The big news surrounding the Memphis Grizzlies so far this season has been the fate of head coach Dave Joerger as he has reportedly been on the hot seat and very close to getting fired. The Grizzlies have been very average this year as they are 14-13 but their roster isn't exactly set up to succeed when you consider their frontcourt lacks depth. To make things even worse for the depth backup big man Brandan Wright has been out for quite a while and will miss much more team as he is set to undergo knee surgery, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports.
Wright initially injured his knee back on November 7th against the Utah Jazz and has not played since then. Surgery was an option initially but Wright instead decided to go the rest and rehab route but his knee wasn't getting better so he now he will have the surgery on Thursday. If Wright would have had the surgery when he was first injured he would likely be nearing a return right now as he expects the surgery to keep him out for 6-8 weeks.
Wright is in his first season with Memphis after signing a three year $17 million deal with them this offseason. Wright was expected to be Marc Gasol's backup but he has only played in seven games so far this year and his absence has forced Joerger to play Gasol huge minutes up until this point. With Wright out the Grizzlies don't have many bodies they can play in the frontcourt as they have resorted to playing Matt Barnes at the power forward spot exclusively.
The only healthy players on the roster who are legitimate big men are Gasol, Zach Randolph (who is now coming off the bench) and JaMychal Green which shows just how much they miss Wright. The seven year veteran doesn't put up big numbers but he is a presence and a legitimate big man who was averaging 6.6 points, 3.4 rebound and 1.4 blocks in 17.1 minutes per game before the injury.
Wright has said that he does not want to return to the court until he feels he is 100 percent healthy so two months seems like the reasonable expectation for his return. The 6-8 month timetable is just a preliminary estimate from him for his return but a better timeline will likely come out after he the surgery is complete.
