Who will “be Grayson Allen” for the Grizzlies in 2021?

The Memphis Grizzlies‘ biggest loss in the 2021 offseason had to be Jonas Valanciunas, who was arguably the most consistent player on the team last season. Even though he didn’t necessarily fit alongside the rest of the team age-wise, Valanciunas fit like a glove.

That said, one of the more underrated guys on last year’s team was Grayson Allen, who snuck his way into Grizzlies fans’ hearts during his two years on Beale Street.

While he’ll be labeled as a pure three-point shooter, Allen’s game was much more complicated than that. He was one of the most athletic players on the team and, despite being one of the more disliked players in the league, he embodied the Grizzlies’ grit-and-grind mentality.

Allen, despite being a productive player and a starter for a large portion of the season, didn’t seem like a guy who would be around for the long haul. He was a relatively low-ceiling player with a contract year coming up, which eventually led Memphis toward trading him away. It was the right move, but now the Grizzlies have a gaping hole in the rotation.

Who will be the Grayson Allen of the Memphis Grizzlies in 2021?

If we were talking about Jonas Valanciunas, the answer as to who his replacement is would be a simple one — Steven Adams.

Fortunately for me, that’s not the case. Things go much deeper than that.

Allen was a unique player, though his primary role on the team was to shoot the ball. Outside of Dillon Brooks, who was the highest overall volume shooter on the team, Allen shot more three-pointers than anybody else on the squad with 5.5 per contest. He did so efficiently, too, knocking down 39.1% of his long-range shots.

Alongside Brooks and Allen, the next-highest volume three-point shooter on last year’s squad was Jaren Jackson, Jr., who won’t be filling Allen’s role for obvious reasons. So who does that leave to replace Allen?

My short answer would be simple — nobody.

The Grizzlies’ next highest shooter in terms of volume was De’Anthony Melton, who may actually see a decrease in minutes. They didn’t bring in any sharpshooters outside of Sam Merrill, who likely will not see any significant playing time. Newcomers Ziaire Williams and Jarrett Culver have not proven that they can shoot consistently, either.

The argument could be made that Desmond Bane, entering his second season, is ready to fill into that role, but Jenkins seemed intent on making Bane more of a playmaker than Allen ever was. it’s unlikely that Bane will jump into that role.

At this point, we don’t know. This will be a story to watch throughout the 2021-22 season.