MEMPHIS – The revolving door to the Grizzlies’ primary playing rotation took another deflating spin that could again impact frontcourt depth ahead of their looming road trip.
The status of Zach Edey was uncertain entering Tuesday after the second-year center departed Monday’s home loss to Denver with an unspecified head injury he sustained in the first quarter. Edey did not return and finished with two points and a rebound in nearly six minutes.
The Grizzlies (6-12) are scheduled to practice Tuesday afternoon at FedExForum before traveling to New Orleans to open a four-game, holiday week road trip. An update on Edey is expected after practice regarding his status for Wednesday’s game against the Pelicans.
The 7-foot-4 starting center returned to the lineup five games ago for his season debut Oct. 15 in Cleveland after recovering from summer ankle surgery. Edey’s impact has been instant and massive for the Grizzlies, who have struggled through the early stages of the season amid multiple key injuries and ranked in the bottom third of the league in rebounding and defense.
“There’s been a lot of adversity,” Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo said after Monday’s 125-115 loss to Denver. “When the news was that Zach was out for the game, we were like, ‘OK, let’s find a way to compete.’ It’s obviously not easy, and guys are doing a tremendous job. Zach’s been a big part of the last four games, of how we’ve played. He’s a big part of the game plan.”
Edey was coming off the best performance of his short season, having tallied 12 points, 15 rebounds and a career-high tying four blocks in Saturday’s 102-96 win at Dallas. Since he returned to anchor the middle, Memphis has averaged 16.5 offensive rebounds and has outrebounded opponents overall by an average of 13.8 boards in those four contests.
The lineup attrition has been an overwhelming challenge as Iisalo works to establish his system on both ends of the court during his first full season as coach. In this latest instance, it was Edey leaving just minutes into the game against Denver on the same night two-time NBA All-Star Jaren Jackson Jr. returned to action after missing the previous two games with a sprained ankle.
Ten days ago, Edey’s debut in Cleveland was quickly overshadowed when two-time NBA All Star Ja Morant left six minutes into the first quarter with a calf strain. Morant, the team’s leader in scoring and assists, has missed the past five games and will be reevaluated in early December.
“It’s always a next-man-up mentality – we’re pretty accustomed to that at this point,” backup center Jock Landale assessed. “Losing Zach is an unlucky blow because we were really starting to get going with him out there. It was a lot of fun seeing the team operate. You just have to have your mind on your role, keep your head down and just keep working.”
Landale provided one of the bright spots the Grizzlies hope to build on heading into the trip. The journeyman center, who opened the season as the fill-in starter until Edey returned, led the Grizzlies with a career-high 26 points and a season-high 10 rebounds against Denver.
It was Landale’s first career game with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in six NBA seasons. Another encouraging development was second-year starting swingman Jaylen Wells taking a significant step toward emerging from an early-season shooting slump.
Wells contributed a season-high 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting overall, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range. Memphis outscored Denver by seven points in Wells’ 33 minutes on the court.
The hope is that the Grizzlies can carry those positive steps forward on an opportunistic trip against opponents dealing with their own set of injuries and early-season challenges.
The first three teams Memphis will face – the Pelicans, Clippers and Kings – are a combined 13-40 on the season. The final stop comes against the solid Spurs (11-5), who have been without superstar center Victor Wembanyama the past two weeks due to a calf strain.
Despite the uncertainty of player availability on multiple fronts, the Grizzlies insist they can rely on the relentless effort they’ve shown recently. That quality powered them through consecutive wins over the Kings and Mavericks last week. It allowed them to rally from a 17-point deficit in the second half against the Nuggets before ultimately coming up short down the stretch.
“That should be our identity – that’s how Memphis is as a city – just being able to claw and try to find a way to win regardless who’s on the floor,” Wells insisted. “We’ve got a lot of positives, so we just have to take the good things that have happened and keep that momentum we had from those wins. We have a pretty long road trip, so hopefully we come out of this 4-0.”