Grizzlies to sign two players via hardship exceptions

The Grizzlies are signing forward Tosan Evbuomwan and center Trey Jemison to 10-day contracts, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Memphis has a full 15-man standard roster and is carrying a 16th man  — Matthew Hurt — after having been granted a hardship exception. According to Wojnarowski, the Grizzlies have been granted two additional hardship exceptions, so no cuts will be necessary to accommodate the new additions to the roster.

As we explain in our glossary, an NBA team qualifies for a hardship exception when it has four players unavailable due to injury or illness, assuming those players have missed at least three consecutive games and are expected to remain sidelined for two or more weeks. 

The Grizzlies have been granted three hardship spots because they have a total of six injured players who meet the criteria: Ja Morant, Steven Adams, Brandon Clarke, Desmond Bane, Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia.

Evbuomwan, a rookie, went undrafted out of Princeton in 2023 and spent training camp with the Pistons before being designated as an affiliate player for Detroit’s G League affiliate, the Motor City Cruise. In 29 games for the Cruise this season, he has averaged 15.1 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 34.5 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .559/.347/.731. He’ll get a chance to make his regular season NBA debut in Memphis.

Jemison, meanwhile, had been on a 10-day contract with the Wizards after spending most of the season with the Birmingham Squadron. The rookie big man, who went undrafted out of UAB last June, very briefly saw the floor in two games with Washington before his 10-day deal expired last night.

Well out of the play-in race in the Western Conference and with two of their most important players — Morant and Adams — sidelined for the rest of the season, the Grizzlies are using their hardship exceptions to take a look at some younger players rather than focusing on adding win-now veterans to a depleted roster.

If their deals are finalized today, Evbuomwan and Jemison will remain under contract through next Thursday (Feb. 8). They’ll earn $64,343 apiece during their 10 days with the Grizzlies.