Memphis Grizzlies: Implications of Dillon Brooks’ recent injury update

The Memphis Grizzlies have been playing dominant basketball in the preseason, winning three games by a double-digit margin and two of them by at least 30 points. Even so, they’ve been doing this without one of their key players.

That key player is Dillon Brooks.

Grizzlies fans have known about Brooks for quite some time, but he only recently put his name on the NBA map last season. In 2020-21, the Grizzly wing averaged 17.2 points, most on the team, and 1.2 steals, which was tied for most on the team. He played particularly strong on-ball defense, including a breakout performance against Stephen Curry in the play-in tournament.

During the offseason, Brooks fractured his left hand in what was originally thought to be an extremely minor injury. Turns out, his broken hand may not be the tiny scratch that we had originally believed.

Memphis Grizzlies wing Dillon Brooks could be out well into the NBA season

Unfortunately for Grizzlies fans, they received some bad news in relation to their defensive-minded wing in Dillon Brooks. The former Oregon Duck will not be available for the Grizzlies’ first regular-season opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers on the 20th.

Instead, he’ll be continuing to nurse the injury that has kept him out for a long time this offseason. Here’s the latest update we have on the situation.

In short, Dillon Brooks will be out for at least 2-3 weeks. Normally, this would seem rather optimistic — that said, Grizzly fans know exactly what this means for their star defender.

In the past few years, we’ve seen countless players miss more time than necessary because the Memphis training staff is determined to keep its players healthy. We saw it with Justise Winslow, who hardly played half of a season with the Grizzlies.

Perhaps the best example, however, was with Jaren Jackson Jr., who tore his meniscus in the NBA Bubble over a year ago. The Grizzlies’ former 4th-overall pick only played in 11 regular-season games last season despite originally having a projected return date around the NBA All-Star break.

I’m not saying the same thing will happen to Brooks, merely illustrating the idea that Memphis tends to take their time with these matters. He is being re-evaluated in 2-3 weeks, meaning we’ll likely get a more concrete date at that time.

For now, all we can do is wait.