Hawkins Gone Too, and the Grizzlies Are Back Where They Started

Memphis waived Jordan Hawkins on Saturday, parting ways with the guard just weeks after acquiring him from New Orleans. Hawkins had been brought in specifically to shore up the backcourt after Kentavious Caldwell-Pope agreed to a buyout and headed to Philadelphia in late July. He lasted less than a month on the roster.

That makes three significant guard-position moves that went nowhere in roughly four months. Caldwell-Pope opted in, then opted out. D'Angelo Russell was acquired from Washington, then waived in September and replaced by undrafted rookie Brendan Hausen. Now Hawkins, the solution to the Caldwell-Pope problem, is gone too. The Grizzlies enter the new season with their backcourt in roughly the same shape it was in when the summer started — thin, unsettled, and built around players who were not the plan.

What makes this harder to dismiss is the context. Memphis already traded Morant, lost Conley, and shipped Aldama to Dallas. The front office committed to a rebuild centered on Jaren Jackson Jr., which is a reasonable foundation. But a rebuild needs a functional backcourt around its anchor, and Memphis has now cycled through multiple attempts at one without landing anywhere stable. Micah Peavy, who came over in the Hawkins deal, remains day-to-day, so even the secondary return from that trade is currently unavailable.

The carousel note I filed last week still applies, just with one more rotation added.