The Memphis Grizzlies season continues to slip away and they should start thinking about the NBA Draft. Here are three guys they should consider pairing with Jaren Jackson Jr.
The Memphis Grizzlies have found one of their franchise players in Jaren Jackson Jr. They will need to find another young star to pair with him and the NBA Draft is a great place to do so.
Outside of Jackson, this team doesn’t have a lot of young guys to build around. This is a team full of veterans and it doesn’t seem to be enough to get this team into the playoffs.
They need to start thinking about the future and that starts with finding more young talent who can be a part of the long-term plans.
Kyle Anderson is a guy who has been in the league for a few years but he is still just 25 years old, he is more than capable of being a key player in Memphis for the long haul.
He does a lot of good on both sides of the ball and if he can continue to improve his offensive game there’s no reason he can’t be this teams starting small forward for a long time.
Then they have a couple of other young guys who have shown the potential to at least be rotation players for the future.
Dillon Brooks and Jevon Carter have both already become fan favorites with their high energy minutes they bring to this team.
Neither of them will be star players but you need guys who can fit in and make an impact and that’s what these two can do.
Then we have a few young post players who could become part of the rotation in the future. Ivan Rabb has been up and down to start his career but he has continued to impress and could succeed if given the opportunity.
Then we have the two-way players in Jarnell Stokes and Yuta Watanabe. They still have a long ways to go before being NBA contributors but the team clearly believes in them so it’s very possible that one or both of them could be on the 15 main roster next season.
This whole conversation won’t matter if the Grizzlies decide to go all in and compete for a playoff spot because they would then lose their draft pick.
The pick is top eight protected in this year’s draft and the way the team has been playing recently it’s very possible they could drop into that range.
This team has a long ways to go in acquiring young talent but if they can get another star in this year’s draft then the future will look a lot better.