As we explain in our glossary entry on the subject, an NBA team that qualifies for a hardship exception is permitted to add an extra player to its standard roster beyond the usual 15-man limit. In some cases, if a club’s roster is especially injury-plagued, that club can be granted multiple hardship exceptions and is allowed to sign multiple replacement players to 10-day contracts.
A team qualifies for a hardship exception when it meets all of the following criteria:
- It has at least four players unavailable due to injury or illness.
- All four of those players have missed at least three consecutive games.
- All four of those players are expected to remain sidelined for at least two more weeks.
If a team has five players who meet those criteria, it can qualify for two hardship exceptions; six players who meet the criteria would result in three hardship exceptions.
The Grizzlies have dealt with a banged-up roster all season long and were awarded a pair of hardship exceptions simultaneously earlier in the season. Memphis used them to sign Jaylen Nowell and Shaquille Harrison to 10-day deals.
Those exceptions expired once the roster got a little healthier, but the injury bug is doing a number on the Grizzlies again as of late, putting the team in position to once again qualify for multiple hardship exceptions.
Currently, the Grizzlies have four players who definitely meet the criteria: Steven Adams, Brandon Clarke, Ja Morant and Marcus Smart. Adams and Morant are out for the season, while Clarke and Smart are still at least several weeks away from returning, and all four players have missed at least the past three games.
Once Desmond Bane misses his third straight contest on Thursday in Minnesota, the Grizzlies will have at least five players who meet the hardship criteria, since Bane is expected to be out for at least six weeks. That means Memphis will be in a position to add at least two players via hardship exceptions.
It may not stop there — Derrick Rose has missed the past seven games due to a hamstring issue and his return timeline is unclear. If the Grizzlies aren’t counting on him to be back within the next two weeks, he’d meet the hardship criteria too. On top of that, Jake LaRavia is expected to be out for at least three weeks, so once he sits out a third consecutive game on Saturday, he’d fit the bill as well.
It’s unclear exactly how many hardship exceptions the Grizzlies will qualify for once the dust settles, but it certainly looks like the club is in a position to begin supplementing its 15-man roster with temporary fill-ins on 10-day contracts. It won’t be a surprise if Memphis signs a couple of free agents for depth purposes at some point this week.
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