“Ridiculous Upside” is handing out end-of-season awards to the top-performing G-League players of 2017-18. Where does Myke Henry of the Memphis Hustle stand?
When looking at the Memphis Grizzlies’ team record, it was a disappointing 2017-18 season. However, take a look deeper and you will find many positives.
One of the largest storylines — on the bright side of things — for the Grizz was their push for youth development.
“Youth development” are two words that have oftentimes been missing from the Grizzlies’ vocabulary. This has not been much of a downfall for the franchise until the most recent season, which is when the club began to part ways with members of its veteran core.
The timing could not have been more perfect for the Memphis Grizzlies to receive its own individual farm team or Gatorage League (formerly Developmental League) affiliate.
Memphis was forced to rely upon youtful pieces of their roster. The luxury of having a G-League team — the Memphis Hustle — located nearby (Southaven, Mississippi) is off to a great start and it paid dividends in the regular season.
One of those dividends? Become familiar with the name Myke Henry.
Henry is one of two of the Memphis Grizzlies’ two-way contracts. He has put in the hard work and effort to earn NBA regular season minutes.
In just his second game as a Grizzly, Myke Henry posted a 12-point performance in just 16 minutes of action. He boosted Memphis to the four-point road victory over the Philadelphia 76ers with a trio of three-point makes. Henry also added two rebounds, two assists, four steals, and a lot of energy. He was everywhere in those limited minutes and really made a name for himself right out of the gate.
This was a direct correlation of the work Myke put into his craft. Ridiculous Upside has also taken notice of the growth of the youngster. They named him as their pick for the G-League’s Most Improved Player for the 2017-18 season.
Congrats to @MykeHenry20 who was named @RidicUpside's 2017-18 @nbagleague Most Improved Player of the Year.
— Memphis Hustle (@MemphisHustle) April 27, 2018
2016-17: 3.5 ppg
2017-18: 18 ppg pic.twitter.com/XkjAPihSRk
Considering all the hungry and talented players in the G-League, especially with the addition of the two-way contract theme, this is quite the honor for this young Grizzly.
Ridiculous Upside specifically pinpoints the 14.5 -point increase in per-game production by Myke Henry as a reason they feel he is the Gatorade League’s most improved member. Generating points is not all that Henry has improved upon, though.
From his first to second year in the NBA’s developmental ranks, Henry also upped his on-court production by more than three boards and three assists per contest. His Player Efficiency Rating also spiked — jumping from 8.4 (2016-17) to 18.0 (2017-18).
It will be interesting to see the next leap Myke Henry’s professional hoops career takes, especially now, since he has a foot in the door with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Go Grizz! Go Hustle!