3 Memphis Grizzlies who could be forced out of the rotation in 2021
Memphis Grizzlies Player No. 3: SG De’Anthony Melton*
De’Anthony Melton is in a similar boat to John Konchar. That said, Melton is a little bit higher in Taylor Jenkins’ rotation than Konch.
Despite seeing only a marginal increase in minutes last year, the 23-year-old had a breakout season in 2020-21. With 0.6 more minutes per game on the court, Melton increased his scoring total by 1.5 points.
Most notably, Melton went from being an average — scratch that — a bad three-point shooter and turned into one of the best shooters on the team. Between his first two seasons in the league, Melton shot under 30% from deep. In 2020-21, he shot 41.2% with a career-high volume of shots.
Unfortunately for Melton, the Grizzlies added a couple of players who could steal his minutes. The first is Ziaire Williams, who the Grizzlies acquired with the 10th-overall pick in the NBA Draft. He may play sparingly at the beginning of the year, but Taylor Jenkins will want to get him involved in the rotation.
Jarrett Culver, a player discussed on the previous slide, could also steal some of Melton’s minutes.
I put an asterisk next to Melton’s name because I don’t think he’s at risk of being completely removed from the rotation, That said, I would be surprised if he didn’t see a decrease in minutes played per game.
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Changes are coming for the Memphis Grizzlies.