Scotty Pippen Jr.’s drive to this moment started last season, when, as a two-way contract player, he started the final 11 games of the season for a Memphis team ravaged by injuries.
In April, he averaged 15.1 points and 5.3 assists per game for the team. That carried over to Las Vegas, where he averaged 21.5 points and 8.7 assists a game for the Grizzlies during Summer League.
That same production has continued in the preseason, and it led to this: The Grizzlies have moved Pippen — the son of Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen — from a two-way deal to a fully guaranteed contract for this season, something that had been rumored since Derrick Rose retired and was officially broken by Shams Charania of ESPN, then confirmed by the team.
Memphis has been impressed enough with Pippen that they gave him a four-year contract with the first two seasons fully guaranteed, reports Keith Smith of Spotrac.
Pippen is expected to be a regular part of the rotation, backing up Ja Morant at the point. Give the Grizzlies credit, while their core stars — Morant, Desmond Bane, Jaren Jackson Jr. — are moving toward their prime, the franchise has built a quality young group behind them with Zach Edey, GG Jackson II, Vince Williams Jr., Jaylen Wells and now Pippin.
With all that youth, the Grizzlies want to run past teams and play at one of the fastest paces in the league this season. Memphis is finally mostly healthy after a rough season of injuries and will return to being one of the most entertaining teams in the league — and they could return to their 50-win season pace and top-six seed as well. Don’t sleep on the Grizzlies.
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