Grizzlies: 3 most surprising players so far in 2020-2021

Kyle Anderson has quietly been a leader on this team

For the record, this list is in no particular order. Kyle Anderson may actually be the biggest surprise you’ll see. Throughout his career, Anderson has never actually averaged double digit points. He has been a nice role player, but he was never given a real opportunity to contribute heavily to a team.

In his last year on the Spurs in 2017-18, he would see a ton of court time, playing 26 minutes per game, but seemed to hit a ceiling as a scorer. Even though he had effective stretches with the Spurs, his development had hit a wall. He was a strong defender, but couldn’t get things going on the offensive end.

When he came to Memphis, things didn’t change immediately. He was fitting into the same mold as he had in San Antonio. But he has been given a bigger role this year in the absence of some important Grizzlies.

Anderson been an extremely aggressive player this year, putting up some of the best numbers of his career. This includes 13.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, and over a steal per contest. You won’t find many better value players in the league than Anderson.