Vince

Williams

Initially doubtful for Sunday’s game, Morant is officially inactive. Vince Williams Jr. will continue to replace him in the starting lineup, with Cam Spencer playing additional minutes off the bench. While Williams is a solid option for managers needing assists, his low percentages have opened the door for Spencer to emerge as a solid deep-league option.

While the doubtful tag suggests that Morant won’t play on Sunday, the upgrade is a step in the right direction. Vince Williams Jr. will continue to start as long as Ja is unavailable, with Cam Spencer picking up additional minutes off the bench.

While Morant participated in portions of Thursday’s practice, he still has not reached the point where he can play in games. Vince Williams Jr. will continue to fill the void as the starting point guard, with Cam Spencer having added value in deep leagues despite coming off the bench.

Morant has been out for two weeks since suffering his calf strain, but appears to be inching closer to returning. There’s a chance that he could return to play against the Clippers on Friday or the Blazers on Sunday. His return would push Vince Williams Jr. back to the bench and could impact some of Zach Edey’s recent uptick in usage.

While starting point guard Vince Williams Jr. has enjoyed some high-assist nights since filling in for the injured Ja Morant, it has been a struggle for him scoring-wise. That’s where Spencer can be of service to the Grizzlies, and he extended his double-digit scoring streak to five games on Sunday. Williams (2/2/7/1) missed all eight of his shot attempts in Sacramento, but it didn’t do much damage to the Grizzlies thanks to Spencer and five other players scoring in double figures. Spencer isn’t a must-roster player, but he’ll have some value in deep leagues.

Williams’ production has not made him a must-roster player with Ja Morant out, but that has more to do with the percentages and turnovers than anything else. Over the past two weeks, he has shot 34.8 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from the foul line while averaging 3.0 turnovers per game. As a result, Williams has not been a top-100 player in nine-cat formats. However, that is not the case in eight-cat. Rostered in 24 percent of Yahoo! leagues, he’s worth picking up ahead of Sunday’s game against the Kings.

Less than a week removed from dishing out 15 assists against the Kings, Williams recorded a new career-high in that category on Wednesday. He didn’t do much scoring and was responsible for six turnovers, but the assists, rebounds and “stocks” meant that Williams managers didn’t lose out on value. Rostered in 23 percent of Yahoo! leagues, he has provided top-100 fantasy value over the past week. The Grizzlies play two more games during Week 6, and Vince is worth a look with Ja Morant sidelined.

One game removed from recording a career-high 15 assists, Williams posted his first double-double of the season on Saturday. Due to Ja Morant’s injuries, Williams has started four of Memphis’ last five games. During this stretch, he’s only been a 12th-round player in eight-cat formats according to Basketball Monster. While that isn’t impressive, the opportunity is what makes Williams worth the streaming risk in deep leagues.

Tuesday’s game was the first for Memphis since losing Ja Morant to a strained calf, and Williams was head coach Tuomas Iisalo’s pick to move into the starting lineup. Result aside, this was a good night for the former second-round pick, who finished two rebounds and one assist shy of a triple-double. Williams only committed one turnover in his 30 minutes, which is especially concerning. On the heels of this performance, he’s worth picking up in deep leagues.

As expected, Williams will start in place of Ja Morant, who is set to miss at least two weeks with a calf strain. Williams was really good as a starter two years ago for the Grizzlies but was injured for much of last season. His role this year hasn’t been large, but he should be worth streaming until Morant is back.