The Memphis Grizzlies are a team on the verge. Despite their 2-3 record, they’re a pretty good team. But they’re a team that needs to grow together if they’re going to go from “pretty good team that might win a playoff series” to “serious threat to make a deep playoff run.”
A couple of weeks ago, their front court took a hit when Darrell Arthur went down with a torn ACL. Today, their front court took the worst possible hit when Zach Randolph was diagnosed with a torn MCL.
Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph will miss up to eight weeks after magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed that he suffered a slight tear of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee, sources with knowledge of the situation told The Commercial Appeal.
The injury will not require surgery and doctors will re-evaluate Randolph in two weeks.
With Arther and now Randolph down, it’s no surprise the Grizzlies just traded for Marreese Speights. He’ll probably, eventually, supplant Dante Cunningham, who got the start in the last Z-Bo-less game.
It doesn’t matter much, though. Without Randolph, opposing teams can give Marc Gasol a little more attention without worrying as much about being torched. This is a tough blow for the Grizzlies who are trying to avoid taking a step backwards after last year’s amazing season. Without Randolph, though, it’s going to be a very tough road.
