Grizzlies' Ty Jerome, Jerami Grant Fit Brian Windhorst's 'Cryptic' Thunder Trade Comment

Two days after the Oklahoma City Thunder announced that Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace need surgery, ESPN's Brian Windhorst said on Wednesday's episode of The Hoop Collective that executives he has talked to would not be surprised to see the Thunder acquire a former player.

Williams fractured his left fibula and dislocated his left ankle with 1:14 left in a 108-101 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Oct. 25. Wallace tore the labrum in his left shoulder in the same game.

Thunder general manager Sam Presti gave no return timeline for either player at a news conference Monday. Wallace agreed to a five-year, $139 million rookie scale extension before the season. Oklahoma City beat the Phoenix Suns 125-114 that night to move to 4-0.

Bobby Marks, Windhorst's ESPN colleague on the show, pointed to the Thunder's trade for Jared McCain as an example of the team targeting players who fit its locker room. Oklahoma City is "not big on adding from the outside there," Marks said.

Windhorst followed Marks without naming a player.

"And this is one thing I've talked to executives about, and I don't mean to be cryptic, but I'm being cryptic," Windhorst said. "… if they're going to acquire a player, would not be a surprise, if they acquire a player they've already had."

The Memphis Grizzlies have two players on their roster who fit that description, Ty Jerome and Jerami Grant.

Oklahoma City got Jerome on Nov. 16, 2020, when it traded Chris Paul to Phoenix. A left ankle injury kept him out at the start of the 2020-21 season, and the Thunder sent him to the Oklahoma City Blue in the G League in early February before recalling him Feb. 25.

Jerome's first game for the Thunder came Feb. 26, 2021, against the Atlanta Hawks. He played 22 minutes and had nine points, five rebounds, and seven assists in a 118-109 win.

Over 33 games that season, Jerome averaged 10.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 3.6 assists while shooting 42.3% from 3-point range. Thunder coach Mark Daigneault was in his first season on the job.

The 2021-22 season ended early for him. Jerome had groin surgery in March 2022 after averaging 7.1 points in 48 games.

Oklahoma City included him in a Sept. 30, 2022, trade with the Houston Rockets. Houston waived him Oct. 1.

He spent 2022-23 with the Golden State Warriors, first on an Exhibit 10 deal and then on a two-way contract, before signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers in July 2023. In 2024-25, Jerome averaged 12.5 points in 70 games for Cleveland and finished third in Sixth Man of the Year voting.

Jerome signed with Memphis on July 14, 2025. The three-year, $27,660,150 contract came out of the Grizzlies' room exception, and it pays him $9,220,050 this season with a $9,659,100 player option for 2027-28.

Jerome strained his right calf against Miami in the last preseason game in October 2025. His Grizzlies debut came Jan. 31, 2026, against Minnesota.

He got into 15 games last season and averaged 19.7 points and 5.7 assists. Memphis went 25-57.

Memphis sent Ja Morant to the Portland Trail Blazers on June 29 in the trade that brought back Grant and Kris Murray. Jerome moved into the starting point guard job after that.

Against Utah in the Oct. 21 opener, he scored a career-high 45 points on 17-of-25 shooting, breaking the franchise record for a season opener that Morant set with 44 points in 2020. The FedExForum crowd chanted "MVP" late in the fourth quarter.

"Obviously, I expect to be that type of player," Jerome said after the game.

Two nights later, he scored 28 in a 111-108 win at Golden State. At Sacramento on Oct. 25, he went 14-of-14 at the free-throw line and finished with 31 in a 123-112 win. The NBA named him Western Conference Player of the Week on Oct. 26.

Utah held Jerome to 15 points on 4-of-15 shooting in Monday's rematch, a 110-105 Memphis win in which he had eight assists. He has 119 points through four games.

An NBA scout who spoke with Grizzlies Roundtable in September expects Memphis to trade Jerome before the Feb. 11 deadline.

Philadelphia traded Grant to Oklahoma City on Nov. 1, 2016, for Ersan Ilyasova and a protected 2020 first-round pick, and he stayed with the Thunder through the 2018-19 season.

That final season, he started 77 of the 80 games he played. His averages of 13.6 points and 5.2 rebounds were career highs at the time. He also blocked 1.3 shots per game and made 39.2% of his 3-pointers.

Oklahoma City lost to Portland in five games in the first round that spring, and Grant averaged 11.6 points in the series.

The Thunder had re-signed him in July 2018 to a three-year, $27,346,153 contract. One season into that deal, on July 8, 2019, Oklahoma City traded him to the Denver Nuggets for a top-10-protected 2020 first-round pick.

This season pays Grant $34,206,898. The five-year, $160 million contract he signed with Portland ends with a $36,413,790 player option for 2027-28.

In August, Sean Deveney of Heavy Sports reported that Memphis had no plans to trade Grant this season. Bleacher Report's Zach Buckley picked him on Oct. 9 as the Grizzlies player who should be traded before the deadline.

Grant is in his 13th NBA season and his first with Memphis.

"I'm enjoying it; definitely been welcomed by the people here," Grant said at Grizzlies media day on Sept. 30.

Through four games with Memphis, Grant has scored 39 points. He had 15 against Utah in the opener, six at Golden State, five at Sacramento, and 13 on 4-of-6 shooting in Monday's rematch with the Jazz.

The Grizzlies' next game is Thursday at 9 p.m. CT in Portland, where Morant now plays. Oklahoma City comes to FedExForum for a 7 p.m. CT game on Nov. 6.