Grading Justise Winslow’s Memphis Grizzlies debut

The story of Grizzlies small forward Justise Winslow is the story of a player who entered the league at the age of 19 and never fully reached his potential. In his natural position, he was unable to find much success on a crowded Miami Heat roster.

Due to injuries on the Heat roster, he was able to see some time at point guard, a position that isn’t considered his primary area of expertise. It’s unclear whether or not this helped him develop as a small forward, but it showed an entirely new side to his potential as an NBA player.

He played better at point guard in the absence of Goran Dragic than he had anywhere else on the court. So what does this mean for the Memphis Grizzlies?

Well, we don’t really know yet. Obviously, the point guard position is locked down by Ja Morant, but Winslow’s return to the court could give the bench a much-needed boost when Morant is off the court. We didn’t see him handle the ball much in his debut against the Phoenix Suns.

After shaking off some early rust, Justise Winslow played well on Saturday

During his injury, Justise Winslow must have been hanging out in a really humid area with a lot of metal. I say this because he had an unbelievable amount of rust to shake off in the first half of the game. The young Grizzly missed his first 9 shots of the game. Yes, you’re reading that right, he laid nine bricks before he hit a shot. He also missed his first two free throw attempts in the game, unable to get the ball in the hole for the entire first half.

It was worrisome right out of the gate, but the first half didn’t seem like something to worry about when looking at his long-term development in Memphis. Yes, he shot poorly, but he was clearly getting out some nerves and he looked more comfortable in the second half. After that, he actually played a pretty strong game on that end.

Today, I’ll be grading Justise Winslow’s return to the Memphis Grizzlies.