On March 4th Jaren Jackson Jr. left the Grizzlies’ game vs the Hawks with a at 10:21 of the first quarter with an ankle injury. He suffered a grade 2 ankle sprain and will be out week-to-week with an injury.



Jackson Jr. has put together an All-NBA caliber season and was the frontrunner to win Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) after Victor Wembenyama was ruled out for the remainder of the season with blood clots. To qualify for either accolade, a player must play in at least 65 games. Jackson Jr. has currently played 59 games and will be sidelined “week-to-week” with approximately 5 weeks left in the season.

Jackson Jr. is extension eligible this summer and, if he meets the 65 game requirement and makes an All-NBA team and/or wins DPOY, would be eligible to sign a 5-year $345 million supermax which would commence in the 2026-2027 season.

If he doesn’t meet the 65 game criteria Jackson Jr. and the Grizzlies still have available the option to re-negotiate his current contract which will have one more year on it after this season. This option would result in lost money for Jackson Jr. in the aggregate and it would force the Grizzlies hand in having to immediately offer an extension instead of having Jackson Jr. on the books for next season at a team friendly $25 million cap hit.



Query whether the Grizzlies would offer Jackson Jr. the entire supermax however they would be in a favourable bargaining position where they could offer him more than other NBA teams.