It's been a rough go of it for Walter Clayton Jr. over the past year. From being traded by the Utah Jazz in his rookie year to struggling in his new situation in Memphis to now being a potential waive candidate before Year 2 is supposed to start, he's been through a lot. If the Grizzlies decide to part ways with Clayton, the Jazz would have to jump through some hoops to make a reunion happen.
Jake Fischer revealed on his live stream yesterday that Clayton may not make the Memphis Grizzlies' opening night roster because of their roster crunch.
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Odds are, Memphis would try to trade Clayton before waiving him, and they may very well find a taker, but we'll only know for sure when we see how this situation plays out. Say they are done with Clayton and the Jazz wouldn't be opposed to bringing him back. A reunion could happen, but not directly.
Anyone with a novice understanding of the CBA should know that a team that trades a player can't bring him back for a year. What many don't know is that if the team that acquires said player waives him, that one-year restriction still applies to the team that traded him.
If Clayton gets traded elsewhere, the restriction gets lifted
The only way the Jazz could be cleared to get Clayton is if he gets traded to another team, which, in case it wasn't clear, is likely to be the route the Grizzlies explore first before they waive him. If Clayton gets traed again, then nothing can hold Utah back.
If that happens though, it's fair to believe that Clayton's next team traded for him because they believe he's worth taking a flyer on. Clayton is entering his second year, but he is considered old for an NBA sophomore at 23 years old who will be 24 this March.
He came to the NBA hyped to be more ready for the big leagues than most prospects who arrived at the same time, but it hasn't translated much since he entered the NBA. The Jazz traded Clayton not just to get an All-Star player who can change things moving forward with JJJ, but also to clear up their overabundance of young players.
They have since traded more of their youngsters, and there's no telling which of their young guards will be ready to step up now that they've raised the bar much higher this season. Utah took Clayton because they liked him in the draft, so who's to say they haven't lost faith in him?
If they haven't, he wouldn't be their worst flyer, but a few dominoes would have to fall their way if they wanted to make a reunion happen as quickly as possible.
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