Andrew Harrison and Jarell Martin (grimace emoji face)
Any other season, Andrew Harrison would be on the roster. He’s a big guard with positional versatility, and he also logged a lot of minutes with this team last season. Not to mention, he was the starting point guard when Conley went down, and he played a big role in the playoffs. However, the acquisition and surprisingly good health of Mario Chalmers makes one of their young point guards expendable. Given the fact that Harrison’s competition was the team’s most recent first-round pick, he’ll unfortunately be the odd man out as they give Baldwin another season to prove something.
Jarell Martin isn’t the big man who should be cut, but he’s the one who will be cut. He has an edge over Deyonta Davis, but he doesn’t mean as much to the team as him. Martin didn’t show much last season or this past Summer League. However, this preseason, he’s shown he can play legitimate minutes this season — the opposite of Davis. Given the roster makeup though, Martin will be the odd man out. Fizdale is looking at using Chandler Parsons as a stretch-4 more often. Guys like James Ennis and JaMychal Green — both players above Martin in the rotation — will see minutes there as well. Brandan Wright and Marc Gasol both have health issues, which makes Deyonta Davis an important player as the team’s third true center.
Unless Green or Martin can play legitimate minutes at the 5, then Jarell will be the one out the door.
Both of these players will find a NBA roster spot in no time. — Parker Fleming (@PAKA_FLOCKA)
Next: Player Preview: Wade Baldwin
Who do you think won’t make the final roster? Comment your thoughts below.