Jaren Jackson Jr. is still injured and will not take part in the start of the regular season with the Memphis Grizzlies. A blow for Ja Morant’s teammates which could have more impact than you think, especially if his unavailability were to last.
August 5, 2020, the Grizzlies are like 21 other NBA teams, resuming the season in the bubble in Orlando. And the bad news falls: Jaren Jackson Jr. will have to leave his family. He has just injured his meniscus and his unavailability is not yet known. It could have been short, it will be long, very long, since he will not return to the courts until… April 21, 2021, more than eight months later. He finished the season with Memphis then continued in 2021-22 with the best season of his career: 16.3 points in 27 minutes, 2.4 blocks per game (best average in the NBA) and above all, a selection for the first team All-Defense. All this with 78 games played, all as starters. All the signals are green for JJJ, he will be able to put his physical glitches behind him. Ah, if it were that simple. As often, injuries catch up with the player and he has to have foot surgery this summer. New blow for him and for the Memphis Grizzlies.
BREAKING: Memphis Grizzlies F Jaren Jackson Jr., underwent surgery to repair a stress fracture in his right foot on Wednesday and is expected to be sidelined for 4-to-6 months, sources tell ESPN. Jackson is expected to make a full recovery. pic.twitter.com/RBFlyYiiUq
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2022
Memphis Grizzlies power forward Jaren Jackson Jr. underwent surgery on Wednesday to repair a stress fracture in his right foot. He should miss between four and six months of competition. He should be able to go into full remission. – Adrian Wojnarowski
Jaren Jackson Jr. will therefore miss the start of the NBA season, like two years ago. It was felt in his stats and in his game, he had taken a long time to get back to his best and that’s normal. This year, there are several scenarios for his return. This could be done from the beginning of November, this is obviously the scenario we hope for on the Memphis side, and this could mean that only a handful of games would be missing at the start of the season. His absence would have an overall limited impact. But he could come back a month later, for example, and that would already be 20 games without JJJ. There’s an even worse possibility, the one feared in Tennessee: He might not play the calendar year. The real blow would be there, with a third or even half of the meetings missed by the strong winger. All of these scenarios are vastly different and the impact of his injury will vary wildly.. Told him that he hoped to “beat” the minimum date for his return, at the beginning of November, but what player wouldn’t say that, even without really believing it? To listen to his coach, Taylor Jenkins, there is little chance that he will achieve this goal.
“He’s starting to do a little bit more on the pitch. Still no contact. He races off-road, he is more dynamic. It’s a step up from the start of training camp. –Taylor Jenkins
Yes the head coach wanted to be reassuring, he really isn’t. It’s hard to imagine Jaren Jackson Jr. returning at the beginning of November when he can’t undergo any contact for the moment. And this is not reassuring for Grizzlies full of ambitions before the season, who want to go further than the second round of the last Playoffs.
But how to replace it? As we said, JJJ has an almost unparalleled and irreplaceable defensive impact within the roster. Kyle Anderson, whose qualities can match the absence of the titu, left for the Minnesota Timberwolves. There remains the Santi Aldama solution, and it is the one that should be favored by Taylor Jenkins. The sophomore is showing promise in preseason with an average of 15 points in 3 games, and seems to be enjoying his new responsibilities. But his defensive impact will not be able to overshadow that of Jaren Jackson Jr.
The Grizzlies’ defense was average last year, despite a backcourt that wasn’t beyond reproach in the area. With the loss of JJJ, she should drop in the rankings and that can hurt the team a lot. The Grizzlies’ season may therefore be conditioned on the length of Jaren Jackson Jr’s absence. Ten games over or under can mean four or five wins over or under. In an ever denser and stronger Western Conference, that can be the difference between a fourth place finish and an eighth place finish. A world apart for a franchise that is clearly aiming for the Conference final, if not more.
Jaren Jackson Jr. isn’t back yet and time is already running out in Tennessee. The duration of his unavailability could have a big impact on the season of his franchise, as his coach will give us more news at the start of the regular season, which begins for the Grizzlies on October 20 against the Knicks.