Who are the Memphis Grizzlies free agents heading into 2022 offseason?
Yves Pons, restricted free agent
Age: 23
Experience: 1 season
Agents: Todd Ramamsar & Jaafar Choufani
Memphis Grizzlies reserve player Yves Pons is set to be a restricted free agent this offseason, which means he’s free to negotiate and sign a deal with any NBA team; however, the Grizzlies will have the right of first refusal to match or decline any offer he finds on the open market.
Pons played sparingly through the 2021-22 season as an undrafted rookie, recording averages of 1.1 PPG, 1.0 RPG, and 0.1 APG.
The best game of his young career came in the season finale against the Boston Celtics on April 10, scoring 6 points, blocking 3 shots, pulling down 2 rebounds, and dishing out 1 assist in the loss.
Pons is an athletic freak, but a massive project—one I’m not sure the Grizzlies are going to want to be patient enough to see through. The team’s window to pursue a championship is open now and they should strongly consider filling his roster spot with someone who has a wider skill set that blocking shots and playing above the rim.
Pons is a non-qualifying veteran free agent, which means the Grizzlies can re-sign him for the qualifying offer amount or 120% of last season’s contract.
Prediction: Grizzlies let Pons walk
Jarrett Culver, unrestricted free agent
Age: 23
Experience: 3 seasons
Agents: Chris Emens & Ron Shade
The Grizzlies took a flyer on Culver when they acquired him from the Minnesota Timberwolves last offseason, hoping they could develop the former No. 6 overall pick into a regular contributor for the team.
We saw Culver play some meaningful minutes here and there, mostly out of necessity due to a winter outbreak of Covid-19.
The former Texas Tech standout appeared in 37 games during the regular season for Memphis. Culver averaged 3.5 PPG, 1.3 RPG, and 0.9 APG in 9.1 minutes of action per game this year.
Culver is an unrestricted free agent and I just didn’t see any reason why the team should go out of their way to re-sign him. His play was inconsistent at best. At worst, he was someone who couldn’t shoot the ball and made poor decisions when handling the ball.
Prediction: Grizzlies let Culver walk