Why are the Grizzlies taking so long to extend Jaren Jackson Jr.?

At this point in the offseason, the Memphis Grizzlies have done it all. They’ve made a blockbuster trade, sending arguably their second-best player in Jonas Valanciunas off to New Orleans. They moved up in the draft, selecting a controversial pick in Ziaire Williams. They’ve even made quite a bit of noise in this year’s Summer League.

One thing the Grizz haven’t done, however, is something that everybody was waiting on for the entirety of the 2021 offseason — extend Jaren Jackson Jr.’s contract.

Many fans expected an agreement immediately as it was allowed. That day would have been August 3rd, which is now approaching two weeks in the rearview mirror.

Should Memphis Grizzlies fans be worried about Jaren Jackson Jr.’s contract extension, or lack thereof?

In short, no. Even though it’s tough to avoid becoming nervous over this situation, one thing should remain clear — the Grizzlies have never been in a rush to do anything. Like, ever.

Think about the Grizzlies’ primary injury situations last season. First, it was Justise Winslow, who didn’t make his first appearance until midway through the season. This would ultimately doom him in 2021, leading Memphis toward declining his team option.

They would pull the same stunt with Jackson Jr.’s injury situation, holding him out of basketball until late in the season. He barely played in double-digit regular-season games. Still, it was hard to knock Memphis for this, as they were playing it safe with a key piece of their future. We can learn from these situations.

For starters, JJJ is already in a tough spot in terms of his extension. The Grizzlies will want to avoid giving him a max contract due to his struggles with injury thus far, while Jackson Jr. will likely want a max contract because of his limitless potential. In the end, JJJ has played in just over half of the Grizzlies’ regular-season games since he was drafted. This creates a trickier situation than fans anticipated when he was drafted a few years back.

There’s another layer to this too. As mentioned, the Grizzlies are extremely patient, so they’ll like to gather as much information as possible before they make any huge decisions.

When I say this, I’m referring to a couple of other large-scale contracts that are in the works. The first is Trae Young, who got a bag pretty quickly from the Atlanta Hawks. This came in the form of a five-year, $207 million extension. The other player that Memphis will be watching is De’Andre Ayton, who was drafted three spots above Jackson Jr. in 2018.

Positionally, statistically, and contractually, Ayton is a similar player to Jackson Jr., meaning the Grizzlies will want to see how the Suns handle his contract before they move forward.

At this point, there’s no reason to panic. All signs from inside of the Grizzlies organization point to the fact that they’re still ecstatic about Jackson Jr.’s future on Beale Street. Even though it may be painful to wait, it’s something that Grizzlies fans should be accustomed to at this point.