Mario Chalmers out for season, cut by Grizzlies

Update on Mario Chalmers

The Memphis Grizzlies today announced that guard Mario Chalmers will miss the remainder of the 2015/16 season after rupturing his right Achilles tendon in Memphis’ 116-96 loss to the Boston Celtics Wednesday at TD Garden and the Grizzlies subsequently waived Chalmers.

“Mario did an incredible job for us since coming to Memphis,” Grizzlies General Manager Chris Wallace said. “Right from the start, he embraced his change of scenery and endeared himself to his teammates and coaches on the court and the Memphis community off of it.”

The injury occurred following a Chalmers shot attempt at just under the seven-minute mark of the third quarter. Chalmers departed the game with 6:57 remaining in the third with the Grizzlies trailing 64-61.

“He has been an important part of our success this season, both coming off the bench and when called upon as a starter,” Wallace said. “But with Mario’s season-ending injury and our already depleted roster, it became necessary to free up a roster spot.”

Tough break, the change of scene seemed to be working out for him.

I thought injured players aren't allowed to get cut.

Same case with Beno Udrih.

That is huge. Huge letdown for Rio Chalmers. He'll need to take care of injury himself with no team help and try to make a comeback to the league at age of 30. If he was young, I'd bet on healthy comeback but I am not so sure at this point in his career. He'll need that extra motivation to stay in shape while recovering from the injury. But Point Guard market this offseason is quite thin so perhaps he'll get a legit shot at being a relevant player once again when he comes back.

As for the Grizzlies, too many injuries, might as well rebuild since their core is very very old.

Finally, they might give up on their old-man lineups they have been rolling since the Marc Gasol injury and play J Green over Chris Andersen. I am not saying this just because I have Green in my fantasy team. Simply, that guy has potential and some athletic set of skills. I enjoy watching him play.

I thought injured players aren't allowed to get cut.

Same case with Beno Udrih.

No rule against it as far as I'm aware, though I don't think it's usually the done thing.

So that means Chalmers has to rehab on his own dime as well? That's 2x insult to injury.

Good question. They still have to pay out his contract, so maybe they'll still cover some of his expenses. They just need to cut him to make space on the roster, as presumably it's too late to get an injury exception for him.

I assume medical bill will be team's responsibility as injury entirely happened during team activity.

But that's about it. He has no access to team training facility nor medical/training staff going forward. It's up to him and his motivation to get back to where he was. And at age of 30, I think it'll take extra effort and motivation.

While I have no doubt he will make a comeback and sign with a NBA team next season, I think it'll be tough for him to land a same opportunity as he did in Memphis.

Chalmers has a guaranteed contract, so he's still being paid.

Insurance will cover his medical, that's a standard part of player contracts.

And the Grizzlies are petitioning for a special injury exemption. Ones where a team loses enough players for the remainder of the season to injury they can sign another vs. the standard one where it's tied to a particular player.