Memphis Grizzlies should invest in Dillon Brooks

Dillon Brooks, the 45th pick in the 2017 draft, has been a surprise for the Memphis Grizzlies. What’s his ceiling? Can he be a future piece on this team?

In this “buy or sell” series, it should be a unanimous decision for the Memphis Grizzlies to buy into Dillon Brooks. In fact, he should become an investment for this team.

With a rebuild nearly inevitable, Brooks should be a piece to keep. From the looks of this season, it seems like they’re going to invest in him.

Not even ten games into the season, the Grizzlies inserted Brooks into the starting lineup. Even with the return of Ben McLemore — one of the team’s main free agent acquisitions this offseason — and with a coaching change, Brooks has become a mainstay in the starting lineup.

Why should the Grizzlies should invest in Dillon Brooks? What is his ceiling?

Why to invest

Dillon Brooks has already shown the ability to thrive in any role given. At the start of the season, he was a nice fit alongside the ever-dangerous bench squad. As a starter, he fills in as a complementary scorer and the primary perimeter defender.

On offense, he’s a Swiss-army knife that isn’t afraid to score. He’s shown the willingness to take it to the rim no matter who’s on him. His 3-point percentage doesn’t suggest it (34.8 percent), but he’s been a reliable target from beyond the arc. He can also shoot off the dribble from mid-range.

As he continues to gain more experience on the court, he’ll feel more and more comfortable scoring. Eventually, he can be a nice third or fourth scoring option in a faster (and hopefully better) offense.

Brooks is also a high-IQ player who can grow into a secondary playmaker. He’s hardly careless with the basketball — most of his mistakes are just from being a rookie. He does need to improve on his ball-handling, but at Oregon, he proved himself capable of manning point guard duties. If he can continue to improve on his decision-making and ball-handling, Brooks can be a player who makes life easy for his point guard.

Defensively, the Memphis Grizzlies are grooming Dillon Brooks to become the team’s perimeter stopper of the future. After Tony Allen’s departure, the Grizzlies desperately needed a young player to mold into a superb lockdown defender, and Brooks might be that guy. He’s already been tasked with All-Stars such as Klay Thompson, James Harden and CJ McCollum. Right now, he does make rookie mistakes on defense, but he can be a solid perimeter defender.

Overall, he just makes winning plays. He makes the right passes. Brooks isn’t afraid to take a big shot. He does all the little things necessary to help a team win. Obviously, it hasn’t been as evident since the team isn’t winning, but Brooks knows what it takes to win. He’s the kind of player the team needs in the locker room.

Closing Remarks – What is his ceiling?

The Memphis Grizzlies front office and fanbase have a tendency to overrate a player. Many fans wished to keep a 36-year old Tony Allen, even though he can’t shoot and is averaging 13 minutes on a wing-depleted Pelicans team. The front office overrated JaMychal Green; it didn’t help that Fizdale compared him to Draymond Green. Don’t get me wrong, JaMychal is a nice player to have on this team. However, his game is too limited to pay him $8,000,000 a year.

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Both the fanbase and front office have to be careful on how much they value Dillon Brooks. Not in terms of money, but his ceiling. As a 45th pick, what you’re getting now is a nice steal.

He can be a dang good player at the next level, but he’s more fit as a complimentary piece for the next core (side-note: imagine him as the lockdown defender alongside the trio of Trae Young, Zion Williamson and James Wiseman). If he turns out to be another Danny Green or Jae Crowder, the Grizzlies hit a home run here.

While I say “tamper your expectations,” appreciate Dillon Brooks and how he can be an impact player on this team for years to come.