Grizzly Grades: Memphis Grizzlies’ 2019-20 NBA Season
By AJ Salah
Player Development
This grade should start with the caveat that, in spirit, it’s meant to evaluate the progress made by incumbent Grizzlies players.
Memphis made that difficult right from the get, flipping all but four bodies from last year’s roster. Those players they did keep – Jaren Jackson Jr, Jonas Valanciunas, Dillon Brooks, and Kyle Anderson – varied in terms of progress.
Jackson fit the preseason profile of an MIP candidate, but sputtered out of the gate. It took him a minute to find his shooting stroke, scoring a very meh 13.6 ppg over the season’s first month. While he eventually caught fire offensively, Jackson mostly stalled on the other end.
JJJ’s lack of progress on D was troublesome. He remained a grossly-absent rebounder, while most of his defensive metrics either plateaued or declined. Jackson also remained infuriatingly foul-prone, leading the NBA by a wide margin.
Jackson’s still a versatile defender whose agility and length will enable him to close out, and block/disrupt shots by default. But if he’s to realize his ceiling as a neo-big prototype, he’ll need to be more selectively assertive.
Brooks got his career back on track after a sophomore season lost to injury. He cemented himself as Memphis’ much-sought third scorer, becoming also perhaps their most polarizing player. While Brooks was often brilliant, he was also prone to hero ball, forcing ill-advised drives and chucking up questionable shots.
Brooks formed an awkward symbiosis with Anderson, whose lack of primacy has long been his biggest issue. Biting on one of Slow-Mo’s glacial-paced shot fakes is one of the NBA’s most gullible bits.
However, Memphis is gradually morphing Anderson – notorious for his lack of range – into a shooter. In November, he was averaging a horrid 21% on 1.1 attempts per game from long rage. By the bubble, those numbers rose to 35% on 2.8 attempts. It’s not an overnight success, but Anderson likes taking his time.
Valanciunas, while mostly a finished product, had his best season ever. He waxed glass at a career-high rate, and set a new personal high in TS%, along with his best season-long scoring output (2018-19 was offset by his stat-padding in regular season garbage time).
It was a year of definite progress for Memphis’ in-house talent. Not without a few bumps in the road, but overall Grizz fans should be encouraged. Jackson is still very young, Brooks’ shortcomings are fixable, and Anderson & Valanciunas both seem to be adding layers.