Memphis Grizzlies forward Justise Winslow was traded to the team on February 6th, 2020. We wouldn’t see him on the court in a Grizzlies uniform for an over entire calendar year after that.
But so far, he has impressed and it seems like he’s extremely happy on this Memphis roster. Even though he hasn’t found perfect offensive consistency, he’s been huge for this team defensively. His energy on the defensive end cannot be understated and he’s easily been the second-best guy to Kyle Anderson.
He’s been a utility guy. We all knew he would be; he’s the most well-rounded player on this team. He can run the point, play on the wing, and lock down virtually anybody under 6’10”.
His impact defensively goes beyond the stat sheet, but he has put up some solid numbers so far with 3 steals and 3 blocks in just five showings. He’ll look to build off of this statistically, but he’s already an invaluable asset to this team.
His 10 points and 1.4 assists with 1.8 turnovers per game on offense won’t turn any heads, but he looks like he’s settling into his new role in Memphis. He wasn’t going to be the most involved player right off the bat and he’s coming off of an injury, so he still has time to improve offensively.
The Memphis Grizzlies have been getting good minutes out of Justise Winslow
In his first two games, he scored on just 4-24 shot attempts. It looked bad, but everybody knew what he was capable of. He wasn’t going to continue to brick layups and shoot air balls, he just had to shake the rust off. And that’s exactly what he would end up doing.
He’d bounce back, scoring 20 in his next game on 8-12 shooting. After the game, he would go on to express how pleased he was to be on the Memphis Grizzlies. He’d follow this up with another double-figure scoring game, seeing over half of his shots in the bottom of the net for the second consecutive match.
We knew what he was capable of on the defensive end, but his offensive potential is exciting. If he can develop into a scoring threat, this team will have a guy that can hold things down while Ja Morant and the other starters need a breather.
Winslow has been a huge contributor in the Grizzlies’ strong play recently, giving this team a boost right when they needed it. Hopefully, his strong play will continue through the NBA All-Star break, allowing this team to morph into shape upon the return of JJJ.