Scotty Pippen Jr., the son of Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen, is joining the Memphis Grizzlies. After reaching an agreement with the player’s representatives, the team signed him to a standard, multiyear NBA contract.
This is good news, considering Pippen Jr. was an undrafted free agent in 2022 and could not impress the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2022-2023 season despite signing a two-way deal with them. Now, it appears that the odds on GGBet will be a bit different, thanks to Scotty Pippen Jr. joining the team.
Like many other fans, you probably wonder what impact this will have on the Memphis Grizzlies and the NBA as a whole.
Scotty Pippen Jr.’s Journey Before Memphis Grizzlies
Back in the 2022-23 season, Scotty Pippen Jr. played in six games as part of the Los Angeles Lakers team. He was on a two-way contract at the time. It all happened after he was undrafted following a good college career at Vanderbilt.
Pippen Jr. did his best, but he could not impress the Lakers – thus, before the 2023-24 season, he was waived.
But little did he know that his determination and skills would not go unnoticed. A few other teams, including the Memphis Grizzlies, observed how dedicated the player was.
Joining the Memphis Grizzlies
Scotty Pippen Jr. signed a two-way deal with the Memphis Grizzlies in January 2024. The agreement was reached recently with Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, agent Shy Rae, and Pippen’s representatives.
This happened after Pippen caught the eye of the Grizzlies, thus playing for them and having an outstanding performance for the NBA summer league. Even the general manager of the Grizzlies, Zach Kleiman, had only words of praise for Pippin, saying he deserves recognition.
“How is Scotty Pippen Jr. not the MVP of the summer league? I am still confused by that,” Kleiman said in September at media day.
During his Summer League debut, in a 100-66 win over the Miami Heat, Pippen managed to score:
- 6 rebounds
- 14 points
- 1 block
- 3 assists
He finished the last season with the franchise and this month, he had an impressive pre-season. His stats include:
- 4.5 assists
- 10.3 points
These were achieved within 20.5 minutes across 4 different games. Therefore, it doesn’t come as a surprise that Pippen was offered the standard NBA contract with the Grizzlies. He becomes the backup point guard to Ja Morant with this new deal.
He might have suffered a lot of injuries in the previous season, but he still got enough playing time. Pippen is often underestimated by his opponents due to his physical limitations and size, but he proved what he’s made of with an average of 1.7 steals per game.
There is one open roster spot remaining in the team after Pippen was signed, so we have to wait and see who is going to take it.
What to Expect from the Memphis Grizzlies and Pippen?
It’s very likely that Pippen’s experience will be a bit different from last season.
He might not be able to enjoy the 25 minutes per game that he got previously. Ja Morant and many other veterans appear to be healthy again, so Pippen will most likely have to agree to be placed into a much smaller reserve role.
What’s great, though, is that the problems faced by Memphis last season allowed them to look into some long-term alternatives.
The viable options included Pippen, Vince Williams, and GG Jackson. All of them have NBA contracts, so the new members will surely change the team’s odds.
