So much changed for the Memphis Grizzlies when Jaylen Wells fell to the floor, undercut on a dunk attempt, during the team’s April 8 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. Too much changed, in fact.
Wells will miss the rest of the season after being diagnosed with a fractured right wrist, on top of a facial laceration and concussion. The fall itself was so scary—he left the court on a stretcher— that this prognosis invites a sigh of relief. It could have been worse.
Now, though, the Grizzlies are left to plan around Wells’ absence as they prepare for a play-in date with the Golden State Warriors, and what they hope will be a postseason push that extends beyond it.
Few seemingly expect Memphis to figure it out. A rocky close to the year, to put it kindly, has served as the catalyst for renewed skepticism. Much of the doubt is fair. If the Grizzlies are going to prove consensus wrong, they will need the bigger-time players to do bigger-time-player things. That falls on Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, and Jaren Jackson Jr., above all else.
But they will also need one non-star, in particular, to offset Wells’ absence and, ultimately, raise the ceiling of a team that has at times flirted with free fall. That player is Scotty Pippen Jr.
Yes, losing Jaylen Wells is a big deal
None of this is an overreaction to the Wells injury. He was that important, even as he struggled to nail shots from deep down the stretch.
No one on the Grizzlies this season has spent more time guarding No. 1 options, according to BBall Index. Wells is the general default to tussling with the opponent’s best offensive player. He would have (most likely) logged more reps than anyone else versus Stephen Curry this coming Tuesday night.
These matchups do not always end with Wells shutting them down. The Steph assignment, specifically, has not been kind. Memphis is allowing 1.27 points per possession to Golden State on the season when Wells registers as a defender on Curry. For reference, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ league-best offense averages 1.21 points per possession overall.
Still, the value of Wells isn’t always rooted in the results. It is in the bandwidth. He tackles the toughest assignments so others do not have to, oftentimes because they can’t. Only four players in the entire league have tallied a larger share of their defensive possessions against harder overall matchups, per BBall Index: Bilal Coulibaly, Lu Dort, Dyson Daniels, and Andrew Nembhard.
Pippen has to play a difference-maker role with his dynamic intangibles
There is immense value in the aforementioned volume, and it’s not something Memphis can offhandedly approximate. It is even harder now after the Grizzlies salary-dumped Marcus Smart.
Though a healthy Vince Williams Jr. is poised for a bigger role, Pippen is the more dynamic offensive player. The 24-year-old is banging in nearly 40 percent of his threes, and assisting on more than 27 percent of Memphis’ made buckets when on the court. Stephen Curry, Darius Garland, Nikola Jokic, and Tyus Jones are the only other players matching those benchmarks—which, um, whoa!
Pippen’s 6’1″ frame will be a barrier to entry in certain matchups. Williams is better suited to guard up, Marcus Smart style. But Pippen is the better defender overall.
Grizzlies roster by DEPM this season. Scottie Pippen Jr????!But also, No.3 and No.6 are out with injuries.
I think their three best defenders this year have been JJJ, Clarke, and Wells, and two of them are out. pic.twitter.com/MUMClGDCjX
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) April 11, 2025
Even at 6’1″, he is tougher to screen, and the pressure he provides both on- and off-ball is absurd. He also has a knack for busting up plays from behind, including as a shot-blocker. The only players to match his steal (2.8) and block (1.6) rates from this season are Keon Ellis, Dyson Daniels, Jonathan Isaac, Ausar Thompson and Cason Wallace. All of them are at least three inches taller, and just one of them is under 6’6″ (Wallace).
Memphis has already telegraphed a greater dependence on Pippen after firing head coach Taylor Jenkins. Not only are his minutes up, but interim head coach Tuomas Iisalo has shown fewer qualms about playing him alongside Ja Morant. Since the coaching change, the two point guards are averaging 10.3 minutes per game together. That is a noticeable uptick from the 6.8 a night they saw under Jenkins.
Indeed, Wells’ absence is part of this increase. That’s also sort of the point. The Grizzlies’ response to losing him has included juicing the minutes of their (stealth) Sixth Man of the Year candidate.
Will Pippen Jr. deliver in the playoffs?
This is something of a loaded question without knowing whether the Grizzlies even get to the actual playoffs. Make no mistake, though, Pippen will have his hands full against the Warriors and Curry—and, if necessary, beyond.
Pippen appeared in three of Memphis’ four games versus Golden State this season. Through those matchups, the Grizzlies are allowing 1.36 points per possession to the Warriors whenever Pippen registers as a defender against Steph. That is…not great.
Curry, of course, is a different species of basketball player. You don’t shut him down willingly—or necessarily at all.
Not surprisingly, Memphis has enjoyed better results when Pippen guards stars from prospective first-round opponents in Houston and Oklahoma City. This list includes bigger guards such as Jalen Green (1.14 points per possession) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (1.14 points per possession). When Pippen gets to line up versus more like-sized players, including Fred VanVleet (0.54 points per possession) and Cason Wallace (0.53 points per possession), the results are even better.
The extent to which Pippen’s defensive body of work can translate to a role that features more top-option responsibility remains to be seen. But he was already pretty important to the Grizzlies’ postseason chances, at both ends of the floor, before Wells ever went down. Without him, Pippen graduates to something more: essential.
Dan Favale is a Senior NBA Contributor for FanSided and National NBA Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes.
