Isaiah Stewart Ruled Out Again as Grizzlies Face Raptors

The Memphis Grizzlies will play without Isaiah Stewart for the second game in a row Monday night in Toronto, according to the team’s status report for its 6:30 p.m. CT game against the Raptors.

Three more players are listed as out. Scotty Pippen Jr. has a lumbar disc herniation, Richie Saunders is rehabbing from right knee surgery, and Karim López is on assignment with the Memphis Hustle of the G League.

Stewart’s last game was Wednesday’s 107-103 loss to the Indiana Pacers, and it lasted one half for him. He went 3-of-4 from the field for 6 points in 9:43, adding 1 rebound and 2 fouls, and Memphis listed him as doubtful to return during the break.

“Luckily, looks like he avoided anything major,” Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo said the next day. “We’re still looking for further evaluation, but he’s able to walk around pretty normally today, so that’s good news.”

By that evening he had been ruled out for Friday, when the Oklahoma City Thunder beat Memphis 128-97 at FedExForum.

A left ankle sprain cost him the Oct. 21 opener against Utah, and he debuted for Memphis at Golden State on Oct. 23.

Through seven games, Stewart is putting up 11.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 0.7 blocks in 18.3 minutes a night. He scored 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting at Portland on Oct. 29, then a season-high 24 on 8-of-9 against Sacramento on Oct. 31.

“This is really the first time in my career I have a coach that’s pushing me to be something on that end of the floor,” Stewart told Rob Fischer of Sports Illustrated. “[Iisalo] told me this would be the most I do offensively. He’s just putting that battery pack in my back.”

Memphis got him from Detroit on June 24, in the middle of the draft’s second round, and gave up the 2029, 2031, and 2032 second-round picks. Detroit had sent those same three picks to Memphis the night before, when the Pistons moved up from 21st to 17th.

Stewart is making $15 million. Memphis can keep him at that number for 2027-28 by picking up a team option before June 29, 2027.

Zach Edey went to the bench with 7:32 left in the first quarter Friday, and Cameron Boozer was the biggest Grizzly on the floor until a timeout at 4:34. Memphis went from up 12-8 to down 21-16 in that span.

“All the stuff that we are doing,” Iisalo explained. “The idea is to put the players in a position to succeed. It’s not like we have a bag of tricks here that’s 17 more things that we want to do. He’s a 19-year-old rookie that’s working extremely hard and absorbing a lot of those things.”

“A lot of it comes down to the matchups,” Iisalo continued. “Who does he have? Does he have the advantage on the outside or on the inside? Without [Isaiah Stewart] in the lineup, he plays a lot at the five. They play the five against him. That five sometimes is waiting at the free-throw line. There are different ways, and we’ll keep adding those. But, yeah, we are featuring him in a lot of different sets.”

Post came back Wednesday after missing two games with a sprained right ankle. Against Oklahoma City, he went 0-of-7 in 14:58.

The last time Pippen played was Oct. 29 at Portland, a 124-103 win, and Monday will be the fifth straight game he misses.

The Grizzlies’ injury report for Friday’s game listed the lumbar disc herniation.

Pippen played in all five of Memphis’ games through Oct. 29 and averaged 6.4 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.0 steal in 16.0 minutes.

Toe surgeries held him to 10 games in 2025-26. Surgeons operated on his left big toe in October 2025 and his right big toe in March 2026.

On Feb. 12, 2024, during his two-way season with Memphis, Pippen left a home game against New Orleans with lower back soreness. An MRI found a bulging disc, and the team set a three-week re-evaluation.

The Lakers gave him his first NBA contract, a two-way deal, after he went undrafted out of Vanderbilt in 2022.

Saturday was the day Saunders signed a two-way contract, 136 days after Memphis drafted him 32nd overall. Carson Cooper was waived to make room.

Shams Charania of ESPN reported it first, citing agents Andy Shiffman and Mark Bartelstein. According to Charania, Saunders has been cleared to increase his on-court activities, and the contract allows him to begin practicing with the Grizzlies.

He tore his ACL in February, 25 games into his senior season at BYU. He had started every one of them and was averaging 18.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.7 steals.

At his introductory press conference June 25, he was about four months removed from the injury.

“It took a little bit, but I’m here,” Saunders said with a laugh.

He was still unsigned at media day in September.

“Richie, we’re very excited to have him with the group,” Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman said. “It’s wait and see in terms of what exactly his onboarding is going to look like.”

“Richie is a player we think is a strong identity fit with this group on and off the court,” Kleiman added. “He is attacking his ACL recovery and continues to progress well. We’ll be smart with his case, and we’re excited to have him join us once we get to that point in time.”

López is back with the Hustle after the Grizzlies assigned him Saturday, his third trip there in five days. Memphis brought him back up after each of the first two.

In three NBA games, he has 4 points. Two came at the free-throw line in the 3:46 he played Friday against the Thunder.

Memphis traded down twice on June 23, from 16th to 17th and then to 21st, before taking him. No Mexican-born player had gone in the first round before.

Last season with the New Zealand Breakers in the NBL, the Hermosillo native averaged 11.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.0 assists.

Some projections had López going in the lottery before the draft.

“I think we all believe we’re better than the person next to us,” López told AS. “I didn’t expect to be selected so late in the draft. These things happen, but as Coach Omar [Quintero, the Mexico national team coach] said, it gives me motivation and inspiration. It adds more fuel to the fire. It makes me hungrier.”

Memphis, 6-3 and seventh in the West, has lost three straight. Toronto is 5-4. The Grizzlies come home after Monday to face Denver on Wednesday at 7 p.m. CT.