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Jaren Jackson Jr.

Jaren Jackson Jr. ‘Week To Week’ With Ankle Sprain

March 4th, 2025 at 6:02pm CST by Dana Gauruder

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.

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Community Shootaround: Defensive Player Of The Year

February 24th, 2025 at 8:56am CST by Luke Adams

After finishing second in Defensive Player of the Year voting as a rookie in 2024, rising Spurs star Victor Wembanyama was viewed at this year’s All-Star break as the overwhelming frontrunner to win the award in his second NBA season.

However, the All-Star Game is the last game that Wembanyama will play in 2024/25, as he was ruled out for the remainder of the season after being diagnosed with a deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder. While the Spurs do everything they can to make sure their franchise player is healthy and ready to go for the 2025/26 season, this year’s Defensive Player of the Year award is suddenly very much up for grabs.

Wembanyama will soon be officially out of the running, since he’ll fall well short of the 65-game requirement for end-of-season awards. As we wrote on Saturday, his absence has made Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Grizzlies and Evan Mobley as the Cavaliers the clear betting favorites to win Defensive Player of the Year.

The two young big men squared off on Sunday for the first time this season, with Mobley leading the Cavs to a tight victory by racking up 25 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists, and three blocked shots. For the season, Cleveland has a 106.9 defensive rating with Mobley on the court and a 112.6 mark when he’s not. Although Cleveland’s defense ranks seventh overall, that 106.9 defensive rating when Mobley plays would be second-best in the NBA.

Jackson, the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2023, has had a very similar on/off-court impact in Memphis. The Grizzlies have a 106.8 defensive rating when Jackson is on the floor and a 113.1 mark when he sits.

Mobley and Jackson are anchors of their respective defenses but have the athleticism and versatility to switch onto smaller opponents and move away the basket if necessary. Another player with that skill set is Heat big man Bam Adebayo, who has finished in the top five of Defensive Player of the Year voting in each of the past five seasons.

Asked last week about the possibility of a DPOY award, Adebayo made it clear he’s more focused on getting the Heat back on track than earning individual hardware. He may need to do the former to have a shot at the latter, since team success is a major factor in award consideration. Miami currently ranks eighth in the Eastern Conference with a 26-29 record.

While voters typically favor centers who protect the basket, a wing or forward can emerge as a leading candidate when no one big man separates himself from the field. Thunder swingman Luguentz Dort, a lock-down defender on the wing, could become that player this season. Oklahoma City’s 104.8 defensive rating leads the league by a wide margin and Dort currently has the third-best DPOY betting odds at BetOnline.ag.

Asked by Chris Mannix of SI.com last week about his individual goals beyond winning a championship, Dort acknowledged that he’d love to be recognized for his defense.

“Honestly, the biggest goal is to go out there and perform every night for my teammates,” he said. “But it will always be nice to get rewarded for the hard work that I do on the court, which would probably be Defensive Player of the Year or (All-Defensive) first team. If you ask me if I deserve it, I would say yes, just because of what I bring every night, all the matchups that I got to face every night. But all that would be a goal of mine.”

Dort’s teammates Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams, rising defensive stars Dyson Daniels and Amen Thompson, and four-time DPOY Rudy Gobert are among the other betting options available at BetOnline.ag, but I’d view them as longer shots.

We want to know what you think. Which player would be your 2024/25 pick for Defensive Player of the Year? Which player do you expect to win the award? Would Wembanyama have been your choice if he had reached the minimum-game threshold?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

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How Wembanyama’s Absence Could Impact Grizzlies, Cavs

February 22nd, 2025 at 1:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Spurs announced on Thursday that Victor Wembanyama's second NBA season has come to an early end after testing showed he has a deep vein thrombosis (a form of blood clot) in his right shoulder.

It's a scary diagnosis, but the Spurs caught it early and are said to be optimistic that it will be an isolated issue. There's a relatively recent NBA precedent to back up that belief -- Brandon Ingram's 2018/19 season came to an early end when he dealt with essentially the exact same condition. He was able to return to action later that year and hasn't had any blood clots since then.

Given that Wembanyama is a rising star who has a chance to become the long-term face of the NBA, his return to full health is obviously the top priority not only for the Spurs, but for the league as a whole. However, his absence for the rest of this season will have a fascinating ripple effect across the NBA that could have a significant long-term impact on either the Grizzlies or the Cavaliers -- or both.

In the space below, we'll dig into how Memphis and Cleveland will be affected by Wembanyama's health issue, Bobby Portis' 25-game suspension, the Pelicans' Javonte Green buyout, and more.

Let's dive in...

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Southwest Notes: Jackson, Thompson, Sheppard, Sengun, Wembanyama

February 15th, 2025 at 8:15pm CST by Arthur Hill

Making his second All-Star appearance in three years, Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. is living out a childhood dream, writes Damichael Cole of The Commercial Appeal. Jackson, a strong candidate for Defensive Player of the Year honors, used to imagine himself in the All-Star spotlight when he was learning the game as a child.

“When I went in my yard, I liked to pretend I was KD (Kevin Durant), T-Mac (Tracy McGrady) or Kobe (Bryant),” Jackson said. “I just imagined being one of those superheroes on the court. I think this feeling is way better than how I imagined it, honestly. It’s more meaningful. It’s way more impactful. Especially when you have your family with you. You don’t think about all those other things and how many other people are going to be happy about this with you.”

The new All-Star format could give Jackson a chance to face two of his Grizzlies teammates Sunday night, Cole adds. Rookies Jaylen Wells and Zach Edey were both on the team that won Friday’s Rising Stars event. They’re not paired up with Jackson’s team in the semifinals, but they could meet in the final round if they both advance.

“I want to dunk on both of them,” Jackson said. “I can’t wait.”

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

  • Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard were also in the Rising Stars tournament as the latest representatives of the Rockets, who’ve had at least one player involved every year since 2022, per Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle. They were on opposite sides in one of Friday’s semifinals, as Thompson got the satisfaction of dunking on his teammate, but Sheppard’s squad came away with the victory. “The Rockets do a good job of getting young guys and making them better,” Sheppard said. “And Amen is an unbelievable talent, unbelievable guy. So being able to be out there with him today was a lot fun.”
  • Rockets center Alperen Sengun, a first-time All-Star, credits coach Ime Udoka for pushing him and the team in the right direction, Lerner adds in a separate story. Udoka sped up the rebuilding process in Houston by leading the Rockets to a .500 finish last season, and he currently has them fourth in the West. “We were just going over there and just playing,” Sengun said at his All-Star press conference. “Then Ime just came and changed everything for us, and he teach us to how to win.”
  • A lack of competitiveness has been a problem in recent All-Star Games, but that won’t be an issue for the Spurs‘ Victor Wembanyama, per Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. Wembanyama has become known for his desire to win at everything he does, and he’ll take that attitude into Sunday night. “I guess it’s maybe innate,” he said. “But it was definitely encouraged in our family’s culture around sport, of course. But I don’t know. I just feel lucky to have that will to stay true to myself.” Wembanyama and Chris Paul were disqualified from tonight’s Skills Challenge for flouting the rules (Twitter video link).
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Southwest Notes: McCollum, Mavs, Konchar, Jackson, Rockets

February 15th, 2025 at 11:59am CST by Dana Gauruder

CJ McCollum has been a bright spot in an otherwise glum season for the Pelicans. McCollum notched his third 40-plus point night since the start of the New Year on Thursday, leading them to an overtime victory against Sacramento. McCollum’s 43-point night allowed New Orleans to snap a 10-game losing streak.

“CJ is incredible,” Pelicans head coach Willie Green told Rod Walker of NOLA.com. “He’s one of our guys that’s literally holding things together in the locker room with these young guys. He’s been through so much throughout the course of his career. He’s a staple for us. We see it week in and week out that he comes out and gives it everything he has every night.”

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

  • Overshadowed by the firestorm regarding the Luka Doncic trade is that the Mavericks, despite a wave of injuries, entered the All-Star break having won four of their last five games. That included a five-point victory over Miami in their last outing. “The bumps and bruises go away faster,” coach Jason Kidd said, per Grant Afseth of the Dallas Hoops Journal. “As I told the guys, get some rest, enjoy the break, be safe and when we come back, it’s time to push forward and find a way to get as high a seed as we can and win as many games as we can. Sometimes, you want the break. We do need the break, but we are starting to play pretty good basketball.”
  • During a Bleacher Report live stream (YouTube link), Jake Fischer identifies Grizzlies guard John Konchar as a potential buyout candidate. Konchar has posted modest stats in 29 appearances this season and isn’t part of the team’s regular rotation. However, he’s also in the first year of a three-year, $18.5MM contract, which is fully guaranteed, so it would seem like a long shot for the two parties to agree on a buyout.
  • Jaren Jackson Jr. is aiming for his second Defensive Player of the Year award, though it will be difficult to beat out Victor Wembanyama for that honor going forward. Jackson, who is making his second All-Star appearance, leads the Grizzlies in blocks and steals. “It’s a team award, really. So it would mean the world,” Jackson told Mark Medina of Athlon Sports. “It’s hard to win it two times. You can see that now. It’s not a given. So it would mean the world.”
  • The Rockets are clinging to fourth place in the Western Conference standings after losing seven of their last nine contests prior to the All-Star break. They dropped Thursday’s game to Golden State by a score of 105-98 and their head coach said the club needs some time off. The absences of Fred VanVleet (ankle) and Jabari Smith Jr. (hand) have played a major role in their slide. “We could be mentally and physically fried,” coach Ime Udoka told Kelly Iko of The Athletic. “But everybody’s in the situation right now going into the break. Maybe our guys are tired, but … a lack of competitiveness is not an excuse.”
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Grizzlies Notes: Jackson, Health, FedEx Forum

February 12th, 2025 at 9:31pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman recently heaped high praise on big man Jaren Jackson Jr., according to Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal (Twitter link).

“I don’t think it’s even a debate,” Kleiman said. “I think he’s playing at a top-five-player-in-the-NBA level right now. Definitely top 10.”

The 6’10” big man was named to his second All-Star team this season. He’s also a two-time All-Defensive First Teamer and won the 2023 Defensive Player of the Year award. Should he keep up his performance for the West’s No. 2 seed, Jackson could earn another All-Defensive Team berth — and perhaps even his first-ever All-NBA team honor.

“Jaren is right at the heart of what we’re building here, and of course, it’s the utmost priority to keep him in that spot and continue to build around him,” Kleiman added, tweets Cole.

These comments could offer up a transactional hint at Kleiman’s thinking regarding the future of Jackson in Memphis. The Grizzlies will likely to look to extend Jackson in the 2025 offseason, and an All-NBA berth this season would make him eligible for a super-max contract starting at up to 35% of the cap.

There’s more out of Memphis:

  • With the Grizzlies at last nearing full health, head coach Taylor Jenkins faces a happy problem — he needs to make some tough rotation decisions, notes Michael Wallace of Grind City Media. “We have depth, we pretty much have everybody back ready to go,” wing Vince Williams Jr. said. “Now, it’s just time to put all the pieces together and show how it all fits.” Williams, forward GG Jackson, and starting guard Desmond Bane recently re-entered the 36-17 team’s lineup. Jenkins has been trotting out an 11-player rotation for much of 2024/25 so far. His bench has gotten even deeper with the returns of Williams and GG Jackson. Wallace opines that only Ja Morant, Bane and Jaren Jackson are guaranteed significant run going forward. Other players’ minutes may be situational.
  • The city of Memphis is angling to keep the Grizzlies in town for a good long while. According to Jonah Dylan of The Memphis Commercial Appeal, mayor Paul Young is hoping to reach a long-term lease agreement keeping the team in its current home court, the FedEx Forum, during the 2025 offseason. “We’re working toward getting to an agreement on the principals that go in a lease by the end of the summer,” Young said. Dylan writes that any extension seems likely to include a strategy for a $550MM FedEx Forum renovation.
  • In case you missed it, Kleiman recently explained why the Grizzlies, the No. 2 seed in the West, opted to create future cap flexibility with their trade deadline maneuvering rather than bringing in more immediate help for a postseason push.
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NBA Announces 2025 All-Star Reserves

January 30th, 2025 at 5:51pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The 2025 NBA All-Star reserves were revealed on Thursday night during TNT’s Inside the NBA broadcast and officially confirmed by the league (Twitter links).

Fourteen players will join the 10 starters announced last week in the All-Star Game in San Francisco on Feb. 16.

All-Star reserves were selected by the league’s head coaches. Here are the players who made the cut:

Eastern Conference reserves:

The East features three first-time All-Stars in Cunningham, Herro and Mobley. The guard spots in the East were highly contentious, with Atlanta’s Trae Young, Chicago’s Zach LaVine, Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball and Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey among those also in the running. Ball finished first in fan voting, but that had no bearing on the coaches’ decisions.

The Cavaliers are well-represented in San Francisco, with Donovan Mitchell named a starter last week and Garland and Mobley now joining him. This is Garland’s second All-Star nod after being named in the 2021/22 season. Jarrett Allen also had a shot at a spot, but ultimately wasn’t voted in.

This is Jaylen Brown‘s fourth All-Star appearance, Lillard’s ninth, and Siakam’s third.

Western Conference reserves:

Wembanyama, Sengun and Williams are each first-time All-Stars. The reigning Rookie of the Year, Wembanyama has taken several steps forward to help the Spurs to a 20-24 record, putting them in contention for a play-in spot. Meanwhile, Sengun and Williams are key contributors for the top two seeds in the conference.

Edwards, in his third overall and consecutive appearance, is having a career year from beyond the arc, connecting on 41.8% of his 9.8 three-point attempts. We wrote earlier today about how the Grizzlies view Jackson as a bona fide star amid their 31-16 record this season.

Veterans Harden and Davis round out the West reserves. Harden, the most decorated reserve, is making his 11th appearance in the game while averaging 21.7 points and 8.4 assists per game in his age-35 season. Davis continues to be one of the premier defensive players in the league en route to earning his 10th All-Star nod. The Lakers big man is currently injured and out at least one week, but it’s unclear if that would affect his availability for the All-Star Game, which is still more than two weeks out.

Fresh off making the NBA Finals last season, the Mavericks won’t have a representative in the All-Star Game, with Luka Doncic injured and Kyrie Irving not earning a spot. The Kings’ Domantas Sabonis, the Clippers’ Norman Powell, the Suns’ Devin Booker and the Kings’ De’Aaron Fox were among those who were not named to the team.

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Grizzlies Notes: Trade Options, Jackson Jr., Morant, Smart

January 30th, 2025 at 5:07pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Grizzlies are in one of the more interesting trade deadline situations, Damichael Cole of Memphis Commercial Appeal writes. At 31-16 entering Thursday, they maintain the West’s third seed, but they’re also a combined 3-6 against the top four teams in either conference.

Cole ponders several trade options for the Grizzlies, including standing pat and waiting on the returns of Marcus Smart and Vince Williams Jr. from injury. Jimmy Butler, of course, would help solve some of Memphis’ issues on the wings if he softened his stance on playing for the Grizzlies — or if the team was willing to trade for him anyway.

Outside of a blockbuster move, Cole suggests the Grizzlies could look into addressing their turnover problem by acquiring a point guard. Sending draft capital to Phoenix for Monte Morris could make sense, as could pursuing Chris Paul if the Spurs land De’Aaron Fox before the deadline, Cole writes.

In a similar story, Chris Herrington of the Daily Memphian writes that it feels like Memphis’ odds of doing nothing at the deadline are greater than in recent memory. At the same time, the Grizzlies need to decide if this season is worth pushing the chips in for or if they should continue to have an eye toward the future behind their core.

We have more on the Grizzlies:

  • Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. is hoping to make it back to the All-Star Game as a reserve, Marc J. Spears of Andscape writes. Jackson is averaging 22.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.6 blocks while shooting 49.9% from the field and 35.5% from three. “Think it’s no question,” teammate Ja Morant said about Jackson’s All-Star candidacy. “Any other time they base it off of seeding and all this. ‘This guy shouldn’t get it because of this guy.’ And now that s–t goes out the window when it comes to us. Yeah, I’m pushing for him to be an All-Star. I think he absolutely deserves it. He’s been playing at an All-NBA level.“
  • Morant was added to the injury report for Thursday’s game against the Rockets, Cole writes. He’s dealing with shoulder soreness. Cole speculates that Desmond Bane would likely slide over to point guard if Morant misses Thursday’s contest, while Luke Kennard would enter the starting five.
  • Smart is not fully practicing with the team and is still “week-to-week” according to head coach Taylor Jenkins, per Cole (Twitter link). Smart, who is averaging 9.8 points per game this season, hasn’t played since Dec. 21 due to a finger injury.
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Jaren Jackson Jr., Scottie Barnes Named Players Of The Week

January 27th, 2025 at 2:34pm CST by Rory Maher

Grizzlies forward/center Jaren Jackson Jr. has been named the Western Conference’s Player of the Week, while Raptors forward Scottie Barnes has won the award in the East, the NBA announced today (via Twitter).

It’s the first time either player has won the weekly award, according to their respective teams.

Jackson, who was named Defensive Player of the Year in 2023, had a stellar week for Memphis, which went 4-0 to extended its overall winning streak to six games. He averaged 25.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 blocks in his four appearances, posting an excellent shooting line of .576/.381/.826. He also averaged a staggering plus-17.5 per game over that stretch (the team’s average margin of victory was 12.3 points).

The 25-year-old big man is a strong candidate to be named to his second All-Star team later this week, as he leads the Grizzlies in scoring and is their best — and most important — defender. Memphis is currently 31-15, the No. 3 seed in the West (mere percentage points behind No. 2 Houston, which is 30-14).

Barnes, meanwhile, helped guide Toronto to a somewhat surprising 3-0 week, with two victories over Atlanta and one vs. Orlando. He filled the stat sheet by averaging 22.0 PPG, 9.7 RPG, 6.0 APG, 1.7 SPG and 1.0 BPG on .468/.364/.857 shooting. Impressively, his average plus/minus was even better than Jackson’s (+19.3).

After starting the season with an atrocious 8-31 record, the Raptors have won five of their past six games and are now 13-32. While he has played at an All-Star caliber level when healthy, Barnes has missed 13 games due to injuries and the team’s record will likely be weighed against him. The fourth-year forward earned his first All-Star nod in 2023/24.

According to the NBA, the other nominees were Lakers teammates Anthony Davis and LeBron James, Anthony Edwards, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Clippers teammates James Harden and Norman Powell, Anfernee Simons and Amen Thompson. Bucks teammates Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, Jalen Brunson, Cade Cunningham, Tyrese Haliburton, Tyrese Maxey and Jayson Tatum were nominated in the East (Twitter link).

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Grizzlies Have Talked To Heat About Jimmy Butler

January 24th, 2025 at 8:28am CST by Rory Maher

The Grizzlies are “lurking” as a potential suitor for Heat star Jimmy Butler, according to Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Insider link), who report that Memphis has talked to Miami about Butler.

Multiple reporters have indicated that Butler’s camp has warned Memphis not to pursue him, though there hasn’t been an explicit reason given as to why. The 35-year-old makes $48.8MM in 2024/25 and could hit free agency in the summer if he declines his $52.4MM player option for ’25/26.

League executives have speculated that the Grizzlies might be interested in Butler for multiple reasons, per Windhorst and Bontemps.

For starters, they would like to consolidate some of their talent for an on-court upgrade ahead of the playoffs. Secondly, if they’re able to move off multiple multiyear contracts (Marcus Smart, among others) in a potential Butler deal and the six-time All-Star walks in free agency, they would have enough cap room to renegotiate and extend Jaren Jackson Jr. in the offseason.

Due to the declining structure of Jackson’s contract and his relatively team-friendly cap hit, a veteran extension may not be possible unless he becomes eligible for a super-max by making an All-NBA team or winning Defensive Player of the Year for a second time.

If Memphis doesn’t want to extend Butler, that could certainly explain why his representatives have warned the team against trading for him. His rift with Miami has largely centered around his desire to receive a maximum-salary extension.

Sources tell ESPN that both the Heat and Butler are motivated to get a trade done before the February 6 deadline, but there’s still a legitimate chance the stalemate extends into the summer, when more suitors and options could emerge.

Referring to the Suns‘ level of desperation as “extremely high,” Windhorst and Bontemps confirm that trading for Butler remains Phoenix’s top priority. However, it’s unclear if Phoenix’s recent draft-pick trade with Utah will increase the odds of landing Butler, since the Suns still have to find a taker for Bradley Beal and his no-trade clause.

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