Zach Randolph: (Knee) Will Return Friday

Randolph (knee) says that he will play in Friday's game against the Pelicans, The Commercial Appeal reports.

Analysis:

Randolph missed the Grizzlies' previous nine games but has returned to practice and successfully participated in Friday's morning shootaround. It's possible that he'll fall short of the 31.6 minutes that he's averaged over 26 games in 2014-15, however, as coach Dave Joerger may want to ease Randolph back into action after such a long absence. Even so, the veteran is likely worth the play in limited minutes as he's never registered less than six rebounds during any game this season, even when he played a season-low 19 minutes against the Rockets back on Dec. 3.