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• Morant expected to make Grizzlies return on Wednesday against the Rockets

  Memphis Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins is "hopeful" All-NBA point guard Ja Morant will make his return on Wednesday after completing an eight-game suspension.

  Morant, 23, was suspended after a March 3 road game against the Denver Nuggets for "conduct detrimental to the league".

  The NBA was forced to investigate after Morant appeared to brandish a gun on social media while at a nightclub.

  Morant was "holding a firearm in an intoxicated state", the NBA said, but it did not prove the gun was owned by the Grizzlies star, or that he took it on the team flight or into any league facility.

  When asked prior to Monday's game against the Dallas Mavericks, Jenkins said Morant had "a good first day back" with the team, which included addressing his team-mates and coaches after spending a brief stint in counselling.

  Despite missing Morant's 27.1 points, 8.2 assists and 6.0 rebounds per game, the Grizzlies have gone 5-3 during his eight-game absence.

  It was a similar story last season when they went 20-5 in the 25 games their star spent on the sidelines.

  "What the group's done in his absence has been phenomenal from a defensive standpoint, offensive standpoint, execution standpoint, togetherness standpoint," Jenkins said. 

  "That's obviously our expectation with Ja reintegrating with the team. He's been connected with us player-wise, staff-wise, he knows what we're doing.

  "He's excited to be a part of the group and get back and help his team [reach] our ultimate goal.

  "I think it's going to be a seamless reintegration. We know how important he is to us. We know how important he is, he knows how important his team-mates are to him."

  At 43-27, Memphis are tied for the second seed in the Western Conference, and they have 12 games remaining to overtake the Sacramento Kings, or even make a run at the top-seeded Nuggets (48-24).

• Texans sign Schultz and Singletary

  The Houston Texans are still over a month away from picking their quarterback of the future, but they are continuing to build around him.

  On Monday, the Texans added a starting tight end to their roster, signing Dalton Schultz to a one-year deal worth up to $9million, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero.

  Schultz did not have the market he might have anticipated after his contract with the Dallas Cowboys expired, but he will have the chance to cash in next offseason if he can thrive in Houston playing with the quarterback whom the Texans will almost certainly select with the second overall pick in the NFL Draft.

  Last season, Schultz finished with 577 receiving yards and five touchdowns, having racked up 808 yards and eight touchdowns in 2021.

  His 13 receiving touchdowns over the last two seasons rank fifth among tight ends.

  Houston also added to their backfield, signing former Buffalo Bills running back Devin Singletary.

  Singletary is unlikely to be the starter following the emergence of Dameon Pierce, who had 939 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground as a rookie.

  Also arriving on a one-year deal, according to multiple reports, Singletary gives the Texans versatile depth at running back.

  He has produced over 1,000 yards from scrimmage in each of the last two seasons. In 2022, he finished with 819 yards rushing and five touchdowns, as well as 280 yards receiving and a further touchdown through the air.

  Singletary has 2,197 scrimmage yards since 2021, putting him 20th among running backs across that span.

• Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino hired by St. John's

  Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino has been hired by St. John's to revitalise a storied programme that has not won an NCAA Tournament game in more than two decades.

  The school announced the hiring on Monday, and the deal is reportedly for six years.

  "Coach Pitino is one of the most brilliant minds in the history of the game and has won at the highest levels everywhere he has coached," St. John's athletic director Mike Cragg said in a statement.

  "There is no doubt in my mind he will restore a championship-level programme and culture for St. John's Basketball."

  Pitino spent the last three years coaching at nearby Iona – leading the mid-major to a pair of NCAA berths – and this will be the 70-year-old's third coaching job in the Big East after stints at Providence and Louisville.

  He guided Kentucky (1996) and Louisville (2013) to national titles, has been to seven Final Fours and has coached five schools to the NCAA Tournament, beginning with Boston University in 1983.

  Pitino went 64-22 during his three seasons with Iona and takes the St. John's job three days after the 13th-seeded Gaels lost to UConn 87-63 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

  Now he is tasked with turning around a St. John's programme that has appeared in only three NCAA Tournaments over the last two decades – most recently in 2019 – and has not won a tournament game since 2000.

  The Red Storm went 18-15 in 2022-23 and finished eighth in the Big East, leading to the firing of Mike Anderson on March 10.

  In 34 seasons as a head coach, Pitino has an unofficial record of 834-293 (.740) – but 123 wins at Louisville have been vacated by the NCAA, including the 2013 national title, for recruiting violations.

  Pitino was dismissed at Louisville in 2017 over corruption and allegations of NCAA violations.