Years from now, perhaps the best way to remember the carnage that came from the 23rd season of Memphis Grizzlies basketball will be through a series of hard-to-believe trivia questions.

Question: How many games did the Grizzlies have their expected starting lineup?

Answer: Zero

Question: How many starting lineups did the Grizzlies use?

Answer: 43 (and counting).

Question: How many players did the Grizzlies use?

Answer: 29 (and counting).

Question: How many never played for Memphis again?

Answer: Too many.

It’s what makes the latest twist — maybe the last twist — of this particularly cruel season a refreshing change of pace. Yes, there’s actually some encouraging news to report — news that could serve as a runway to the possibilities that remain for this franchise just as soon as whatever the heck it is we’ve been forced to watch (or turn off) these past few months is over.

The 30th player the Grizzlies will use in a game this season won’t be a G League player on a 10-day contract. It won't be an inconsequential journeyman eating up minutes until this season come to its merciful end. It is likely to be forward Brandon Clarke, who could return to action Wednesday night at FedExForum against the Los Angeles Lakers (7 p.m., Bally Sports Southeast) for the first time in 390 days.

In some ways, Clarke’s torn Achilles represented the beginning of this team’s descent into temporary misery. It happened mere hours before Ja Morant infamously filmed himself on Instagram Live holding a gun in a Denver area strip club in March 2023. Though former center Steven Adams had already been lost to injury by that point, the assumption at the time was he would be back for the 2023 NBA playoffs. Clarke’s setback was the first obstacle that felt like it could affect these Grizzlies’ immediate trajectory.

It was a particularly worrisome injury because Clarke’s game felt so reliant on his athleticism, on the raw jumping ability that depends so much on a healthy Achilles and led to so many entertaining alley-oops during his first four seasons in the NBA.

More than a year later, he returns to a team that hardly resembles the one he left. The Grizzlies are already eliminated from postseason contention and are playing for draft positioning. But Clarke remains a potentially crucial piece moving forward, whether he can return to the form that made him so valuable during the Grizzlies’ 2022 playoff run, or if he can’t.

The answer won’t come this season, not with only a few weeks left. The point of Clarke playing now is to provide him some momentum heading into the offseason, to get over the mental hump of coming back from a devastating injury now when the results don’t really matter. Because we’re 10 games away from the results mattering a lot again.

The manner in which this season played out has made next season and the season after that — the only seasons, as of now, in which Morant, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. are all under contract — so much more urgent. Having a version of Clarke that resembles the player who earned a four-year, $52 million contract extension in October 2022 is part of that equation.

Remember the formula Memphis often relied upon in the frontcourt? Adams would start games alongside Jackson, and Clarke would often finish them besides Jackson, his best friend on the team. It’s likely, given the salary cap restraints the Grizzlies are under with Morant, Bane and Jackson all signed to nine-figure deals, their offseason plans include Clarke being able to fill that sort of role again next year.

Yes, Memphis is expected to get at least one more frontcourt player in the coming months, be it through the NBA draft or free agency or a trade. General manager Zach Kleiman said as much after the trade deadline, when he also mentioned Clarke’s potential return as a possibility even as the team turned the season into an extended tryout of G League players.

This will be different from Bane’s return from an ankle injury in recent weeks. That made these Grizzlies much more palatable to watch but seems like an ongoing and unnecessary risk in terms of draft lottery positioning and injury possibilities. We know who Bane is and what he will be. The same can’t be said of Clarke, despite the advances made in Achilles injury recovery of late.

But at least the player affectionately known as “BC” actually will be playing basketball again. At least someone expected to be part of this team’s core is returning to the court and not leaving. At least the answer to one trivia question — who was the record-setting 30th player to suit up for the Grizzlies this season? — will symbolize that next season is (finally) almost here.

You can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Mark Giannotto via email at mgiannotto@gannett.com and follow him on X: @mgiannotto

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Brandon Clarke injury comeback is what Memphis Grizzlies season needs