The Memphis Grizzlies have been relatively quiet this offseason, aside from retaining some of their players from a season ago. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Jontay Porter has agreed to a three-year deal to remain with the Grizzlies.
Restricted free agent F Jontay Porter has agreed to a three-year, $6M deal to stay with the Memphis Grizzlies, agents Mark Bartelstein and Andy Shiffman of @PrioritySports tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 22, 2020
Porter joined the Grizzlies in 2020 after battling injuries since his collegiate career with the Missouri Tigers. In his lone collegiate season in 2017-2018, Porter contributed 9.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2,2 assists per game.
Since signing with Memphis as an undrafted rookie in 2020, Porter has been battling back from a torn ACL that caused him to go undrafted in the 2019 NBA Draft. For those that don’t know, Jontay is the younger brother of Michael Porter Jr., who plays for the Denver Nuggets.
Earlier this week, the Grizzlies declined the team option for Porter, paving way for them to sign him long-term. After negotiating a contract with Memphis, Porter will make $6 million over the course of the three-year deal.
What’s important for the Grizzlies is that they didn’t affect their financial situation too much by keeping Porter. According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, Memphis was able to ink a deal with Porter without it affecting their mid-level exception due to them having non-bird rights on him.
Memphis had non-bird rights on Porter and could sign him to a 3 year contract without dipping into their midlevel. https://t.co/cvWaACoper
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) November 22, 2020
Besides Porter, the Grizzlies finalized a four-year extension with De’Anthony Melton that is worth a total of $35 million. Melton served as the team’s backup point guard last season behind Ja Morant.
Entering the 2020-2021 season, Porter has yet to log a single minute with the Grizzlies. Nevertheless, Memphis believes holding onto Porter moving forward could pay dividends for the future of the organization.