Grizzlies Face Roster Crunch With Three Cuts Needed Before Season

Eighteen players on standard contracts spent this week at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, in training camp with the Memphis Grizzlies. Only 15 of them can be on the roster when the regular season starts.

ESPN's Bobby Marks counted 17 guaranteed contracts in that group in his 30-team training camp guide. The 18th is partially guaranteed or non-guaranteed. Memphis also brought one player on an Exhibit 10 deal and two on two-way contracts to Nashville.

Memphis will need to trade or waive three players before the regular season, Marks wrote. The Utah Jazz visit FedExForum for the opener Oct. 21.

Three contract dates land around that opener. Oct. 19 is the deadline to sign Taylor Hendricks, Jordan Hawkins, and Kris Murray to rookie-scale extensions. Jaylen Wells' contract becomes guaranteed Oct. 20. By Nov. 2, Memphis has to decide on team options for Walter Clayton Jr., Cedric Coward, and Zach Edey.

Micah Peavy has not been part of camp. General manager Zach Kleiman said at Monday's media day that Peavy turned his ankle and that it would be a little while before the team could get a look at him, Grizzlies Roundtable reported.

Peavy and Hawkins arrived Sept. 8 from the New Orleans Pelicans. Memphis sent AJ Johnson and Taj Gibson to New Orleans and got back the two guards, a second-round pick, and a second-round pick swap. The Pelicans had drafted Peavy 40th overall in 2025, and his 2027-28 salary becomes guaranteed if he stays.

New Orleans took Hawkins 14th overall in 2023 out of UConn. He appeared in 51 games last season and started one, averaging 5.1 points and 1.7 rebounds in 13.6 minutes. He shot 34.8 percent from 3-point range. Over 174 career games, Hawkins has averaged 8.0 points.

Murray came from Portland with Jerami Grant in the June 29 trade that sent Ja Morant to the Trail Blazers. Murray, 25, is headed for restricted free agency next summer if he does not sign an extension.

Clayton was the 18th pick in 2025 by Utah. He came to Memphis during his rookie season in the trade that sent Jaren Jackson Jr. to the Jazz.

Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report and The Stein Line named the group at risk Sept. 8, on the same day as the New Orleans trade. On a Bleacher Report livestream, he listed Hawkins, Murray, Clayton, Peavy, and D'Angelo Russell, and he said Olivier-Maxence Prosper should be safe. Two days later, in a notebook for The Stein Line, Fischer reported that Clayton was expected to survive the cuts.

Memphis released Russell on Sept. 25. Russell never played a game for Memphis. The Grizzlies added Brendan Hausen, who played college basketball at Villanova, Kansas State, and Iowa.

Several veterans can sign extensions during the season. Marks listed Isaiah Stewart as eligible for up to two years and $36.9 million, Wells and Scotty Pippen Jr. for up to four years and $95 million each, and Grant for up to three years and $129 million. All four windows run through June 30.

Detroit traded Stewart to Memphis in June for three future second-round picks.

The Grizzlies hold an open practice Sunday at FedExForum. Their first preseason game is Monday at the Atlanta Hawks, with tip-off at 6 p.m. CT.