Beale Street Bears’ Memphis Grizzlies roundtable: ‘Into the Bears’ Den’
By Ian Pierno
@NathanBeighle: With a lot of additions, who will the leading scorer be next season?
Mike Parrott (@mikeparrott_):
The Grizz have four different players who will easily average above 15 points per game but my choice is going to be Mike Conley, but by a small margin. Fizdale won’t play a post-up offense and Parsons isn’t a good enough shot creator to lead the team. I can see Fizdale finally take Memphis into this decade and build the team around a top-10 point guard in Conley. Conley will be number one, but by two points at most with Parsons coming in second.
Ian Pierno (@IanPierno):
It’s not the exciting answer, but I’m going to have to go with Chandler Parsons. Despite scoring the least points per game between himself, Marc Gasol, Mike Conley and Zach Randolph last season, Parsons’ scoring efficiency (effective field goal percentage, true shooting percentage, etc.) is by far the highest of the quartet. No longer being a sidekick shooter like he was in Houston behind James Harden or in Dallas behind Dirk Nowitzki, I have a hard time seeing the Grizzlies not consistently feeding the ball to their new $94,000,000 man. His usage rate was only 20.5 percent last season, and I see no reason that doesn’t hover around 25 percent this season (which would be in the 90th percentile for small forwards).
Taylor Buckley (@sctaylor94):
Marc Gasol. I see no reason why a healthy Marc Gasol can’t lead this Grizzlies team in points next season. With the new addition of Parsons, and Conley’s 3-point shot, Gasol should have arguably more space to work with than he ever has. Don’t get me wrong, both Parsons and Conley will have every opportunity to score the ball and should take advantage of it, but should Gasol return healthy, he should have no problem being the team’s leading scorer. At least that’s where my money is going.
Parker Fleming (@PAKA_FLOCKA):
Mike Conley. I will boldly predict that the $153 million dollar man will average 20 points a game. Fizdale plans on using Conley more early and often, leading to more points (and more assists). Furthermore, because of his hefty contract, Conley will look to back it up and prove that he is an All-Star caliber, max-contract worthy point guard. If the Grizzlies’ offense is faster and shoots more 3-pointers, he will thrive.
Jacob Collins (@jacobcollins34):
Zach Randolph. This is a contrarian pick but hear me out. Let’s assume that Coach Fizdale wants to get up and down the floor with Conley being the focal point. Parsons will pick up easy 3-point looks and work on improving as a secondary playmaker. Moving towards a faster place may push Randolph’s touches down during his playing time with the first unit. I could see him subbing out early in the first and third quarters and coming back in to end those quarters and being the hub of the offense with second units.
Next: What's the ceiling for the Grizzlies?