Jaren Jackson Jr. out 'for the foreseeable future' with serious right quad injury

The Memphis Grizzlies committed to a rebuild focused around Jaren Jackson Jr. when they dealt former face of the franchise Marc Gasol at the trade deadline. Unfortunately, the rookie forward’s development will now have to take a pause.

Jackson was questionable heading into Friday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers with a right quad injury, and the team ruled him out shortly before the opening tip. Now, according to a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the injury could sideline him for much of the rest of the season.

After the loss to the Clippers, Grizzlies head coach J.B. Bickerstaff described the injury as a deep bruise. Jackson previously missed a game on Feburary 1 against the Charlotte Hornets with right quad soreness, although he came back to face the New York Knicks two days later.

Jackson felt fine during practice on Thursday — enough to play through contact and finish without an issue — but he talked to trainers afterwards, and they recommended an MRI the next morning. The test revealed the bone bruise, which was worse than the team expected.

“He could play, but the risk if he does play increase significantly of it becoming an even larger issue,” Bickerstaff said. “At this point for him, it’s not something that we’re willing to risk, so we’ll be cautious with it.”

Jackson is a key part of the Grizzlie’s future after they selected him fourth overall in the 2018 draft. The 6-foot-11 big man has started 56 of 58 games this season and is third on the team with 13.8 points per game on 50.6 percent shooting — including 35.9 percent from three — to go with 4.7 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game.

With just 22 games left in the season and no shot at the playoffs, there isn’t much reason to push Jackson and risk aggravating the injury into something bigger.

Jackson’s injury could help the Grizzlies’ draft position

The Grizzlies made a playoff push at the start of the season and were atop the Western Conference at 12-5 on November 22. However they are 11-32 since then, including a stretch in which they lost 14 of 15 games from late December to the start of February, which led to the trade of Gasol and attempted trade of point guard Mike Conley Jr.

Memphis finds itself with the sixth-worst record in the league, which is prime tanking territory, so it may not hurt to rest Jackson as long as possible. While the Grizzlies won’t be able to catch the Knicks or Phoenix Suns, they are only four wins behind the fifth-worst Atlanta Hawks.

With flattened lottery odds, the Grizzlies would have a 9.0 percent chance at the top pick in the sixth spot and a 10.5 percent chance if they pass the Hawks. However, they are also only three wins ahead of the Detroit Pistons, who are currently slated to draft 11th, so there’s plenty on the line if the Grizzlies turn around their season and win down the stretch.

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