The Memphis Grizzlies last season suffered a lot of injuries and Mario Chalmers was on that list. He suffered an achilles injury last March and has yet to sign with a team. Chalmers is reportedly saying that he is almost ready to play basketball again.
“Spoke to Mario Chalmers tonight. He’s continuing to rehab after Achilles surgery in March. He said he’s about a month away from being ready. Several teams are staying in touch with him. The backup point guard market is thin, if he’s healthy he’ll be back in the league quickly.”
This is a good sign for the veteran, who looked to have a prominent role with Memphis until he suffered the injury. Chalmers averaged a career-high 10.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.5 steals in 22.8 minutes per game once he was traded from the Miami Heat to the Grizzlies. He was eventually waived by the team in order to open up another roster spot, since the team was decimated by injuries.
- Detroit Pistons: The Pistons are thin at the point guard spot now that Reggie Jackson will miss the first few months of the season. The other point guards they have are journeyman Ish Smith, Lorenzo Brown and Ray MaCallum. Chalmers can potentially give them that veteran point guard presence while Jackson recovers from a knee injury.
- Cleveland Cavaliers: The Cavs lost backup point guard Matthew Dellavedova in free agency and Mo Williams recently retired leaving only 2nd round rookie Kay Felder as the only point guard behind Kyrie Irving. While Cleveland is still in a battle with J.R. Smith in trying to bring him back, they can try to load up by adding another veteran with championship experience in making another title run.
- Denver Nuggets: Denver will benefit having Chalmers on their roster. Emmanuel Mudiay at times struggled with his shot and having Chalmers off the bench is a good scoring option for them. They do have veteran Jameer Nelson on the bench, but Chalmers can easily earn the second string job in Denver.
- Houston Rockets: This can be an interesting destination. James Harden is going to run the offense but adding Mario Chalmers in a backcourt with Eric Gordon could potentially be a scoring nightmare for defenses.
- Memphis Grizzlies: A return to where he was dominating before the injury could also be a possibility. Right now Memphis has just Mike Conley and rookie Wade Baldwin on the roster. The team needs a more quality backup point guard off the bench.
Those teams I listed are just my opinion so nothing is really reported yet. He is at the tail-end of his recovery and looks to get sign within the few weeks of the season. Teams are always interested in backup point guards, especially ones that are quality veterans like Chalmers.
