Rockets point guard Kevin Porter Jr. appears to have earned a long-term look with the franchise. Houston and Porter have had initial discussions about the future of the extension-eligible 22-year-old, prompting Kelly Iko and Danny Leroux of The Athletic take a deep dive into what a new deal might look like for the fourth-year guard.
Leroux projects an annual number in the range of $10-15MM for Porter. Should the Rockets opt to not extend Porter and instead let him reach restricted free agency in the summer of 2023, Leroux notes that the market for the 6’4″ guard’s services could be dampened. Currently, just seven NBA clubs, including the Rockets, project to have cap space available to sign Porter for more than the mid-level exception.
There’s more out of the Southwest Division:
- Third-year Grizzlies shooting guard Desmond Bane has evolved into a reliable locker-room leader, despite his relative greenness, writes Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “I’ve always been a vet [in terms of personal comportment], but now I’m a vet for real,” Bane said. “I don’t really think that too much has to change. I’ve always been the guy to lead by example, put my best foot in front of the other. That’s half of leadership right there.”
- Pelicans veteran players CJ McCollum and Larry Nance Jr., new additions to the team at the 2022 trade deadline, are extension-eligible this summer. Will Guillory and Danny Leroux of The Athletic consider potential extension contracts for both New Orleans players. Christian Clark of NOLA.com writes that McCollum contributed as a versatile scorer and consistent ball-handler, while Nance helped the team in the less-glamorous role of flexible bench big. Clark notes that both players have shown interest in sticking around long term with an exciting young Pelicans club hot off its first playoff appearance in four years.
- In case you missed it, the lucrative new extension inked by Pelicans power forward Zion Williamson includes a caveat that requires him to get consistent weigh-ins by New Orleans. Should the total of his body fat percentage and weight exceed 295, the team will be able to reduce the guaranteed portion of his salary.
- In an entertaining conversation with Zion Olojede of Complex.com, Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards said that one of his goals for his third NBA season is to be an All-Star starter. Edwards also said he felt like the Wolves “handed” the Grizzlies their first-round playoff series this spring. “It was like taking candy from a baby and they took the candy,” Edwards said. “We had every game won, man, and I don’t know what happened.”
- Brandon Clarke would be a logical choice to replace Jaren Jackson Jr. in the Grizzlies‘ lineup until Jackson is ready to return from foot surgery. However, that would create other issues, Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal notes. Clarke didn’t play much with center Steven Adams last season due to the fact that both operate out of the paint. Coach Taylor Jenkins also liked having Clarke on the second unit due to his scoring ability.
Rookie free agent guard Jacob Gilyard is expected to sign an Exhibit 10 contract with the Grizzlies, agents Keith Glass and Luke Glass tell ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).
Gilyard, who went undrafted last month, spent his entire five-year college career at Richmond, averaging 13.3 PPG, 5.4 APG, 3.5 RPG, and 2.9 SPG on .395/.360/.860 shooting in 37 games (38.5 MPG) in 2021/22.
Gilyard earned All-Atlantic 10 honors in four of his five college seasons, was named the A-10 Defensive Player of the Year in 2020, and became the all-time NCAA Division I leader in steals over the course of an impressive college career.
The 24-year-old suited up for the Warriors’ Summer League team at the California Classic earlier this month and then played for the Timberwolves in Las Vegas. He struggled with his shot, making just 5-of-18 field goal attempts (2-of-13 threes) across six games at the two events, but it appears the Grizzlies view him as a promising developmental project.
Memphis is facing a roster crunch and has already filled both its two-way contract slots, so Gilyard doesn’t have a clear path to a spot on the 17-man regular season roster. However, an Exhibit 10 deal would put him in line for a $50K bonus if he’s waived before the season and becomes an affiliate player for the Memphis Hustle, the Grizzlies’ G League affiliate.
After spending his rookie year with the Grizzlies, free agent forward Yves Pons is headed to Europe for the 2022/23 season. Pons has signed a two-year deal with ASVEL Villeurbanne, the French team announced today in a press release (hat tip to Eurohoops).
Pons was born in Haiti and grew up in France, so while this will be his first professional season spent overseas, it won’t be an entirely new experience for him. He played in France’s amateur third-tier division before moving to the U.S., where he played his college ball at Tennessee.
Undrafted in 2021, Pons caught on quickly with the Grizzlies as a free agent and signed a two-way contract with the team last offseason. The 23-year-old only played 71 total minutes in 12 games at the NBA level, but saw a little more action at the G League level, starting 14 of the 15 contests he played for the Memphis Hustle.
Pons averaged 10.1 PPG and 6.2 RPG for the Grizzlies’ NBAGL affiliate, making 47.6% of his shots from the floor, including 33.3% of his threes. When his two-way deal with Memphis expired at season’s end, the club didn’t issue him a qualifying offer, so he became an unrestricted free agent.
Pons’ new team, which competes in France’s top league and the EuroLeague, is owned by former NBA star Tony Parker. ASVEL also recently signed former NBA guard Nando De Colo.
- With Jaren Jackson Jr. out an estimated four-to-six months with a foot injury, the Grizzlies will have to mull a number of starting options at power forward until he returns. The Memphis Commercial Appeal’s Damichael Cole breaks down the pros and cons of using Brandon Clarke, Xavier Tillman, Jake LaRavia, Santi Aldama and David Roddy in the starting five.