Grizzlies forward GG Jackson II suffered “a relatively serious foot injury” during Saturday’s game against Brooklyn, coach Tuomas Iisalo told reporters (Twitter video link from Matt Infield of Action News 5 in Memphis).
“Very, very sad for him,” Iisalo said “… There will be further testing, but so far, it doesn’t look very good.”
Jackson was one of the first players Iisalo used off the bench, but he played less than three minutes before leaving the game in the first quarter. After he was examined by team doctors, the Grizzlies announced (via Twitter) that he was done for the night.
Jackson has played a role in the team’s surprising 9-4 start, appearing in 11 games and averaging 7.0 points and 3.3 rebounds in 16.1 minutes coming into tonight. He’s shooting a career-low 37.1% from the field, but is connecting at 40% from three-point range on 2.7 attempts per night.
Jackson was viewed as a potential trade candidate before the start of the season as Memphis faced a roster crunch with 17 players on standard contracts. The team wound up waiving guards Walter Clayton Jr. and Micah Peavy to reach the 15-man limit.
The 45th pick in the 2023 draft, Jackson has found himself in and out of the rotation during his time with the Grizzlies. He has played 48, 29 and 55 games during his first three years with the team, with surgery on his right foot contributing to the low number in 2024/25.
Jackson is earning $2.4MM in the final year of his contract and will be an unrestricted free agent next summer.
An extended absence for Jackson could result in more playing time for Taylor Hendricks, who posted a career-high 22 points in 29 minutes tonight. The fourth-year power forward was acquired in February as part of the trade that sent Jaren Jackson Jr. to Utah.
After tonight’s game, Hendricks talked about how he’s been able to become a more efficient scorer in the screen-and-roll (Twitter video link from Michael Wallace of Grind City Media).
“I literally practice it every day, and like I said, just watching film on it,” Hendricks said. “The reads start becoming clearer, and when guys are in the right spots, it just makes it a whole lot easier.”
