Key Grizzlies player 'might sit out this whole season'

The Memphis Grizzlies will be without Ja Morant for 25 games and now potentially without another key player for all 82.

ESPN’s Tim MacMahon made an appearance this week on “The Hoop Collective” podcast, reporting from Grizzlies training camp. MacMahon revealed in the episode that Memphis big Brandon Clarke could possibly miss the entire 2023-24 campaign after recently undergoing a clean-up procedure on his left Achilles tendon.

“Brandon Clarke had a second procedure on his Achilles,” said MacMahon. “[Grizzlies general manager] Zach Kleiman described it as a clean-up that was elective, suggested by the doctors … The situation with Brandon Clarke is maybe he’s back this season, maybe he’s not.

“They are confident that he will be back to being a productive NBA player and hopefully back to being himself at some point,” MacMahon added. “But they’re just not gonna put a firm timetable on it, even to the point of saying that he’ll be back at some point this season. He very well might sit out this whole season.”

The 27-year-old Clarke was an impactful sparkplug last season as Memphis’ first big man off the bench. He put up 10.0 points and 5.5 rebounds in less than 20 minutes per game, bringing above-the-rim play and resistance in the paint. But Clarke ruptured his Achilles during a game in early March, thus ending his season prematurely.

While Achilles tears usually take NBA players around 10 to 12 months to return from, Clarke undergoing a second procedure means his timetable may stretch out for even longer. It helps that Memphis is on track to get starting 5 Steven Adams back from injury this season. But the uncertainty with Clarke is yet another challenge that the Grizzlies will have to overcome.