Memphis Grizzlies

One of the prime candidates to be moved before February's trade deadline is veteran Memphis Grizzlies forward Andre Iguodala, who has yet to play a game for the team. 

And according to Omari Sankofa II of The Athletic, the plan remains for Iguodala to eventually be moved:

"The word since the summer has been that the Grizzlies are looking for a promising asset in return for Iguodala, whom they received along with a protected future first. That hasn't changed. The Grizzlies are certain that Iguodala will be moved before the deadline and have engaged several teams on frameworks for potential deals. There's confidence that Memphis will be able to land a first-round pick or promising young player in return, as preferred by the front office."

That follows a report from Sean Deveney of Heavy.com, who noted the Grizzlies weren't wavering on their demands for a first-round pick in a trade.

"They haven't budged," a league executive told Deveney. "Maybe they will as the date gets closer, but they've made clear, they're not interested in a buyout with Andre and they're looking for a first-rounder. Teams have been trying. They haven't let go of that. But that tells you they know they'll be able to get something and won't have to buy him out."

The Grizzlies and Iguodala agreed ahead of the season that the 35-year-old wouldn't report to the team while he seeks a contending team in the twilight of his career. The Grizzlies acquired him from the Golden State Warriors in what was essentially a salary dump for the Dubs, allowing them to sign D'Angelo Russell after they unloaded his $17.1 million contract for this season.

For the Grizzlies, Iguodala could net them two first-round picks, which would represent a savvy bit of business for the team. The question will be which contender is both willing to move assets and has tradeable contracts to send back to the Grizzlies in order to absorb Iguodala's cap hit. 

As Sankofa noted, the "Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers are all light on assets after their respective active summers," while Marc Stein of the New York Times previously reported the Dallas Mavericks weren't pursuing Iggy:

Still, a market should develop for Iguodala, who offers contending teams an excellent defender on the wing and championship pedigree. In 68 games for the Warriors last season, he averaged 5.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 23.2 minutes per contest, shooting 50 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from three. 

Iguodala wouldn't be a blockbuster addition, but he's the sort of quality depth option that every championship team needs. The Grizzlies are banking on that netting them another quality asset before February.

If that doesn't materialize, Iguodala will likely become the headliner on the buyout market. But the Grizzlies remain steadfast in dealing him.  

Memphis Grizzlies rookie Ja Morant had a blunt explanation for nearly making Cleveland Cavaliers star Kevin Love the victim in one of the most filthy slam dunks in recent memory.

"He was in the way," Morant said of Love, per The Athletic's Joe Vardon. "Don't get no cool points for no missed dunk."

In the first quarter of the Grizzlies' 114-107 loss to the Cavs on Friday at Quicken Loans Arena, Morant built a head of steam at the top of the key. Rather than going around Love, he attempted to jump over the 6'8" forward.

Love took his brush with fate in stride:

A player's reputation can recover from getting posterized, but it might follow him for the entirety of his career. Ask a group of NBA fans what they remember of Brandon Knight, and some will undoubtedly think of DeAndre Jordan's alley-oop dunk on Knight in 2013.

Going forward, anybody who sees Morant driving to the basket should make sure he has all of his affairs in order.    

No. 2 overall pick Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies did not respect his elder Friday night.

Morant nearly posterized Cleveland Cavaliers veteran forward Kevin Love during the Cavs' 114-107 win at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, and Love humbly credited Morant after the game:

Love did top Morant in the box score, though, posting 21 points and 13 rebounds to the 20-year-old's eight points, 11 assists and five rebounds. Morant, though, came close to tying a franchise record with his performance:

Morant has executed other highlight-reel dunks this month:

And he proved his dunking acumen while still at Murray State:

Morant is averaging 18.4 points, 6.7 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.2 steals across 23 starts.

The 10-19 Grizzlies look to have nailed their lottery pick.

The Memphis Grizzlies are reportedly "resolute" in their belief they can find a trade for swingman Andre Iguodala before February's deadline.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski gave the latest update on Iguodala's status Sunday on the Woj & Lowe: Trade Season Special, noting the Lakers and Clippers remain hopeful Memphis is eventually forced into a buyout.

The Houston Rockets have also attempted several avenues to land Iguodala but have been unsuccessful to this point.

The biggest roadblock for the Grizzlies is Iguodala's $17.2 million salary, which requires teams to find matching salaries of their own to send back. Most of the players with salaries theoretically capable of being moved for Iguodala are contributors those teams do not want to trade.

The Grizzlies have been strident in their desire to trade Iguodala rather than buy him out, a situation that has stretched since the team acquired him in July. Iguodala has neither practiced nor played for the Grizzlies since the deal, with the two sides coming to an agreement for him to stay away while Memphis explores trade options.

At this point, the Grizzlies appear to be hoping an injury makes a team desperate enough to reshuffle their roster. Iguodala remains a good role player, but he turns 36 in January and showed clear signs of aging last season; he's not exactly the type of star for whom teams will fork over major draft assets. It would be a surprise if the Grizzlies even got a protected first-round pick for him in the event of a trade.

In that sense, it's hard to see a point in stretching this out any further. The Lakers and Clippers are right to dig in their heels, knowing Memphis will have little option but to buy Iguodala out in February. His salary is too prohibitive for nearly every other major contender.

The Grizzlies' determination might wind up costing them money they could have saved by buying Iguodala out earlier.

NBA Champion, co-host of the “Talking Blazers” podcast, and co-host of “Handles” on NBA TV, Channing Frye, joins “The Full 48 with Howard Beck” to discuss the Portland Trail Blazers, trading Damian Lillard and/or CJ McCollum, James Harden, Andre Iguodala, Kevin Love, and the Buffet Of Goodness.

Memphis Grizzlies swingman Andre Iguodala has not stepped on the court this season, and he may be on a different team if and when he does so. 

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Grizzlies have held discussions with "several teams ... dating to the summer" about the University of Arizona product. Among those squads are the Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers, who are all contenders in the daunting Western Conference and could use the veteran's playoff experience.

Charania noted Memphis already received a protected 2024 first-round draft pick from the Golden State Warriors because it took on Iguodala's contract that only runs through the rest of this season and is "searching for a similar asset in a trade."

That would be ideal from the Grizzlies' perspective considering they are just 8-16 and in rebuilding mode with young pieces such as Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. Iguodala's contract will be up well before they are ready to seriously compete, so anything else they can get for him would be a victory.

As for Denver, Dallas, Houston and Los Angeles, the three-time champion and two-time All-Defensive selection would give them all an additional wing defender who could guard some of the many stars in the Western Conference come playoff time.

Iguodala already has an NBA Finals MVP on his resume stemming largely from the way he defended LeBron James in the 2015 series between the Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers and could help slow the King again should whatever team lands him play the Los Angeles Lakers in May.

There is also Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Luka Doncic, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Donovan Mitchell, Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, among others, to worry about in the West, although 35-year-old Iguodala may not fare well chasing some of the quicker guards at this point of his career.

Still, he is a proven playoff performer who could provide depth off the bench and a crunch-time defender. 

It is no surprise, then, that Charania reported "Memphis is confident that a trade will materialize between now and the February trade deadline."

After colliding with a cameraman on the baseline last month, Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant wants the NBA to move the camera operators to provide more space for the players. 

"I just think player safety should be first and foremost," Morant said, per Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. "How I play and where I end up, [cameramen] are right there. Personally, I like to attack the rack, and I feel like that injury came from me attacking the rack and it was just nowhere to land for me."

The original injury came on Nov. 25 when he took a knee to the back on the baseline after attempting a shot. He returned to the lineup but eventually missed four games due to back spasms before returning Monday night.

When the injury flared up, he began arguing for the change on Twitter:

Though he appeared over his injury with 26 points and seven assists in a win over the Golden State Warriors on Monday, he explained that he has become tentative driving to the basket.

"It's tough because I know I just have to do more controlled jumps now," Morant said. "But at the same time, I'm just trying not to think about it and still try to play my game. It's just a tough situation all the way around, honestly."

The rookie has dazzled when on the court this season, averaging 19.1 points and 6.4 assists while becoming a favorite for the league's Rookie of the Year award. Though he's just 18 games into his career, Morant is quickly showing he belongs among the league's bright young stars.

The last thing the NBA needs is players of this caliber suffering injuries in avoidable incidents.

"I'm not sure what needs to happen," Morant said, "but I would think the league, especially if players are getting injured, would be considering their options."

Memphis Grizzlies star rookie point guard Ja Morant is out on a week-to-week basis after suffering an aggravation of his back spasms against the Utah Jazz on Friday, per a team press release.

The second overall pick of the 2019 NBA draft has been sensational for the Grizz, averaging 18.6 points, 6.4 assists and 3.2 rebounds in his first season.

Memphis will have to push forward without the face of its franchise. It will be difficult for anyone on the roster to replicate his production, but the Grizzlies have capable people in the rotation handling more of the offensive workload.

From a fantasy basketball perspective, we'll try to figure out below how the rotation might look in Morant's absence.

The ex-Murray State star has missed one game this season, a 138-122 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Nov. 9.

It's only a one-game sample size, but we can likely glean at least some information from that game to determine how the rotation will look without Morant on the floor.

Tyus Jones, Morant's backup, started at the point that day and had 14 points and eight assists in 28 minutes. Naturally, he was the team's top distributor on the night.

Jones will see more minutes and absorb more usage in Morant's absence, although he isn't one to take 15-20 shots per game. His calling cards are in distributing and on the defensive end.

Don't expect Jones to play 30-plus minutes every night either. Memphis head coach Taylor Jenkins spreads the wealth on a deep team where only Jae Crowder averages more than 30 minutes per game.

Ultimately, Jones is a solid addition in season-long leagues and a viable consideration in daily ones dependent on his salary and matchup. Don't expect him to stuff the stat sheet every night, but Jones should offer consistent production by way of assists on a daily basis at least.

De'Anthony Melton is the next man on the Grizzlies' depth chart at point guard behind Jones, although it's unlikely he'll see enough time to justify using him on fantasy teams at the moment. He played just 20 minutes in the Mavericks loss, although he did score 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting.

Therefore, we should look to the rest of the Grizzlies starters to determine any remaining fantasy viability on the roster. If you take a look at RotoGrinders' Court IQ tool, you can find out how the usage breaks down when Morant is off the floor.

Dillon Brooks gets the biggest boost, seeing a 5.7 percent usage increase. He also averages 0.14 more points per minute (via DraftKings scoring). He did not fare well in the Mavs game (five points, 2-of-8 shooting) but he was notably second on the team in assist percentage behind Jones, per Basketball Reference.

Like Jones, Brooks is a solid addition in season-long leagues if he's available and an option in daily as well.

Crowder (2.4 percent usage increase, .11 more DK points per minute) leads the rest of the crew as far as the usage bump goes, while Jonas Valanciunas (1.4 percent usage, .14 more DK points per minute) sees as much of a scoring increase as Brooks.

Valanciunas is always capable of filling out the box score in limited action, and Morant's absence may mean he's called upon to contribute more offensively. Crowder is a reliable source of production every night, although he isn't as likely to produce a giant fantasy output a la Valanciunas.

Overall, the Grizzlies are a source of increased fantasy basketball production with Morant out, although the hope here is the exciting rookie is back ASAP to assume his role as one of the NBA's most entertaining players in the league.

The Memphis Grizzlies announced Saturday that Ja Morant "is considered week-to-week, as a period of short-term off-loading is needed" because the rookie aggravated back spasms Friday night against the Utah Jazz.

The rookie No. 2 overall pick first hurt his back when he hit the deck hard after driving to the bucket against the Indiana Pacers on Nov. 25:

It seemed the 20-year-old had avoided long-term injury because he returned and finished with 19 points and 10 assists). Yet the Grizzlies will still have to navigate a period without Morant.

The rookie has averaged 18.6 points, 6.4 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals across 17 starts. 

In two seasons at Murray State, Morant averaged 18.7 points, 8.2 assists, 6.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals across 65 starts. The guard particularly excelled as a sophomore, averaging 24.5 points, 10.0 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.8 steals as well as recording the first triple-double in an NCAA tournament game since 2012. 

It's likely the Grizzlies will take a cautious approach with Morant's health regardless of the severity of his back injury, much like they did when they held out fellow building block Jaren Jackson Jr. for the remainder of last season after he suffered deep thigh bruise in late February.

In Morant's absence, the Grizzlies will likely tap Tyus Jones to run the point.

The 2015 first-round pick signed with Memphis on a three-year contract in the summer after he spent his first four NBA seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Jones was primarily a reserve in Minnesota, appearing in 247 games but only starting 34. Since joining the Grizzlies, the Duke product has averaged 5.9 points, 4.6 assists and 1.3 rebounds across 18 games (one start). 

The 5-13 Grizzlies next play the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday. Morant did not travel with the team.

Andre Iguodala hasn't played for the Memphis Grizzlies, but the team isn't going to let him leave for nothing.

Adrian Wojnarowski explained on ESPN's NBA Countdown that the Grizzlies are going to wait for a trade.

"The message that Memphis has been delivering to the entire league...'You are going to have to trade for him. We are not buying him out. He's not going to be on the free agent market,'" Wojnarowski said.

The Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers and Houston Rockets were listed as interested teams but they will have to give up something to make a deal.

Iguodala spent the last six years with the Golden State Warriors but was traded this offseason as a salary dump, with Memphis also getting a first-round pick for Julian Washburn. He went from a team that reached the finals in each of the last five years to one that had just 33 wins last season.

Though the Grizzlies (5-10) actually have a better record than the Warriors (3-14) this season, it's clear he has no interest in playing for a rebuilding squad at this stage of his career.

Marc Stein of the New York Times reported in October the 35-year-old is a "virtual lock" to return to Golden State next year when he's eligible.

In the meantime, Iguodala would be a huge help for a contender thanks to his experience and contributions on both ends of the court. The one-time All-Star and Finals MVP would help solidify the rotation in any of the contenders listed, but Memphis also clearly realizes what could be a heavy demand.

Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported in September the team had no interest in a buyout and the feeling hasn't changed.

Per Wojnarowski, Iguodala has a better chance of being moved after Dec. 15, when free agents who signed this year can be traded.

BR Video

Howard Beck says the Rookie of the Year race is over and Ja Morant is well in the lead.

Watch Howard make his case for Ja in the video above.

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