UPDATE: Morant and Aldama have been ruled out.
This three-game NBA slate might be small, but the injury reports for it are looooooong. Things got even worse this morning, as the Grizzlies added Ja Morant as questionable due to an illness. Morant was not present at the team’s shootaround, either.
Morant has been fantastic in the 26 games he’s started in 2024-25, averaging 21.1 points and 7.7 assists with a team-high 31.1% usage rate. Needless to say, if Morant were eventually to be ruled out, the ripple affects on Memphis’ rotation would be massive.
Morant last missed a contest on January 17, what would become a 140-112 victory for the Grizzlies. Luke Kennard stepped into the starting five in place of the former All-Star, while Desmond Bane took over the role of lead facilitator, dishing out 14 assists with an eye-popping 50.4% assist rate. As you might expect, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jaylen Wells also saw their roles increase. Jackson Jr. posted a team-best 34.6% usage rate. Wells registered 22 points. With Morant off the floor this season, Jackson Jr. owns a 34.4% usage rate and he produces 1.45 FPTS per minute logged. In other words, he’d be a staple in DraftKings lineups this evening.
