Player card
- Team/status: official standard-roster guard; one of the guards exposed to consolidation.
- Position: official roster label G; likely PG eligibility, platform check required.
- Age/experience: 25 during the season; entering NBA Year 5.
- Depth role: third guard behind Jerome and Clayton, 8-minute base role.
- 2025-26: 10 GP/6 starts, 21.2 MPG; .448 FG, .783 FT, 1.0 3PM, 11.4 PTS, 2.2 REB, 4.7 AST, 1.9 STL, 0.4 BLK, 2.7 TO. ESPN stats, accessed 2026-07-18
2026-27 base projection
| GP | MPG | FG% (FGA) | FT% (FTA) | 3PM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55 | 8 | .455 (3.3) | .760 (0.9) | 0.3 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.9 |
Correction 2026-07-18 Cut from a 17-minute backup role to 8 minutes as the third guard. Pippen was previously ranked ahead of Walter Clayton Jr. in the Memphis guard order despite playing 10 games in 2025-26 across two sesamoidectomies — a left-toe procedure that cost him the start of the season and a right-toe procedure on 17 March 2026 that ended it — while Clayton logged 24 Memphis games at 25.0 MPG with 5.7 assists. That ordering is reversed here. Pippen's per-minute steals rate is still the best on the roster; the change is about health and opportunity, not skill. Action News 5, 2026-03-17
Nine-category: outside the standard pool at base minutes; his steals rate makes him the first guard to add if the room clears. Points: solid streamer when starting. Dynasty: deep-league guard hold, but roster liquidity is low until the toe and contract role are resolved.
Range and risks
- Strengths: elite steals rate, assists and rim-pressure scoring.
- Liabilities: turnovers, low threes and potentially negative FT impact.
- Floor/base/ceiling: cut, traded or medically limited / 8-minute third guard / Jerome exits and Clayton slides off the ball, putting Pippen at 22-24 minutes for roughly 11/5 with 1.8 steals.
- Branches: a Jerome departure is the main ceiling trigger; renewed toe trouble or a roster cut creates the floor. He is now the guard most exposed to the six-player consolidation.
Pippen had left-toe surgery before 2025-26, then underwent a right-big-toe sesamoidectomy March 17, 2026. Memphis expected him ready for 2026-27, but no later full-clearance report was located. Public roster analysis also treats him as one of several guards exposed to consolidation. The model therefore discounts both GP and team security rather than extrapolating the 1.9-steal sample. NBA/AP, 2025-10-18 · Action News 5, 2026-03-17 · Sports Illustrated / Memphis On SI, 2026-07-09
Confidence
| Component | Label | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Roster | Low-medium | Officially listed, but he is the guard most exposed to consolidation. |
| Minutes | Low | Third in the guard order behind Jerome and Clayton, with health unresolved. |
| Rate | Medium-high | Steals/assists rates are established; 2025-26 sample is tiny. |
| Availability | Low | Toe procedures and only 10 games. |
Sources
- Official Memphis roster — accessed 2026-07-18.
Career record
Pre-NBA: Three seasons at Vanderbilt. 12.0 points and 3.6 assists on .393/.362/.709 as a freshman (SEC All-Freshman), then 20.8 points, 4.9 assists and 1.8 steals on .428/.358/.850 as a sophomore and 20.4 points, 4.5 assists and 1.9 steals on .416/.325/.749 as a junior, leading the SEC in scoring and taking first-team all-conference honors in both years. Draft: undrafted (2022). Signed a two-way with the Lakers on July 1, 2022, waived October 2023, then produced heavily in the G League for South Bay — 21.0 points, 6.0 assists and 2.0 steals across 12 Showcase Cup starts including a 41-point game, then 18.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 2.8 steals in five regular-season games — before Memphis signed him to a two-way on January 16, 2024 and converted him to a standard deal in October 2024.
| Season | Age | Team | GP | MPG | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | 3PM | FG% | FT% | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | 22 | LAL | 6 | 5.3 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | .333 | .556 | 0.3 |
| 2023-24 | 23 | MEM | 21 | 25.1 | 12.9 | 3.2 | 4.7 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 1.4 | .493 | .745 | 2.7 |
| 2024-25 | 24 | MEM | 79 | 21.3 | 9.9 | 3.3 | 4.4 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 1.1 | .480 | .713 | 1.7 |
| 2025-26 | 25 | MEM | 10 | 21.2 | 11.4 | 2.2 | 4.7 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 1.0 | .448 | .783 | 2.7 |
| Career | 116 | 21.2 | 10.2 | 3.0 | 4.3 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 1.1 | .477 | .721 | 1.9 |
Durability: One healthy season out of four. 2022-23 was a two-way year with only six NBA appearances by assignment rather than injury. 2024-25 is the outlier at 79 games. 2025-26 collapsed to 10 games around two sesamoidectomies — a left-toe procedure that cost him the start of the season and a right-big-toe procedure on March 17, 2026 that ended it. Memphis expected him available for 2026-27, but no public full-clearance report has been located.
Trajectory: The rate profile has been consistent and good every time he has played real minutes: about 21 minutes, 10-13 points, 4.5 assists, and a steals rate that is the best on the Memphis roster. Nothing about the skill is in question. What is in question is his feet and his roster spot — he is behind Ty Jerome and Walter Clayton Jr. in the guard order and is the name most often cited in Memphis's need to shed standard contracts. The path to fantasy relevance is not a performance leap but an opening: a Jerome trade or injury pushing him to 22-24 minutes would restore roughly 11 points, five assists and 1.8 steals, which is rosterable in categories on the steals alone. Two toe surgeries in one season is the argument for treating that as a late-season pickup rather than a draft-day bet.
Career sources: ESPN — Scotty Pippen Jr. career stats · Wikipedia — Scotty Pippen Jr. · South Bay Lakers player capsule · NBA/AP — Pippen to have toe surgery, miss start of season · Action News 5 — Grizzlies rule Pippen out for season
Open questions
- Is Pippen fully cleared for camp and back-to-backs?
- Does Memphis keep him over Jerome, or is he the guard-consolidation casualty?