Ja Morant on verge of returning for Grizzlies

Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant has been upgraded to questionable for the team’s game on Monday vs. Oklahoma City (Twitter link).

While that doesn’t mean Morant is a lock to be active Monday, Evan Barnes of the Memphis Commercial Appeal notes (via Twitter) that players listed as questionable by the Grizzlies typically end up playing.

Morant, who exited the health and safety protocols over the weekend, has been on the shelf since Nov. 26 due to a left knee sprain. Before he went down, the 22-year-old was enjoying his best NBA season to date, averaging 24.1 PPG, 6.8 APG, 5.6 RPG and 1.6 SPG on .476/.356/.777 shooting through 19 games (32.6 MPG).

Oddly, the Grizzlies were just 9-10 with Morant in the lineup and have gone 10-2 without him. However, as Kevin Pelton of ESPN outlined in an Insider-only story, the Grizzlies have benefited from a favorable schedule and poor opponent shooting during their last dozen games — there’s obviously no reason to believe Memphis is a better team without its star guard.

After hosting the Thunder Monday, the Grizzlies have road games on tap in Golden State (Thursday), Sacramento (Sunday) and Phoenix (Monday).