Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2026 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Memphis Grizzlies.
Free agent signings
Quinten Post: Three years, $26,100,000. Second year non-guaranteed. Third-year team option. Includes an additional $3,915,000 in unlikely incentives. Signed via offer sheet using non-tax payer mid-level exception; Warriors opted not to match.
Acquired the draft rights to Ebuka Okorie (No. 17 pick), either the Nuggets’, Rockets’ or Heat’s 2030 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable), and the Thunder’s 2033 second-round pick from the Thunder in exchange for the draft rights to Bennett Stirtz (No. 16 pick).
Acquired the draft rights to Karim Lopez (No. 21 pick), either the Pistons’, Knicks’, or Bucks’ 2029 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable), the Mavericks’ 2031 second-round pick, and the Pistons’ 2032 second-round pick from the Pistons in exchange for the draft rights to Ebuka Okorie (No. 17 pick).
Acquired Jerami Grant and Kris Murray from the Trail Blazers in exchange for Ja Morant and cash ($1MM).
Acquired Isaiah Stewart from the Pistons, AJ Johnson, the Warriors’ 2030 first-round pick (top-20 protected), and the Rockets’ 2029 second-round pick from the Mavericks, and D’Angelo Russell, the Lakers’ 2029 second-round pick, the Wizards’ 2033 second-round pick, and the right to swap 2032 second-round picks from the Wizards in a six-team trade in exchange for Santi Aldama (to Mavericks), the draft rights to Tarik Biberovic (to Mavericks), either the Pistons’, Knicks’, or Bucks’ 2029 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable; to Pistons), the Mavericks’ 2031 second-round pick (to Pistons), and the Pistons’ 2032 second-round pick (to Pistons).
Acquired Jordan Hawkins, Micah Peavy, the Raptors’ 2031 second-round pick, and the right to swap 2032 second-round picks from the Pelicans in exchange for AJ Johnson and Taj Gibson.
Draft picks
1-3: Cameron Boozer
Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $53,802,568). First two years guaranteed. Third- and fourth-year team options.
1-21: Karim Lopez
Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $18,368,804). First two years guaranteed. Third- and fourth-year team options.
Two-way signings
None
Note: The Grizzlies carried over Jahmai Mashack and Javon Small on two-way contracts from 2025/26.
Departed/unsigned free agents
Rayan Rupert (Sixers)
Other roster moves
Bought out Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (gave up $3,876,529 of $21,621,500 salary).
Exercised team option on Olivier-Maxence Prosper ($2,497,812).
Exercised team option on GG Jackson II ($2,406,205).
Salary cap situation
Note: Figures are rounded to one decimal place.
Operating over the cap ($165MM) and below the first tax apron ($209MM).
Hard-capped at first apron.
Team salary: $161.8MM (tax); $164.1MM (apron).
Below luxury tax line by $38.6MM; below hard cap by $44.9MM; could generate $3.2MM in cap room by renouncing exceptions.
Partial non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($4.7MM) and full bi-annual exception ($5.5MM) available.
Two traded player exceptions available (largest worth $28.9MM).
The offseason so far
By trading Desmond Bane to Orlando during the 2025 offseason and Jaren Jackson Jr. to Utah at the 2026 trade deadline, the Grizzlies signaled their intent to overhaul their roster and move on from the veterans who had starred in Memphis over the past several years. So entering the 2026 offseason, it wasn’t really a question of if the Grizzlies would move Ja Morant — it was more about where the two-time All-Star would land and whether the team would be able to get anything of value in return for him.
As hard as it would have been to imagine four years ago when Morant had just made the All-NBA second team, was named Most Improved Player, and signed a maximum-salary contract with a Grizzlies team coming off a 56-win season, the former No. 2 overall pick’s value had cratered in recent years.
Questionable off-court behavior – including earning two lengthy suspensions for brandishing a gun in social media videos – was only one reason why Morant’s ascendance to superstardom hit a snag. He has also battled multiple injuries, including recurring shoulder issues, in recent years, and has seen his elite athleticism take a hit as a result.
Ultimately, the Grizzlies opted to send a player who once looked like a perennial All-Star to the Trail Blazers in exchange for forwards Jerami Grant and Kris Murray. They even had to attach $1MM in cash to Morant to get the deal with Portland done.
Grant is still a productive role player, but his contract – which still has two years and $70.6MM left on it – isn’t exactly team-friendly. On top of that, Murray hasn’t established himself as a productive NBA regular, and the Grizzlies were unable to extract even a single second-round pick from the Trail Blazers in the trade. It’s a disappointing return given where Morant’s career once appeared to be headed, but it reflects the fact that Memphis’ front office was focused on simply turning the page on its previous era and getting a fresh start.
The centerpiece of that “fresh start” will be Cameron Boozer, the No. 3 overall pick who was viewed by some experts as the safest bet in a much-hyped 2026 draft class. The son of former NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer, Cameron is considered ready to contribute at the NBA level right away after averaging 22.5 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game as a freshman at Duke, earning Player of the Year honors.
While Boozer and 2024 lottery pick Zach Edey project to be the Grizzlies’ long-term starting frontcourt, the team made no shortage of frontcourt additions this summer to complement that duo, starting later in the first round of the draft. Memphis’ front office made a pair of savvy deals to move down from No. 16 to No. 21, acquiring five second-round picks in the process and then selecting a player – Mexican forward Karim Lopez – who was widely viewed as a possible lottery selection.
Complementing the youngsters and adding some toughness in the frontcourt will be former Piston Isaiah Stewart, who was acquired in a six-team trade that sent Santi Aldama to Dallas. Stewart played a reserve role in Detroit and will likely do so again in Memphis as long as Edey and Boozer are healthy, but he makes an outsized impact on the defensive end and would be capable of stepping into the starting five in the event that Edey – who underwent two ankle surgeries and was limited to 11 games last season – misses time.
The Grizzlies also signed Warriors big man Quinten Post to a cleverly constructed offer sheet that included a higher first-year salary and unlikely incentives that count toward the apron, making it too unwieldy for Golden State to match. Post, a career 36.4% three-point shooters on 8.9 attempts per 36 minutes, will add a floor-spacing element to Memphis’ frontcourt and carries little risk, as only the first season of his three-year contract is guaranteed.
While the frontcourt underwent substantial changes in recent months, the Grizzlies will bring back a similar group to last season’s in the backcourt and on the wing. The team will be relying on bounce-back seasons from Ty Jerome and Scotty Pippen Jr., who combined to make just 25 appearances last season due to injuries, and will be hoping that core youngsters like Cedric Coward, Jaylen Wells, and Cam Spencer take another step forward.
Before we move onto the Grizzlies’ next steps, it’s worth noting that their third draft pick after Boozer and Lopez was BYU star Richie Saunders, who tore his ACL in February. In all likelihood, the No. 32 overall selection won’t be ready to return until the second half of the 2026/27 season at the earliest, so he may not sign his first standard contract until sometime in February, March, or April — or even next summer. I’d expect Saunders to open this season either on a two-way or G League deal and to spend plenty of time with the Memphis Hustle as he goes through the later stages of his recovery process.
Up next
The Grizzlies are facing a major roster crunch this fall, with 19 players on standard contracts, including 18 with fully guaranteed salaries.
There are 11 players I’d consider locks to make the team as long as they’re not traded. That leaves four spots for the following eight players: Taylor Hendricks, GG Jackson II, Olivier-Maxence Prosper, Walter Clayton, D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Hawkins, Micah Peavy, and Murray.
A report this week indicated that Prosper should be safe, which makes sense, given that he had a really nice year in Memphis last season. Hendricks was also pretty effective after coming over from Utah in the Jackson blockbuster, and he’s a former ninth overall pick with some untapped upside at age 22. Along with those two, I’d be pretty surprised if Memphis waives Jackson, a homegrown player who has shown real promise in his first three NBA seasons.
On the other end of the spectrum, I can’t imagine Russell being part of the Grizzlies’ opening night roster, and I think Murray is probably a long shot too. So I could see the final 15-man spot coming down to Clayton, Hawkins, or Peavy.
Ideally, the Grizzlies would be able to make a preseason trade or two involving some of these players in order to avoid simply waiving them and eating their guaranteed salaries. But I’m skeptical the team will be able to extract positive value for most of these guys, who would be looked on more favorably and draw more interest on minimum-salary or two-way contracts.
Memphis also has several extension candidates to consider this fall, including Hendricks, Jackson, Pippen, Stewart, and Wells. Among that group, Wells looks to me like the top contender for a new deal, though his current contract includes a minimum-salary team option for 2027/28 so it’s not a now-or-never situation.
If the Grizzlies were to extend Wells before opening night, they could exercise that option as part of an agreement, then tack three years and up to $68.8MM on top of it, beginning in ’28/29. If no deal is reached on or before October 19, he’ll remain extension-eligible after the regular season gets underway, but an in-season deal would require Memphis to decline that ’27/28 option. Of course, that may ultimately be the front office’s preference if it results in more team-friendly terms in later years, since the club has a ton of short-term cap flexibility.
Finally, the Grizzlies are among the teams with a two-way slot open. Reporting right after the draft indicated that Michigan State big man Carson Cooper would fill that opening. It’s possible that was an erroneous report or an agreement between the two sides fell through, but Memphis does currently have a full 21-man roster and can’t sign a third two-way player without waiving one of those aforementioned 19 players on standard contracts. So signing Cooper may still be in the cards in the coming weeks once there’s room.