Dillon Brooks To Miss Rest Of Season

JANUARY 11th, 5:56pm: Brooks underwent surgery to repair a ruptured ligament in his right big toe, according to a team press release relayed by Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix in a tweet. He’ll miss the rest of the season, but a full recovery is anticipated prior to training camp.

JANUARY 9th, 2:34pm: The Grizzlies haven’t provided an official recovery timeline yet for Brooks, but confirmed today (via Twitter) that he has ruptured a ligament in his right big toe and will undergo surgery this week.

11:25am: Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks is set to undergo a procedure on a right toe injury and will likely miss the rest of the season, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter). A Grizzlies source confirmed to Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian (Twitter link) that Brooks is likely out for the season.

Although Brooks may be done for 2018/19, he’s expected to make a full recovery and go through a full summer of workouts, according to Charania. The 22-year-old remains under contract with Memphis for one more season at a bargain rate of $1.62MM, so he figures to be back on the court for the club in the fall.

It’s a tough blow for the Grizzlies, who saw Brooks emerge last season as the club’s starting small forward in his rookie year. He averaged 11.0 PPG and 3.1 RPG with a .440/.356/.747 shooting line in that role, playing in every game and showing promise as three-and-D wing.

Brooks was displaced from the starting lineup in 2018/19 due to the arrival of a handful of new additions, including Kyle Anderson and Garrett Temple, and has battled health issues for much of the season. Before suffering his toe injury, Brooks also dealt with a sprained left MCL. He played just 18 games this season and many of his numbers were down, though he remained a three-point threat (37.5%).

Of course, the biggest Brooks-related story of this season was his involvement – or lack thereof – in the failed three-team trade the Grizzlies negotiated with the Wizards and Suns last month. The Grizzlies believed they were giving up Wayne Selden and MarShon Brooks in the deal, while the Suns thought they were getting Selden and Dillon Brooks. The agreement fell apart over the miscommunication and Memphis is now without all three of those players for the rest of the season — Selden and MarShon Brooks were sent to Chicago in a subsequent deal for Justin Holiday.

With Dillon Brooks expected to miss the second half and Chandler Parsons away from the team, the Grizzlies figure to lean more heavily on Temple, Anderson, Holiday, and Omri Casspi.

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