Could he play in 2018-19?
Markel Crawford is a Memphis Grizzly. It's a terrific story. A hometown kid who grew up in Memphis, played at Melrose High School, and played for the University of Memphis is now getting a chance to put on the jersey of Memphis' NBA team. That's special. But — and it's sad to ruin the fun with a but — Crawford's only a Grizzly through training camp. Could he end up playing for the Grizzlies in the NBA's regular season? Maybe, but the path likely won't be an easy one.
Crawford impressed during Summer League by showing terrific, consistent defensive effort. It was his commitment and determination, along with a shooting display that improved over the summer, that made him an excellent candidate to join the team during training camp. As a reminder, the NBA's roster limits are different in the offseason than they are in the regular season. Through the end of the preseason, teams can have up to 20 players. Once the regular season approaches, that number gets trimmed to 15. Teams can also have up to two players on two-way contracts, and those players do not count against the roster limit. Kobi Simmons and Yuta Watanabe are those players for the Grizzlies. The Grizzlies have 15 players on guaranteed regularseason contracts, and one (Andrew Harrison) on a partially guaranteed deal. There isn't room on the regular-season roster for anyone else without cuts or trades, which is why it's unlikely Crawford would start the season playing at FedExForum. It's far more likely Crawford ends up playing in Southaven, though, for the G-League affiliate Memphis Hustle. Teams are increasingly using their G-League teams to groom players. In fact, more than half of the players on NBA rosters at the end of the 2017-18 season had played in the G-League. The Grizzlies are no strangers to using undrafted players, and two of their shooting guards embody that philosophy. Wayne Selden's path to the league was relatively straightforward, while Garrett Temple's was anything but. Selden was undrafted coming out of Kansas but signed a training camp contract with the Grizzlies in early August 2016. He played well enough in the preseason for the Grizzlies to sign him for their then-DLeague affiliate Iowa Energy. He earned a 10-day contract with the New Orleans Pelicans in March 2017, which led to the Grizzlies signing him after that contract had expired. From there, he earned a multiyear deal with the Grizzlies. Temple was undrafted in 2009, and ended up signing eight 10-day contracts with four NBA teams, signing with three different GLeague teams, and playing for