Explore More
Things continue to get murky for the 2023-24 Memphis Grizzlies.
Starting center Steven Adams, whose 2022-23 campaign was cut short due to a knee injury, will miss the entire 2023-24 season because of surgery on his posterior cruciate ligament, which hasn’t fully healed since earlier this year, the team announced.
Adams logged 42 appearances last season, all starts.
He initially sprained his right PCL in a game against the Phoenix Suns on Jan. 22 and was expected to be sidelined for what the Grizzlies called 3-to-5 weeks, but he remained out for the season, nor did he play in the preseason.
Adams, who turned 30 in July, is in the first of a two-year deal that will be worth $12.6 million this upcoming season, and the same in 2024-25, after which he’ll be a free agent.
The Grizzlies will be already beginning the season without All-Star guard Ja Morant for the first 25 games, and another key big in Brandon Clarke, who has been out since March with an Achilles injury in another major blow to their frontcourt.
The Grizzlies went just 23-17 in games without Adams in the lineup last year despite a 51-31 finish to the season, which saw them win the Southwest Division and finish second in the Western Conference for the second consecutive season.
However, in Adams’ absence, they lost to the seventh-seeded Los Angeles Lakers in Round 1 of the playoffs in just six games.
The near 7-footer averaged 8.6 points and a career-best 11.5 rebounds last season.
For his career, Adams has recorded 9.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game while making 706 appearances, including 641 starts.
The New Zealander, who played his lone season of college basketball at the University of Pittsburgh, was the 12th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft.
The Grizzlies will likely rely on frontcourt depth in center Xavier Tillman, stretch big man Santi Aldama, and reigning Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr., who has often struggled without Adams by his side.
ncG1vNJzZmimqaW8tMCNnKamZ2Jlf3R7kGlma2pfqMGmwsSnZJqckaLAbrvUrWSfp6JiwKat0qilZq%2BZqbVutc2jrKuxXZ67bq3NqKuhnaJitLO12bOjop2jYq%2Btu9Zo