Grizzlies issue medical updates on Morant, KCP as return to play looms

The Memphis Grizzlies shed some light on their plans for veteran guards Ja Morant and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with the NBA getting ready to return to action following the All-Star break.

According to a medical update issued Wednesday night, Morant is continuing to experience discomfort. He'll be re-evaluated in two weeks, so the earliest he'll return to action won't be until early March. The Grizzlies state further updates will be provided as appropriate.

The @memgrizz today announced the following medical updates for Ja Morant and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope: pic.twitter.com/6CYesPPjBG
— Grizzlies PR (@GrizzliesPR) February 19, 2026

Caldwell-Pope is having a procedure done on his pinky finger to address a misalignment, which means he'll be out of the rotation and younger wings can get some on-the-job training. A timeline is expected to be announced in the coming days.

Morant's update temporarily clears up the biggest question facing the Grizzlies as they close out the regular season, but unless he experiences another setback, it just tables the situation. Memphis has initiated a rebuild with the face of the franchise still on the roster.

Since the Grizzlies moved Jaren Jackson Jr. but were unable to come together with a trade partner to move Morant, the need to raise his value in order to move him in the offseason becomes something Memphis had to add to its to-do list down the stretch. This reported discomfort buys the team a few weeks of games where they can rely solely on Ty Jerome and Cam Spencer at the point with the presumption being those guys will be part of next season's roster.

Morant was averaging 23.5 points and 9.4 assists in his six starts since Christmas, shooting 7-for-18 from 3-point range, so if he gets healthy and finds a rhythm, there's a good chance a few more games will end up in the wind column than the Grizzlies would prefer.

Memphis is 5.5 games behind the L.A. Clippers for the final play-in spot, but in the same neighborhood record-wise as the Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz, teams they would love to see surpass them in the standings.

The Grizzlies have built up a nice stockade of draft capital and will use that to build around a young core led by center Zack Edey, who is also sidelined, and wings Cedric Coward and Jaylen Wells.

Caldwell-Pope is Memphis' second-highest paid player behind Morant and has played well off the bench. With Scotty Pippen Jr. having returned, Wells and Coward in place and young forwards Taylor Hendricks, GG Jackson and O-Max Prosper set to see a significant increase in playing time, this is a convenient time for the Grizzlies to take care of KCP's pinky issue.

Despite their desire for more lottery combinations, the Grizzlies will eventually have to give Morant one last encore if they're hoping a suitor will bite on their asking price after finding no takers at the trade deadline.

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