Injury analyst offers encouraging Ja Morant update

Ja Morant is going to miss some time for the Memphis Grizzlies.

On Saturday, the team announced that Morant is officially dealing with a UCL sprain in his left elbow. He suffered it against the Atlanta Hawks, which marked just his second game back on January 21. The Grizzlies are going to evaluate Morant again in three weeks.

Just because he’ll get evaluated then, doesn’t mean he’s guaranteed to return. While nobody can say Morant will be healed up in under a month, injury analyst Jeff Stotts has good news on Morant, based on history with NBA players dealing with a UCL-related injury.

Via @InStreetClothes: New Ja Morant Injury Update: Elbow UCL injuries are commonplace in baseball (think Tommy John) but not in the NBA. Average missed time lost for a mild to moderate UCL elbow sprain? ~11. 8 games (~22 days).

Morant’s re-evaluation timeline comes right around the league’s All-Star break. It seems there could be a high chance he won’t return to the court until after the break. The Grizzlies are set to wrap up a long road trip against the Denver Nuggets on February 11, which still falls under the timeline.

They return to the court on February 20 to host the Utah Jazz. 

The Grizzlies don’t have a need to rush Morant back on the floor. This is just another setback for the star, who has struggled in all ways, including availability this year. At this point, the Grizzlies are 18-25 on the season, winning just three of their past 10 games. 

Memphis ranks 12th in the Western Conference, sitting right behind the Dallas Mavericks. While they are still hovering around the Play-In, there is still a lot of basketball left to be played. 

The Grizzlies will take the floor again on Sunday for a 3:30 PM ET tip.