Wing acquired in Morant deal biggest winner as Grizzlies waive Clayton Jr., Peavy

The Memphis Grizzlies are waiving guard Walter Clayton Jr. and G/F Micah Peavy, per multiple reports.

Memphis was one of a few teams that had been facing tough decisions with its team approaching Monday's deadline to finalize opening night rosters. One player in particular comes out as a big winner following Clayton and Peavy's departure.

Murray comes out as biggest winner

Kris Murray was acquired from the Portland Trail Blazers on June 29, along with Jerami Grant, in exchange for Ja Morant. At first, it seemed unlikely Murray would make the opening-night roster. His chances lessened after Memphis acquired Peavy and Jordan Hawkins from the New Orleans Pelicans.

However, Peavy suffered an ankle injury early in training camp that essentially closed the book on his chances of making the team. The Grizzlies and Hawkins later mutually agreed to part ways. After a strong preseason on the defensive end, and a poor stretch for Clayton that dates back to last season, Murray earned a roster spot over the 2025 first-round pick.

Murray provides good positional size at 6-8 and is a versatile perimeter defender. In Memphis' last preseason game against Charlotte, he was intentionally put in the starting lineup with the regular starters.

Head coach Tuomas Iisalo said after the game that the team wanted to get a real look at Murray playing with the team's best players. That was telling in terms of what Memphis could potentially do with its final roster spot, and that came to fruition on Monday.

Javon Small sees increase in job security

Two-way point guard Javon Small is another player who comes out a winner after Memphis' moves. Based on last season's results, Small being on the 2026-27 roster and not Clayton is not that big of a surprise.

Small being on a two-way deal certainly helps, but he also outplayed Clayton last season. The rookie averaged 9.7 points and 3.7 assists per game. Most notably, he shot 42.3 percent from three and brought high-level effort and energy defensively. Small also had a strong summer league, so he did not do anything to sound the alarm on his roster spot, but Clayton being out of the picture cannot do anything but help Small.

What's next for Clayton

For Clayton, saying that the start to his career so far has been a disappointment is an understatement. Going into the draft, there were skeptics due to his lack of high-level athleticism, especially relative to his size. At 6-3, he is locked into playing the one, but he is also a score-first-minded player.

Clayton's path to a productive NBA career includes developing as a facilitator. He showed flashes of that last season, but the bigger problem was that his "guaranteed" traits did not pan out. After being the best shot maker in college basketball in 2024-25, he shot just 38.4 percent from the field as a rookie and 30.7 percent from three. If Clayton is not knocking down shots, it is tough to see where positive value could come from.

The 2025 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player is still just 23 years old and is not that far removed from an all-time great tournament run at Florida. He will likely get a chance elsewhere to carve out a role, even if it is as a two-way player for the time being.

Despite being a part of the Jaren Jackson Jr. trade with the Utah Jazz, Clayton's time in Memphis is being cut short.