Memphis Grizzlies News: Jarnell Stokes Signed To A Two-Way Deal After D.J. Stephens Was Waived To Open A Roster Spot

The Memphis Grizzlies opted to waive D.J. Stephens so they could free up a two-way roster spot for Jarnell Stokes. There will certainly be more moves to follow.

Jarnell Stokes has bounced around the basketball world the past few years spending time in the G-League as well as some time overseas.

It was reported that the team would be connected to Stokes after D.J. Stephens had been waived and the deal was later confirmed by Shams Charania.

He was drafted with the 35th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft after spending three seasons at Tennessee. He was originally selected by the Utah Jazz before being traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in a draft night trade.

Stokes has spent a lot of time with the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the G-League. He has averaged 15.2 points and 10 rebounds in six games played so far.

He is a good post player who provides the Grizzlies with another guy inside as it becomes more and more clear that Marc Gasol is going to need to sit out some games to rest.

Grizzlies fans will enjoy having Stokes on board but they did lose one a fan favorite in Stephens to make room for him.

Stephens attended the University of Memphis so all the fans knew about him and enjoyed having him on the roster even though he didn’t have a role on the Grizzlies.

Having Stokes on board who is another local kid which is cool to see but losing Stephens for it to happen makes it a bittersweet moment

He never was going to have a big role on this team so it makes sense that they would prefer a younger player who could be a part of the long-term plans.

This move may just be the first of many that this team makes. They are still 18-17 so no need to full-on panic but they were 12-5 so changes are clearly needed to get back on track.

We have already seen two major moves the Grizzlies considered when they nearly traded for Kelly Oubre to go along with when they reportedly were signing Austin Rivers though that was later reported to be false.

This team is surely going to make more moves in the coming weeks. If we’ve learned anything it’s that we shouldn’t trust initial reports on these. Don’t get excited until we know a deal is official.