Memphis Grizzlies 2026-27 point guard preview

Ty Jerome is the safest bet in this group, as long as he is actually on the floor.

He enters the season as the projected starter after strong play when healthy last year. Jerome signed a three-year, $27.6 million deal last summer, then delivered when on the floor, averaging 19.7 points and 5.7 assists on a sizzling 47/42/88 shooting split in just 22.6 minutes a game. Stretch that out to a full workload, and it translates to 31.4 points and 9.1 assists per 36 minutes.

That has always been the catch with Jerome. The talent has never been the question. It is whether his body will let him show it consistently.

The 29-year-old has missed 56% of his 554 career playable games, including last season’s 15-game campaign, cut short by a high-grade calf strain.

A full, healthy season could lock him in as the backcourt’s lead guard for years to come, and he is earning an average of $9.2 million a year with a player option in 2027-28.

But if he plays well early and Memphis finds itself out of the playoff race by midseason, do not be surprised if his name starts popping up in trade rumors.

2. Scotty Pippen Jr.

Scotty Pippen Jr., 25, spent last season fighting through injuries of his own, undergoing surgery on his right big toe in March, his second sesamoid procedure in less than a year after the same operation on his left foot in October.

He still managed to average 11.4 points and 4.7 assists in the 10 games he played, and he is signed through 2027-28 on the four-year, $9.6 million deal he earned after his 2024 breakout.

Pippen Jr. told The Commercial Appeal in late May that his recovery has progressed faster than the previous one, and Memphis expects him back at full strength for opening night.

That is great news for a team that watched him average 18.3 points in the 2025 playoffs against the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder.

3. Javon Small

Javon Small was not expected to appear in meaningful action for Memphis when drafted in 2025, but he quietly built a case of his own as a rookie to become this team’s backup point guard.

The 48th pick appeared in 41 games on his two-way deal, averaging 9.7 points, 3.7 assists and 3.1 rebounds on 46.5% shooting.

Once he settled into a rhythm in late January, those numbers jumped to 12.3 points and 4.1 assists on nearly 50% shooting.

At 23, whether that is enough to earn a standard NBA contract on a healthier, more competitive Grizzlies roster is the question this season should answer.

4. Walter Clayton Jr.

Few rookies last season had a stranger year than Walter Clayton Jr.

He went from national champion at Florida to the 18th pick in 2025 to a trade chip a few months into his rookie year, arriving in Memphis as part of the deal that sent Jaren Jackson Jr. to Utah.

His shooting has not traveled well to the pros, not yet anyway. Clayton Jr. shot 36.6% from the field and 30.7% from three in 24 games with the Grizzlies. But his plus-11.3 on/off differential led all rookies in the league last season, proof his impact went beyond the box score.

He was viewed as one of the intriguing young pieces in the Jackson Jr. trade, alongside teammate Taylor Hendricks. Clayton Jr. is only 23, and his rookie deal runs through 2028-29, giving him time to find the scoring touch that made him the 2025 NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

If he can get his scoring and efficiency back in order, he could be a piece that anchors Memphis’s backcourt for years.

5. Cam Spencer

Cam Spencer arrived as the 53rd pick in 2024, a graduate transfer who had just helped UConn win the program’s second-straight national title.

He mainly plays as a combo guard but had stints running the offense last season. Spencer is coming off playing 72 games with 20 starts, the most experience of any point guard on the roster playing under head coach Tuomas Iisalo.

In his opportunities, Spencer shot extremely efficient percentages of 47/45/94 while averaging 11.1 points, 5.6 assists and 2.5 rebounds in 23.8 minutes a night, capped by a career-high 27-point night against the Clippers on Dec. 15.

Memphis was able to ink Spencer to a four-year, $10.5 million deal last summer before his breakout season. The Grizzlies are counting on him to keep bringing the same tenacious competitiveness and lights-out shooting to a team looking to make some noise this year.

6. D’Angelo Russell

D’Angelo Russell is the wild card of the group, a card that will likely get dealt somewhere else before the season even starts.

He landed in Memphis in July as part of a six-team trade July 7 that also brought in Isaiah Stewart and A.J. Johnson, and he has remained on the roster longer than most people originally expected.

He is making $5.9 million in the final year of his deal with the expectation around the league that he and the Grizzlies part ways, by trade or buyout, before the season tips off.

If he is still somehow on this team by training camp, I will be interested to see if they keep him as a possible mentor to the younger guards on the roster.

In Closing

This will be a group that is not set in stone, and fans will likely see a few combinations of these players on the floor at the same time, but it is filled with uncertainty.

Jerome gives Memphis a clear plan if he can stay on the floor, but that has been the question with him for years.

Pippen Jr. and Clayton Jr. both carry real long-term upside if their bodies and shots cooperate. Small and Spencer have already shown that they can outplay their draft slots, but what can their ceiling be?

Russell is likely gone before opening night, but how the Grizzlies sort the rest of it out could help shape the identity of this entire rebuild alongside Cam Boozer, Zach Edey and Cedric Coward. This is a position battle I will be watching as closely as any other on this roster.