Taj Gibson was brought in late last season to give the Grizzlies another veteran presence in the locker room. But now, after a very busy offseason featuring plenty of frontcourt moves, it looks like Gibson's brief stay in Memphis could come to an end soon and that he's the odd man out.
Regardless of what the Grizzlies were going to do this offseason, Taj Gibson's future in Memphis was very much in doubt. After selecting Cam Boozer third overall in this year's draft and adding Isaiah Stewart and Quinten Post as center depth behind Zach Edey, it's difficult to envision a role for Taj Gibson on next year's roster.
Taj Gibson's contract makes him a more likely waive candidate
Michael Scotto went into more detail about the Grizzlies' roster crunch and had the following to say about Taj Gibson:
"Veteran forward Taj Gibson also has a $3.82 million non-guaranteed salary for the upcoming season, which makes him a potential candidate to be waived." - Michael Scotto, HoopsHype
Taj Gibson has been in the league since 2009 and is inching closer to the end of a strong NBA career. The Grizzlies hadn't brought in Taj Gibson with the expectation that he would have a strong on-court impact and were more focused on him being a leader for a young rebuilding team. But with the Grizzlies' need to get down from 19 players to 15 players, it's an easy choice to waive Gibson.
The fact that Gibson's salary was already non-guaranteed heading into this upcoming season only added to the likelihood of him being waived this summer. With the Grizzlies prioritizing draft positioning and wanting another veteran leader at the time, it made sense to have Taj Gibson in Memphis after the trade deadline. But now, it feels like the right time for both sides to move on.
Zach Edey's return should be an enormous boost for the Grizzlies, but adding Isaiah Stewart and Quinten Post shows the strong intention to have a deeper frontcourt. Even at the power forward position, the Grizzlies have plenty of players competing for minutes behind Cam Boozer. It's simply challenging to find a path to minutes for Taj Gibson with how the roster stands.
Understandably, there is concern from Grizzlies fans about surrounding their young talent with veterans. But after having added Isaiah Stewart and Jerami Grant this summer, the Grizzlies in the short term have proven veterans with playoff experience. It is something to monitor for the future, but the Grizzlies have an intriguing mix of young talent and veterans that have experienced the playoffs.
As the Grizzlies look to get to 15 roster spots, D'Angelo Russell and AJ Johnson are already not expected to be on the team next season. But now, Taj Gibson could be one of the next players that the Grizzlies move on from this summer.
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