NBA Rumors: Luke Kennard's $14.8M Option Declined by Grizzlies; New Contract Eyed

In an expected move, Luke Kennard is hitting free agency.

The Memphis Grizzlies declined his $14.8 million team option on Saturday, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. However, both sides are "eager to pursue a restructured deal," Wojnarowski added.

Kennard, 27, had a solid season for the Grizzlies in the 2023-24 campaign when healthy, averaging 11 points and 3.5 assists per game while shooting 44.8 percent from the field and 45 percent from three.

Injuries limited him to just 39 games in total, though, due to a series of left knee injuries.

He was also asked to play some point guard this season, as a Grizzlies team beset by injuries throughout the year at one point was without Ja Morant, Marcus Smart, Desmond Bane and Derrick Rose. While Kennard has traditionally been utilized as more of a perimeter sharpshooter in his career, he was required to have some versatility in his game this season.

But there was uncertainty as to whether the team would keep Kennard around with Bane's extension kicking in for the 2024-25 season that is paying him $34 million next season, essentially a $31 million raise.

With the core pieces of Morant ($36.7) million, Jaren Jackson Jr. ($25.2 million) and Smart ($19.9 million) also eating a major chunk of the cap and Brandon Clarke coming in at $12.5 million, it was fair to wonder if Memphis would look for avenues to trim payroll.

Kennard was the natural move in that regard. He should have a solid market in free agency for teams seeking shooting and secondary playmaking, however.