Home Basketball Derrick Rose Commits to Return to Grizzlies for 2024-25 NBA Season Despite Ongoing Injury Rehab

Derrick Rose Commits to Return to Grizzlies for 2024-25 NBA Season Despite Ongoing Injury Rehab

Basketball — 04/18/2024

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE - FEBRUARY 26: Derrick Rose #23 of the Memphis Grizzlies handles the ball during the game against the Brooklyn Nets at FedExForum on February 26, 2024 in Memphis, Tennessee. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)

Justin Ford/Getty Images

Derrick Rose was limited to just 24 games in the 2023-24 season due to multiple injuries, a disappointing debut campaign. But he’s still under contract for the 2024-25 campaign at $3.3 million and is planning on running it back.

“Yes, I’m coming back,” he told reporters Monday.

The Grizzlies’ season was defined, and derailed, by injuries, to the point that the team only suited up eight players for Sunday’s finale against the Denver Nuggets, a 126-111 loss.

Most notably, Ja Morant was lost for the season in January with a labral tear after starting the year suspended for the first 25 games. But the injuries piled up for the Grizzlies throughout the year, culminating in this:

Morant only played nine games in total. Desmond Bane reached 42. Marcus Smart only played 20. Jaren Jackson Jr. was the only part of the team’s core group to play a relatively normal quantity of games, and he still missed 16 in total.

“Every season presents something different,” head coach Taylor Jenkins told reporters after Sunday’s loss. “Obviously, this presented something no one was expecting.”

It did give young wings like Vince Williams Jr. and GG Jackson the chance to gain experience and develop, and both seem likely to earn significant roles next season. But for a Grizzlies group with playoff expectations, a 27-55 season was a huge disappointment.

As for Rose, his impact when healthy was muted, as he averaged eight points and 3.3 assists per game, largely coming off the bench (seven total starts). He’ll enter next season as the de facto point guard behind Morant, though Smart could also be used to run the second unit given his history running the point.

A healthy Grizzlies bunch is talented and deep and should rebound in the 2024-25 campaign. The hope is that this season’s injury woes were simply an aberration, not the start of a trend.