NBA Notes: Grizzlies, Zach Edey, Spurs, Victor Wembanyama, Pelicans

Grizzlies

The Grizzlies’ season felt like it was slipping away at 4-11. Then Zach Edey showed up and everything changed.

The second-year center has helped Memphis win five of six since making his debut in mid-November, and his fingerprints are all over the turnaround.

“Everything,” coach Tuomas Iisalo said when asked about Edey’s impact, via Michael Wallace of Grind City Media. “Great job overall by him and the whole team for realizing that’s where the advantage is.”

Edey delivered his best effort yet on Sunday in Sacramento. Thirty-two points. Seventeen rebounds. Five blocks. Twenty shots, and he hit 16 of them. Memphis was plus-25 with him on the floor in an eight-point win.

“I’ve just been really comfortable this year,” Edey said. “I’ve been settling in, feeling like I’m back at Purdue a little bit. Just comfortable. It feels like everybody’s been playing good basketball and executing the game plan and the vision.”

Over his past three games, all victories, Edey is averaging 19.3 points, 17 rebounds and 3.3 blocks on nearly 72 percent shooting in 32 minutes per night.

Spurs

Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle remain out, but the Spurs are calling it progress. Both players have begun on-court work as they rehab their calf and hip injuries, per Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News.

Neither will travel to Orlando for Wednesday’s back-to-back, and it is still unclear whether they will play on the upcoming four-game road trip.

Pelicans

Two days before news of his strained adductor broke, Zion Williamson sounded like a man who believed he had finally turned a corner.

“I haven’t felt like this since college, high school,” Williamson said Sunday, via Mark Medina of Athlon Sports. “I walk in the gym, and I feel good.”

Interim head coach James Borrego praised Williamson’s play but also pointed to the next step in his development.

“That’s one area of growth for him that he and I consistently talk about. It’s how to lead,” Borrego said. “He’s obviously a talent, but the more he can lean into leadership and grow into his teammates, that’s where he wants to go.”

As the Pelicans wait for a healthier roster, they wait for Zion too.