With the 2025/26 season about to get underway, Hoops Rumors is starting a weekly mailbag for Front Office members. Our first mailbag covers a couple of teams in the Southwest Division.
Ben asks:
Memphis' center depth is looking fairly shady coming into the season with all of the injuries they're facing. Do you see them sticking with the status quo, or could you envision transactions being made to address this issue? Might a trade with Houston, who could use backcourt help in the wake of the VanVleet injury make sense, or would a trade between contending division rivals be unlikely?
In case you missed it, the Grizzlies announced toward the end of September that three key big men -- all of whom play center at times -- would likely miss several weeks of action.
- At the time, Memphis said 2023 Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr., who is recovering from July surgery for a turf toe injury, was expected to return one-to-three weeks from now. He appears to be ahead of schedule -- he played 22-plus minutes in Wednesday's preseason loss to Charlotte.
- Second-year center Zach Edey, who is recovering from offseason ankle surgery, could be back sometime in November.
- Key reserve Brandon Clarke will reportedly be out until at least November after undergoing an arthroscopic procedure to address synovitis in his right knee. The team said this issue was not a result of the March PCL sprain which cut Clarke's '24/25 season short.
