Right before the clock striked midnight to end Halloween in the eastern time zone, the deadline also passed for NBA teams to exercise rookie scale team options for the 2025-26 season. While most are for reasonable salaries, it feels as if more were declined this season than previous ones. This could be due in part because of second apron concerns. Players who had their rookie scale team options declined will now be unrestricted free agents next offseason. The Memphis Grizzlies had an interesting decision to make on a player who finished averaging double figures in scoring last season. In the end, they decided to decline the rookie scale team option on power forward Jake LaRavia.
Grizzlies Decline Rookie Scale Option On 2022 First Round Pick
Large Part Of Rotation To Start 2024-25 Season
Selected 19th overall in the 2022 NBA Draft, LaRavia’s option for 2025-26 was to be worth around $5.16 million. According to Drew Hill of the Daily Memphian, the Grizzlies have decided not to exercise the option.
Breaking, per sources:
The Grizzlies are encouraged by Jake LaRavia’s development and remain interested in retaining him beyond this season, but to maintain flexibility for a roster with several young wings and 12 players already under contract for 2025-26, they won’t be…
— Drew Hill (@DrewHill_DM) November 1, 2024
With Ja Morant returning to the court, expectations were high for Memphis after a down 2023-24 season. Through six games, the team is off to a middling 3-3 start. The injury bug has already hit as it did last season. GG Jackson II, Vince Williams Jr., and Luke Kennard have yet to play this season. Jaren Jackson Jr. has already missed two games while both Desmond Bane and Marcus Smart sat out Thursday night’s victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Due to being frequently undermanned, the soon-to-be 23-year-old LaRavia has played a larger role than expected. In last night’s outing, he played a season-high 33 minutes, securing a double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds). LaRavia has averaged 25.3 minutes per contest through six games. The 6-foot-7 forward has posted averages thus far of 7.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 3.2 assists. LaRavia is shooting 44.4% (16-36) from the field, 25.0% (3-12) from beyond the arc, and 50.0% (10-20) from the foul line.
LaRavia Had A Double-Digit Scoring Average In 2023-24
Just like the current season, LaRavia was thrust into a larger role as the 2023-24 season progressed. Altogether, he appeared in 35 games while making six starts for the Grizzlies. His averages in 2023-24 included 10.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.7 assists. The early foul shooting struggles from LaRavia this season seem to be an aberration as he connected on 82.6% (90-109) of them last season.
In his rookie season of 2022-23, LaRavia did not have a large role for Memphis. He split his time with the NBA club and their G League affiliate, the Memphis Hustle. The Grizzlies experienced much better injury luck that season, and finished as the West’s second seed with a 51-31 record. LaRavia made 35 appearances for Memphis in 2022-23, finishing with pedestrian averages of 3.0 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 0.6 assists.
Prior to his NBA career kicking off, LaRavia spent one season playing college ball for Wake Forest. He transferred from Indiana State, where he spent two seasons but moved on after the departure of their head coach Greg Lansing. LaRavia was named Second Team All-ACC during his one season at Wake Forest in 2021-22, and he decided to parlay his successful year into declaring for the 2022 NBA Draft. He will turn 23 years old on November 3.
