Grizzlies Insider Pushes Back on GG Jackson II Trade Report

At 11:05 p.m. CT on Thursday, Commercial Appeal beat writer Damichael Cole posted on X about GG Jackson II. Earlier that night, Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report had reported in The Stein Line that the Memphis Grizzlies had been exploring trade markets for Jackson and Walter Clayton Jr.

"Based on my pulse of the situation, the Grizzlies aren't engaged in any GG Jackson talks," Cole wrote.

Cole's post said nothing about Clayton.

Fischer spent most of his item on Clayton. Sources told him Memphis valued the second-year guard highly back in February, while the Grizzlies were working out their return from Utah in the Jaren Jackson Jr. deal, and he named Golden State and Miami as teams that have liked Clayton since the 2025 draft.

Clayton has 18 points on 6-of-19 shooting this preseason.

A day before the newsletter, Fischer had already put the Grizzlies on a short list of teams shopping for deals before the Oct. 19 cutdown.

"The Clippers waiving Cam Christie leaves Charlotte, Milwaukee, Memphis and the Lakers as the most pertinent back-of-roster situations NBA personnel are monitoring before Oct. 19," Fischer wrote on X. "Have heard the Bucks, Lakers and Grizzlies all exploring trades."

Memphis still has 16 players on fully guaranteed deals. Add Jaylen Wells, whose partial guarantee turns full if he is on the roster for the opener, and the Grizzlies are two over the limit, with until the end of Monday to fix it.

They cut Jordan Hawkins on Oct. 3.

GG Jackson has played 46 minutes across three preseason games and scored 43 points, starting with 14 on Oct. 5 in Atlanta.

He had 15 against Orlando at home. In Chicago, nobody on the Memphis side put up more than his nine shots, and five went in for 14 points.

Jackson blocked a shot at the United Center after recording one steal apiece in Atlanta and against Orlando. He still sees room to grow on defense.

"It's solid, but once again, not perfect," Jackson said after the Bulls game. "There's always room for improvement, but I'm definitely not getting caught into a lot of action, so that's something to look forward to."

He got into 55 games last season. At 21.4 minutes a night, that came out to 12.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game.

The Grizzlies picked up his $2,406,205 option for 2026-27 on June 29. Fischer was the first to report that decision. It is the last year of the four-year, $8.5 million deal Jackson signed in February 2024, according to Spotrac.

He was a two-way player when the 2023-24 season started, signed Aug. 31 after Memphis picked him 45th out of South Carolina.

The team said at the time that no one younger had ever played a game for the franchise. He was 18 years and 317 days old on Oct. 30, the night of his debut.

Nobody in the league was younger that season. His 22nd birthday is Dec. 17.

Then came Feb. 8, 2024, and 27 points off the bench against the Chicago Bulls in a 118-110 loss. Chimezie Metu was waived the following day so Jackson could have a standard contract.

In the April 14 finale against the Denver Nuggets at FedExForum, Jackson put up 44 points and 12 rebounds. Memphis lost, 126-111, and finished the season 27-55.

Nothing in basketball had come hard for Jackson before that rookie year.

"It's the most adversity I've ever had to deal with mentally," Jackson said after the finale, according to The Associated Press. "My entire career with basketball, everything was given and super smooth. ... I just had to sharpen up and polish."

He averaged 14.6 points in 48 games as a rookie and was named to the All-Rookie second team.

Las Vegas was next. Jackson averaged 22 points and 8.5 rebounds there in July 2024 and was named first-team All-Summer League. Memphis got to the championship game and lost it to Miami, 120-118, in overtime.

Charlotte visits FedExForum on Friday for the last preseason game. Utah comes in five days later, Wednesday, Oct. 21, for the opener at 7 p.m. CT.