Ja Morant sprained his left ankle during Sunday’s practice and is considered week-to-week, a Grizzlies spokesperson tells Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal (Twitter link).
The injury almost certainly means Morant will miss Memphis’ five preseason games. It also jeopardizes his availability for the regular season opener October 22 against New Orleans.
The Grizzlies were hoping for improved health from their star guard, who was limited to 50 games last season due to a variety of injuries, including some recurring issues in his surgically repaired right shoulder. He also suffered a hip injury during the playoffs that forced him to miss the final game of the first-round series against Oklahoma City.
Throughout his career, durability has been a major concern for Morant, who only appeared in nine games during the 2023/24 season due to the shoulder injury. He has never played more than 67 games in a season, and that total came as a rookie.
Morant was still an elite performer when he was healthy last season, posting 23.2 points, 7.3 assists and 4.1 rebounds in 30.4 minutes per night. The Grizzlies will rely on his scoring more than ever after sending longtime backcourt partner Desmond Bane to Orlando in an offseason trade.
Scotty Pippen Jr. figures to take over as the starting point guard until Morant can return. Pippen made 21 starts last season.
Spurs draft-and-stash prospect Juan Nunez is expected be sidelined six months after undergoing right knee surgery on Tuesday, BasketNews relays.
FC Barcelona announced that a meniscal cyst was removed from Nunez’s knee, and the suture points of the meniscus from the first arthroscopy performed on March 11 were reinforced. The 21-year-old averaged 5.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game last season in the EuroLeague.
Nunez was selected with the 36th overall pick of the 2024 draft and was acquired by San Antonio in a draft-night trade with Indiana.
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Tragedy has struck Timberwolves big man Naz Reid and his family. His sister, Toraya Reid, was shot and killed Saturday in New Jersey, Eva Herscowitz of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. A New Jersey prosecutor charged Shaquille Green, whom the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said was in a relationship with Toraya Reid, with her murder.
Reid’s former teammate, Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns, was devastated by the news.
“Heartbroken. No words can ever take away the pain for my brother,” Towns tweeted. “Holding everyone close in prayer today.”
Rockets wing Amen Thompson is viewed as a future star, and he believes playing alongside Kevin Durant will speed up his development. He talked about joining forces with one of the most productive scorers in NBA history during a recent Summer League interview with Vanessa Richardson of Space City Home Network (hat tip to Ben DuBose of Rockets Wire).
“He’s going to make my life a lot easier,” Thompson said. “He’s one of the greatest players ever, one of the best scorers ever. … Definitely going to be passing it to him a lot. They’re going to be double teaming him, so I’m going to be cutting off the back of it.”
Thompson was a first-team All-Defensive honoree in his second NBA season and finished fifth in the Defensive Player of the Year voting. He also showed improvement on offense, raising his scoring average to 14.1 PPG while shooting 55.7% from the field.
Thompson is looking forward to the influence Durant will bring to Houston as a veteran leader.
“I just hear his work ethic is different,” he said. “I feel like I have a different work ethic, too. Combining that, I think it’s gonna be fun.”
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In an exclusive interview with Mark Medina of Sportskeeda, Grizzlies guard Cam Spencer discussed the “shocking” trade that sent Desmond Bane to Orlando, how his competitive fire was stoked by growing up playing against older brother Pat Spencer, and what he has learned from Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr., among other topics.
After spending his rookie season on a two-way deal with Memphis, Cam Spencer signed a four-year standard contract with the Grizzlies on Monday. The 2024 second-round pick is thrilled to have an opportunity to stay with the team long term.
“I’m super excited,” Spencer told Medina. “There’s no other organization that I’d rather compete with. I’m super grateful. It makes you think about all of the people that helped you get to this point. But I’m more motivated than ever. I told (general manager) Zach (Kleiman) that I’m going to prove him right every single day. I’m going to get after it for him.”
Spencer is also looking forward to a full season under new head coach Tuomas Iisalo, who had his interim tag lifted in early May.
“Coach Tuomas coming in, I think we have a lot of momentum going into this year,” Spencer said as part of a larger quote. “He’s been great. He’s a super-smart coach and very personable as a player. He really communicates what he wants from us out there on the court. I think we’re all going to be on the same page in a big way this year.”
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The top two picks in this year’s draft put on a show for Summer League fans as they matched up Saturday in Las Vegas, writes Michael C. Wright of ESPN. Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg thrilled the crowd with a few highlight dunks on his way to 31 points, while Spurs guard Dylan Harper countered with 16 points in his Summer League debut after recovering from a minor groin injury.
“[There’s] not a better time to come back [than] in a game like this and a crowd as electrifying as this,” Harper said. “He had a good game. I had a good game. We kind of just showed the NBA world what we’re about.”
Saturday’s matchup should be the beginning of a long rivalry for Flagg and Harper. Considered to be the top two prospects in this year’s class by a wide margin, they wound up joining teams with established talent already in place when Dallas and San Antonio both defied the odds at the lottery. They’ll meet four times a year as division opponents and may have a few playoff matchups in their future.
“We’re going to play them a lot this year,” Harper said. “So, the future battles are going to be great. One thing that we’ve both got: We’re just competitors. We’re going to go out and compete.”
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Several teams contacted the Grizzlies about Desmond Bane before they decided to trade him on Sunday, but nobody was as aggressive as the Magic, sources tell Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Orlando is determined to become a title contender and faced a glaring need to improve its three-point shooting after finishing last in the league in that category at 31.8%.
Bane is a 41% shooter from beyond the arc for his career and connected at 39.2% in 69 games last season. The 26-year-old shooting guard projects to be a perfect complement alongside Jalen Suggs in the Magic’s backcourt and should be more productive than Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who was Orlando’s major addition last summer.
“He’ll be a good fit,” an assistant coach told Bontemps. “There’s not a lot of guys that you would want to grab as your third option that can do it to the level that he can do it.”
Even so, Bontemps notes that there was surprise throughout the league about the price the Magic were willing to pay to acquire Bane. In addition to Caldwell-Pope and Cole Anthony, they gave up four first-round picks and a 2029 pick swap, including the 16th selection in this year’s draft.
Orlando also took on a significant financial commitment with Bane, who has four years and $163MM left on his contract. The Magic are likely facing huge tax bills in the future, especially once Paolo Banchero‘s upcoming extension kicks in. One scout suggested to Bontemps that Memphis may have been relieved to unload Bane’s contract.
“[The Grizzlies] did that extension before the new second apron rules kicked in and they were looking at that deal and liking it less,” he said. “Really good guy, good player, but [I] never thought of him as a max guy.”
Bontemps notes that Memphis general manager Zack Kleiman promised changes after being swept in the first round by Oklahoma City, and Sunday’s deal was the first step in that direction. A complete rebuild doesn’t seem likely, as sources told Bontemps that Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. aren’t expected to be dealt, but more moves appear to be coming as the franchise tries to clear up cap room to renegotiate and extend Jackson’s contract before he reaches free agency in 2026.
With the Grizzlies shifting to an up-tempo approach under new coach Tuomas Iisalo, Bontemps hears they’re confident that Jaylen Wells can become a long-term starter. The second-round pick is coming off an outstanding first season, averaging 10.4 PPG and finishing third in the Rookie of the Year voting.
Memphis is also happy with the cache of draft assets it received in the deal, particularly the 2026 selection that will almost certainly be the less favorable pick between Phoenix and Washington. Considering the current state of those two teams, there’s a chance the Grizzlies could wind up with an early pick in a very strong draft.
Bontemps adds that the uncertainty at the top of the East could inspire several teams to emulate Orlando by making a big deal, and there’s a league-wide feeling that numerous trades could take place by draft night.
“For them, they got to give themselves a chance,” one executive said. “They have gone to the playoffs two years in a row and had a first-round exit, and they look around and they’ve got a young group that’s trying to figure out how to take the next step.”
Dwight Howard was ejected Saturday during his BIG3 debut for getting into a fight with former NBA player Lance Stephenson, BasketNews relays. The scuffle began after Howard, who plays for the Los Angeles Riot, appeared to get elbowed in the chest by Stephenson of Miami 305. Howard swatted Stephenson’s arm away, and they began exchanging punches (video link from Ballislife.com).
“This is not exactly how I pictured my debut going,” Howard said in a statement released by his team.
Stephenson was also involved in an incident with L.A.’s Jordan Crawford, BasketNews adds. After a brief confrontation, Crawford put his hand in Stephenson’s face and touched his nose. Stephenson responded by throwing a punch, but both players stayed in the game.
Howard, an eight-time All-Star and a member of this year’s Basketball Hall of Fame class, is one of the most significant names ever to join the BIG3, which is now in its eighth season.
“Dwight’s legacy speaks for itself,” league co-founder Ice Cube said. “He still has fun playing the game … and now he gets to show his full skill set in the BIG3.”
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On paper, a 48-win season for the Grizzlies looks like a relative success on the heels of last season’s injury-plagued 27-win showing. However, the club went just 14-23 over its final 37 games (including the play-in and playoffs) and finds itself at a crossroads entering the offseason, writes John Hollinger of The Athletic, a former Grizzlies executive.
Having spoken to sources around the league, Hollinger says four main themes were brought up as issues in Memphis: Ja Morant‘s lack of dependability on and off the court in recent years; potentially investing too heavily in Desmond Bane as a third option; gradually losing several key role players (such as Dillon Brooks, Steven Adams, De’Anthony Melton, and Kyle Anderson); and an inability to hit a home run on the trade market.
Regarding that last point, Hollinger notes that the Grizzlies have made an effort to take big swings over the years — they inquired on impact wings like OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Kevin Durant. However, their most significant deal, which saw them give up multiple first-round picks in exchange for Marcus Smart in 2023, didn’t pan out. The club ultimately had to give up another first-round pick to move off Smart’s contract at this year’s trade deadline.
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Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman didn’t mince words during his end-of-season press conference when he discussed his team’s season.
“Disappointing season,” Kleiman said, per Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “A lot to sort through here. Forty-eight wins, good for an eight seed, but who cares? It’s not good enough.”
The Grizzlies were swept by the top-seeded Thunder in the first round of the playoffs after earning the No. 8 seed via the play-in tournament. An injury to Ja Morant didn’t help the cause, but Kleiman vowed to improve the roster in order to make the team a high-level contender.
“I don’t think we can look back at this series and this season and say, ‘Oh, we’re close,'” Kleiman said. “No, we’re not close. There’s a lot of work to be done.”
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