Memphis Grizzlies Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Grizzlies Notes: Morant, Anderson, Brooks, Jackson

May 13th, 2022 at 9:24am CST by Luke Adams

Taking into account both regular season games and postseason contests, the Grizzlies now have a 21-6 record without Ja Morant this season, and that mark may actually understate how well they’ve played without their All-Star point guard, writes John Hollinger of The Athletic. Sixteen of those 21 wins have been by double-digits, including a 73-point rout of Oklahoma City in December.

The Grizzlies’ depth is one reason why they’ve been so effective when Morant has been unavailable, and the point guard’s subpar defensive numbers are another, Hollinger observes. The Grizzlies gave up more points per possession with Morant on the court than with any other single player on the court this season.

However, digging further into the data, Hollinger unearths several more interesting details, including Dillon Brooks‘ positive impact on the Grizzlies (especially defensively) and how infrequently he and Morant played together this season. The Grizzlies’ performance with and without Morant has also been skewed by their opponents’ shooting luck, which is one reason why Hollinger, unsurprisingly, concludes the team isn’t actually better off without the 22-year-old.

Interestingly, Hollinger’s data shows that the Grizzlies have actually played well with no true point guard on the court, with Kyle Anderson serving as the primary ball-handler. Hollinger suggests that could be a factor in how the team approaches Anderson’s and Tyus Jones‘ free agencies this summer.

Here’s more on the Grizzlies:

As expected, Morant has been officially ruled out of Friday’s Game 6 vs. Golden State due to the bone bruise in his right knee, per the Grizzlies (Twitter link). Santi Aldama (right knee soreness) and Killian Tillie (lower back procedure recovery) also remain sidelined.
After a 5-of-19 shooting performance with four turnovers in Game 4, Dillon Brooks bounced back in Game 5. Although he had just 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting, Brooks didn’t turn the ball over and was an eye-popping plus-38 in just 24 minutes. He suggested after the game that there’s still room for improvement. “I’m my worst critic. I know I’m playing like trash,” Brooks said, per ClutchPoints (video link). “I know I’m not shooting the three well, but I’m trying to do all the little things.”
Jaren Jackson Jr., who bested Brooks with a plus-42 mark in just 25 minutes on Wednesday, is realizing how dominant he can be at just the right time, writes Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. “He’s the key,” Brooks said of Jackson. “They’ve got no one to guard him. No one to stop him. He needs to keep demanding the ball and the Warriors are going to have to adjust and double-team him soon. He’s going to have to learn how to pass the ball out to get his teammates shots. That’s what he needs to do. I try to tell him to stay aggressive, and you’re a walking mismatch out there for every single player that guards you, so just keep attacking.”
Although the Grizzlies will be playing on the road and missing their best player, Mark Giannotto of The Memphis Commercial Appeal isn’t convinced the team’s season will come to an end on Friday in Golden State.
In case you missed it, Grizzlies head of basketball operations Zach Kleiman was named the NBA’s Executive of the Year on Thursday.

Iguodala Out At Least One More Week; Porter Jr. Questionable

May 12th, 2022 at 6:36pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Warriors have ruled out Andre Iguodala for the remainder of the series against the Grizzlies due to his neck injury, Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets.

Iguodala will be reevaluated in a week, which means he’d also miss the start of the conference finals if the Warriors advance.

The veteran swingman, who only appeared in 31 regular season games due to injuries, hasn’t played since Game 4 of the opening round series against Denver.

Iguodala, 38, is on a veteran’s minimum contract and will be a free agent again at the end of the season.

Otto Porter Jr. is listed as questionable for Game 6 on Friday due to right foot soreness, Slater adds in another tweet. Porter played just 12 minutes in Game 5 after contributing double-digit points in the previous two games.

Grizzlies’ Zach Kleiman Wins Executive Of The Year Award

May 12th, 2022 at 10:09am CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Grizzlies general manager and executive vice president of basketball operations Zach Kleiman has been voted the 2021/22 NBA Executive of the Year, the league has announced (Twitter link).

According to the NBA, the 33-year-old Kleiman is the youngest winner of the honor in its history. He’s also just the second Grizzlies executive to take home the award, joining Jerry West, who was named Executive of the Year for his work during the 2003/04 season.

Kleiman earned 16 of 29 possible first-place votes from his fellow NBA executives, netting a total of 85 points in his favor from the league’s voting system. He previously finished sixth in voting for the 2019/2020 NBA season.

Cavaliers president Koby Altman and Bulls president Arturas Karnisovas earned 27 points apiece, tying for second place as they led a pair of longtime lottery clubs back to the postseason with savvy personnel moves. The Cavs did not advance out of the play-in tournament, and the Bulls lost 4-1 to the Bucks in their first-round matchup.

The top five was rounded out by another tie, as Suns GM James Jones, the 2020/21 NBA Executive of the Year, and Heat president Pat Riley each notched 26 points in voting. Both their top-seeded clubs lead their respective Conference Semifinals series 3-2 as of this writing.

“This is an organizational honor,” Kleiman said of the award in a Grizzlies press release. “I wouldn’t be in this position without [owner] Robert [Pera]’s vision and support, and I’m grateful to be pursuing NBA championships in Memphis with such a driven and competitive group of players and staff. Thank you to my peers for this recognition.”

Thanks in part to the excellent roster-building work of Kleiman, Memphis finished with a 56-26 record in the Western Conference, tying the club’s all-time franchise mark for regular season wins. During a condensed 2020/21 season, the Grizzlies finished with a 38-34 record and lost to the Jazz in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.

Breakout Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant, selected with the second pick out of Murray State in 2019, made his first All-Star team and won the 2021/22 Most Improved Player Award for his work this season. Morant was the first draft pick Kleiman made as the Grizzlies’ lead executive, a role he has had since April 2019.

The Grizzlies first hired Kleiman to serve as their in-house legal counsel in 2015. He became assistant GM to under then-lead decision maker Chris Wallace during the 2018/19 season. Kleiman was subsequently promoted following a team re-structuring that moved Wallace to a scouting role.

This award could be honoring Kleiman’s long-term rebuilding with Memphis, as he reshaped the roster from one supporting aging stars Marc Gasol and Mike Conley to this new, deep club full of youth and promise around Morant.

Kleiman traded for the draft rights to No. 30 pick Desmond Bane in 2020, who finished fifth this season in Most Improved Player voting behind Morant. He also sagely opted to ink wing Dillon Brooks and big man Jaren Jackson Jr. to lucrative contract extensions during his tenure as front office head. Ahead of the 2021 season, Kleiman traded for center Steven Adams and the rights to rookie Ziaire Williams, the No. 10 pick in the 2021 draft.

Memphis currently trails the Warriors 3-2 in its Conference Semifinals series.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Ja Morant Likely Won't Need Surgery

May 11th, 2022 at 9:38pm CST by Arthur Hill

The bone bruise in his right knee that might sideline Grizzlies guard Ja Morant for the rest of the playoffs isn’t related to an injury he suffered toward the end of the regular season, tweets Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian. “Everything I hear is non-surgical,” coach Taylor Jenkins told reporters, including Geoff Calkins of The Daily Memphian, in regard to treatment options for Morant (Twitter link). When asked why he accused Warriors guard Jordan Poole of causing the injury in Game 3, Jenkins responded, “That is what our medical team and Ja said. … I was stating what was in-house.” (Twitter link from Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN)
The Grizzlies‘ playoff run could end tonight, but their young roster gives them a very bright future, observes Michael Pina of Sports Illustrated. With Morant only 22 and no players older than 28, Memphis has a chance to be among the NBA’s best for many years to come. Desmond Bane looked back about a decade to find a team in a similar situation. “That Oklahoma City team when (Kevin Durant), James Harden and (Russell Westbrook), all those guys were young and fairly new,” Bane said. “Other than that, I don’t know too many other teams that were young and seen as title contenders.”

Nikola Jokic Repeats As Most Valuable Player

May 11th, 2022 at 5:45pm CST by Arthur Hill

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic has won his second straight Most Valuable Player Award, topping the Sixers‘ Joel Embiid and the Bucks‘ Giannis Antetokounmpo by a comfortable margin, the NBA announced in a press release.

Jokic received 65 first-place votes and 875 total points, putting him well ahead of Embiid, who finished second with 26 first-place votes and 706 points. Antetokounmpo came in third with nine first-place votes and 595 points.

Nobody else received a first-place vote, but Suns guard Devin Booker was fourth with 216 points and Mavericks guard Luka Doncic was fifth at 146 points. With 100 total voters, the balloting system awarded 10 points for a first-place vote, seven points for second, five points for third, three points for fourth and one point for fifth.

Other players receiving votes were the Celtics‘ Jayson Tatum (43 points), the Grizzlies‘ Ja Morant (10), the Warriors‘ Stephen Curry (4), the Suns‘ Chris Paul (2), the Bulls‘ DeMar DeRozan (1), the Lakers‘ LeBron James (1) and the Nets‘ Kevin Durant (1).

Jokic is the 13th player to win MVP honors in back-to-back seasons. He averaged 27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds and 7.9 assists in 74 games and helped the Nuggets earn the sixth seed in the West despite the absence of Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. Jokic was named Western Conference Player of the Month twice this season and reached the All-Star Game for the fourth straight year.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported on Monday that Jokic would win the award.

Ja Morant Suffers Bone Bruise, Doubtful For Rest Of Playoffs

May 10th, 2022 at 4:58pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

All-Star Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant has suffered a bone bruise in his right knee and is considered “doubtful” to play for the rest of the NBA playoffs, the team announced in a press release. Memphis anticipates that Morant will fully recover from the injury during the 2022 offseason.

How long the playoffs are going to last for Memphis had already been an open question after a Morant-less version of the team fell to the Warriors in Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals on Monday night. Golden State currently leads Memphis 3-1.

With Morant now sidelined, the Warriors seem primed to make their first Conference Finals since 2019. Granted, the Stephen Curry-led Warriors have memorably surrendered a 3-1 series edge once before, but the odds of that happening without the opposing team’s best player seem slim.

Morant had by far been the Grizzlies’ top scorer in the series, averaging 38.3 PPG on 50.6% field goal shooting, plus 8.3 APG and 6.7 RPG in his three healthy games.

This had been a special season for Morant. In addition to making his first All-Star team, the 6’3″ third-year point guard was recently honored as the 2021/22 Most Improved Player after guiding Memphis to a 56-26 record and the No. 2 seed in the West. Across 57 healthy regular season games for Memphis, Morant averaged 27.4 PPG, 6.7 APG and 5.7 RPG, with shooting splits of .493/.344/.761.

The former Murray State guard left during the final quarter of Game 3 (another Warriors win) due to what at the time was deemed to be right knee soreness. Additional imaging conducted by the Grizzlies later revealed the bone bruise.

Game 5 in the series will be played in Memphis on Wednesday, presumably with backup point guard Tyus Jones continuing to start for Morant.

Dillon Brooks Remorseful For Foul On Payton

May 9th, 2022 at 8:34pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks expressed remorse for injuring Warriors guard Gary Payton II during Game 2 of their teams’ Western Conference series, Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal writes. Brooks spoke publicly for the first time since he was assessed Flagrant Foul 2 for his takedown of Payton, who suffered a fractured elbow.

“I didn’t mean for to hurt somebody,” Brooks said. “If I were to take it back in that moment, I would.”

Brooks served a one-game suspension but will return to action for Game 4 on Monday. Payton is out for the remainder of the series and is expected to need at least three weeks to recover.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr and several of his players felt Brooks’ hack was a dirty play. Payton tumbled to the court after Brooks fouled him on a layup attempt. Kerr added that Brooks “broke the code” of how the game is played.

Brooks wasn’t sure how to take that.

“I don’t even know what that means,” Brooks said. “It’s the playoffs. Every bucket, every pass, every possession, every play counts.”

The Grizzlies are eager to get Brooks back, especially given Ja Morant‘s injury status.

“DB’s going to be huge for us,” Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said. “We always talk about him being a tone-setter for us

Morant Out For Game 4; Kerr Enters Protocols

May 9th, 2022 at 7:44pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Ja Morant will miss Game 4 of the Grizzlies’ series against the Warriors on Monday, coach Taylor Jenkins told ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk (Twitter link) and other media members during his pregame press conference.

Morant was expected to sit out. He suffered a knee injury in Game 3 and will continue receiving treatment. He’s considered day-to-day, which opens the door for a possible Game 5 return.

Morant finished Game 3 with a game-high 34 points, seven assists and three steals in 36 minutes. The Warriors’ Jordan Poole tugged on Morant’s right knee as he was swiping for the ball during the fourth quarter.

Tyus Jones will start in Morant’s place, Fred Katz of The Athletic tweets.

The Warriors won’t have their head coach on the sidelines. Steve Kerr has entered the league’s health and safety protocols, Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets. Associate head coach Mike Brown, who was officially named the Kings’ head coach on Monday but remains on Golden State’s bench through the playoffs, will serve as acting coach.

Kerr had been wearing a mask in recent days and his voice was hoarse during press conferences, Slater adds in another tweet.

Grizzlies-Warriors Series Losing Steam

May 8th, 2022 at 9:23pm CST by JD Shaw

The Warriors–Grizzlies series appears to be losing some steam, Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian writes. Herrington opines that this matchup was supposed to be the fun playoff series, but injuries, suspensions and hard fouls have derailed its momentum. As we outlined earlier, Grizzlies star Ja Morant is likely to miss Monday’s Game 4 due to a knee injury.

Ja Morant Likely To Miss Game 4

May 8th, 2022 at 4:15pm CST by JD Shaw

Grizzlies star Ja Morant will likely miss Game 4 against the Warriors on Monday, head coach Taylor Jenkins said, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link). Morant suffered a knee injury in Game 3 and will continue receiving treatment.

Morant finished with a game-high 34 points, seven assists and three steals in the contest, shooting 13-of-21 from the floor in 36 minutes. He appeared to injure himself on a play involving Warriors guard Jordan Poole, who grabbed Morant’s knee as he was swiping for the ball.

“It looks like Jordan Poole grabbed (Morant’s) knee and pulled it,” Jenkins said postgame, per Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian (via Twitter).

It’s unclear if Poole will face any discipline for the play. The Grizzlies played without Dillon Brooks (suspension) in Game 3, as Brooks committed a hard foul on Gary Payton II in the previous game. If the Grizzlies lose on Monday, they’ll go home with a chance to force a Game 6 at Golden State.

Memphis went 20-5 without Morant this season. It has the backcourt depth to remain competitive, and De’Anthony Melton or Tyus Jones will likely start at point guard if Morant can’t play.