Grizzlies To Release Mamadi Diakite

The Memphis Grizzlies intend to waive forward Mamadi Diakite, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.

The team confirmed the move in a press release.

Diakite, 27, is 6-foot-9 and was acquired in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets for Ziaire Williams last month. He appeared in six games last season with the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs.

The Grizzlies will be waiving-and-stretching Diakite’s guaranteed salary over three seasons, giving themselves a little more flexibility, as relayed by Chris Herrington of the Daily Memphian.

Diakite has also spent time with the Milwaukee Bucks, Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers since 2020. He has appeared in 55 games overall, with averages of 3.1 points, 2.3 rebounds and 48.3% shooting.

He signed a two-way contract with the Spurs in January, only to be waived in early March. A few weeks later, the Knicks signed him to a 10-day contract, followed by a standard deal a week later.

He was then traded by the Knicks to the Nets on July 6 as part of the deal centered around forward Mikal Bridges. Brooklyn traded him to Memphis on July 19.

The Grizzlies are coming off a massively injury-prone season in which they finished 27-55, one year after earning the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.

They are hoping the return of star guard Ja Morant will help them get back into West contention. Morant has been medically cleared to resume basketball activities — and while Memphis hasn’t exactly made a splash this offseason, there are still reasons to believe, per David Aldridge of The Athletic.

“I don’t hate the Grizzlies. I don’t hate the Grizzlies. But this exercise measures how much better a team is after its offseason moves than it was before,” Aldridge wrote in his breakdown of teams’ offseasons. “And Memphis just didn’t do very much this summer. That doesn’t mean I think the Grizz did nothing.

“I’m fine, for example, with them going for Zach Edey at No. 9; he moved fast up draft boards after impressing in Chicago at the pre-draft combine, and he’s a four-year player coming out of college with back-to-back consensus National Player of the Year awards. And he’s 7-foot-4, 290 pounds, and should help immediately.

“But Memphis’ biggest offseason question is whether Morant is back up to speed and again dominant by the start of camp.”