Why the Memphis Grizzlies will have an All-Star in every event next year
By Ethan Becker
Skills Challenge: Brandon Clarke
I said in the last slide that there was no NBA award for most surprising performance of the season, but that’s not entirely true. Since it’s implementation, the league has liked to use the Skills Challenge to showcase some of the more surprising players of the season.
This year, those names included players like Bam Adebayo and Pascal Siakam (who was a surprise last season), and next season it could easily include Brandon Clarke.
Clarke feel to the 21st spot of the 2019 NBA Draft, and he was immediately traded by the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Memphis Grizzlies. Since then, Clarke has averaged 12.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks per game with shooting percentages of 62.3 percent from the field, 42.0 percent from 3-point range, and 79.3 percent from the free throw line.
Clarke’s number, especially his shooting numbers, have been outstanding this year, and he’s shown that he can get it all done on the offensive end of the floor (which is what the Skills Challenge tests). If he keeps this up next season, it’s more than likely that he’ll make an appearance in next year’s competition.