Walter Clayton Jr. is expected to survive the Memphis Grizzlies' roster crunch, while D'Angelo Russell remains the most likely veteran to be released.
Walter Clayton Jr. is now expected to survive the roster cuts coming in Memphis, Jake Fischer reported Thursday in the latest Late Night Intel notebook at The Stein Line. The Memphis Grizzlies carry 19 players on standard contracts and have to be at 15 by Opening Night Eve on Oct. 19.
Jordan Hawkins, Kris Murray and Micah Peavy sit at varying levels of risk in that reporting. The strong belief, per Fischer, is that D'Angelo Russell is the veteran most likely to be released.
Two days earlier, on his Bleacher Report stream, Fischer had grouped Clayton with the four other names Memphis has to cut from. Hawkins had a chance to stick, he said then, and Russell was not "long for the Grizzlies' world." Forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper, signed last season after the Dallas Mavericks waived him, was safe.
Walter Clayton Jr. Moves Toward Safe Side of Roster Crunch
Clayton arrived in Memphis on Feb. 3 in the eight-player trade that sent Jaren Jackson Jr., John Konchar, Jock Landale and Vince Williams Jr. to the Utah Jazz. Memphis received Clayton, Kyle Anderson, Taylor Hendricks, Georges Niang and three future first-round picks: the Lakers' 2027 pick, top-four protected, the most favorable 2027 pick among Utah, Cleveland and Minnesota, and Phoenix's unprotected 2031 pick.
Across 69 games between Utah and Memphis last season, Clayton averaged 7.8 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists in 20.4 minutes. In 24 games with the Grizzlies, he posted 9.7 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 5.7 assists in 25.0 minutes. He shot 38.4% from the field. Washington drafted him 18th overall in 2025 and moved him to Utah that night.
The roster count went up again Tuesday. Memphis sent AJ Johnson and Taj Gibson to the New Orleans Pelicans for Hawkins, Peavy, a future second-round pick and a future second-round pick swap. Gibson's salary protection was raised from $0 to $200,000 so the two outgoing contracts could be aggregated to match Hawkins' $7.0 million, ESPN front office insider Bobby Marks wrote. Peavy's $2.1 million salary went into an exception. The four-player trade was finalized Tuesday.
On July 8, Russell was involved in a six-team trade that also brought Isaiah Stewart to Memphis from the Detroit Pistons and sent Santi Aldama to the Dallas Mavericks. The Washington Wizards attached a future second-round pick and a second-round swap to him. Russell, on an expiring contract for 2026-27 after exercising his player option, played 26 games for Dallas last season, with averages of 10.2 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 4.0 assists, shooting 40.5% from the field and 29.5% from three-point range; he never played for Washington.
Grizzlies Still Have Four Roster Cuts to Make
Murray, 25, came to Memphis on June 29 in the trade that sent Ja Morant to the Portland Trail Blazers for Murray and Jerami Grant. He is owed $5.3 million in the final year of his rookie deal and reaches restricted free agency next summer. Hawkins is in the last guaranteed season of his own rookie contract at a little more than $7 million and hits restricted free agency in 2027. Peavy went 40th overall in 2025 and averaged 4.3 points and 1.9 rebounds as a rookie.
Memphis finished 25-57 last season and ranked 13th in the Western Conference under Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo, in his first full season. The Grizzlies selected Cameron Boozer third overall in June, picked Karim Lopez 16th, and added Richie Saunders in the second round. Saunders is recovering from a torn ACL.
Four preseason games begin Oct. 5 in Atlanta. The regular season opens Oct. 21 against Utah at FedExForum at 7 p.m. CT.
