JANUARY 1: Stokes has officially signed, according to a tweet from the Grizzlies.
DECEMBER 30: The Grizzlies plan to sign forward Jarnell Stokes to a two-way deal, as first reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Memphis created an open two-way roster spot by waiving D.J. Stephens on Sunday, reaching the agreement to sign Stokes beforehand.
Stokes had worked out for the Grizzlies in early November before the team signed Joakim Noah, a league source told Hoops Rumors.
Stokes has spent the first part of the season playing in Sioux Falls, G League affiliate of the Heat, and appeared in 19 games with Memphis during the 2014/15 season. He’s improved vastly on defense in his time away from the team, transitioning into a solid two-way player that fits the Grizzlies’ grit-and-grind mentality.
Stephens, 28, signed a two-way deal with Memphis on Oct. 8 and played just one game with the team this season. He appeared in 10 contests with the club’s G League team, averaging 7.9 points and five rebounds per outing.
The Grizzlies have upcoming games scheduled against the Rockets (Dec. 31), Pistons (Jan. 2) and Nets (Jan. 4), holding a 18-17 record through the season’s first 35 games.
I was going to say that Stokes looked like a totally different person in training camp/preseason. He looked in incredibly amazing shape and did look a lot better defensively. I’m interested to see how he looks. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Heat hoped he would be available after UD retires, which is why they keep bringing him back. You arguably could say the same of Memphis. His transformation shows how much he must have worked
Chill dude. You can find a million of them. Don’t let your heat bias show
All I said was he looked good in training camp, and significantly improved, and I was interested to see how he does. I never thought he was close to an NBA player before. The changes we saw in training camp make that a possibility
You know Stephens was also with the Heat in summer league a while back? Along with Griffin… basically the same player