The Memphis Grizzlies Public Relations (PR) department updated Zach Edey's injury timeline status on June 10th. He successfully had surgery to re-stabilize his left ankle sprain and will be re-evaluated in four months, which leads right into the Grizzlies' training camp that will likely begin in early October.
While the re-evaluation process could mean he'll be ready to return soon afterward, most of the time the team uses that term with an injury when that player has at least another couple of weeks before they return to the court. The likely outcome is that if things go well during his summer rehabilitation and healing process, Edey will have the update at re-evaluation time that he will return to the court sometime after the regular season begins in late October.
This news sets the Grizzlies back as Edey will lose important development time due to this setback, and valuable on-court chemistry as head coach Tuomas Iisalo implements his system. It will affect the Grizzlies' star tandem the most, as Edey was brought in to help manage their weaknesses.
1. Jaren Jackson Jr.
The Grizzlies badly need to address the center position to fit their star power forward's game. Jaren Jackson Jr. has been widely inefficient without another big-body center next to him in the frontcourt due to the physicality it takes to match up against other bigs and his lack of rebounding.
Edey takes the pressure off Jackson Jr. to be the team's primary big, allowing him to play on the perimeter and take advantage of mismatches in the post on offense. Edey's presence also allowed Jackson Jr. to roam on defense since he was able to provide the needed rim protection.
Jaren has been at his best with another bruising center next to him for longer stretches and the Grizzlies lack the relevant backup center to cover his deficiencies. Jackson Jr. has proved time and again that he isn't a center, so the Grizzlies shouldn't take a chance at experimenting with that again.
2. Ja Morant
The Grizzlies' star point guard has been more effective with the pick-and-roll than in isolation and it showed throughout the regular season. Morant and Edey's numbers both jumped up after replacing former coach Taylor Jenkins with Toumas Iisalo due to the re-incorporation of the pick-and-roll in their offense down the stretch.
Edey is the Grizzlies' best screensetter, so losing him is a huge blow to the progress Morant showed at the end of the season to return to his highly productive form. Again, addressing the center position is important for the Grizzlies this offseason as their two best players lose the most when it comes to Edey's injury to begin next season.