G – Jordan Adams (2014, Pick No. 22)
Total NBA games played: 32
Like Xavier Henry, Jordan Adams had all the physical tools you would want in an NBA player. The 6’5″ forward out of UCLA averaged 17.4 ppg in his sophomore season for the Bruins before declaring for the 2014 NBA draft.
Grizzlies fans might remember the big controversy surrounding this pick, as everyone thought the team should have drafted Rodney Hood (who had a much more productive NBA career, scoring as much as 16.8 PPG in 2017-2018).
Adams was extremely raw and had to spend considerable time in the G-League. He tore his meniscus and had to have surgery before the 2015-16 season. He ended up having multiple follow-up surgeries and could not get healthy enough to resume basketball activity.
Where is Jordan Adams now?
Adams appears to be back playing basketball, but not in the NBA. He’s bounced around to multiple foreign leagues since 2020. He’s played for the CIBACOPA in Mexico, Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional league in Mexico and the Liga Nacional de Basquet in Argentina.
G – Wade Baldwin (2016, Pick No. 17)
Total NBA games played: 56
Wade Baldwin, the former Vanderbilt star, had a spectacularly quick NBA flame out, competing in just 56 NBA games in his career (33 of which were with the Memphis Grizzlies).
He played just 12 minutes per game in his rookie season, spending most of his time in the G-League. He didn’t have much of a three-point shot and turned the ball over a lot. He just didn’t make good decisions on the basketball court.
NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski called it “rare” for an NBA team to give up on a player so quickly when he broke the news that the team was waving the No. 17 overall pick after just one season.
The move was seemingly made for practical reasons, providing the team roster space to sign Mario Chalmers, who ended up starting 10 games for the Grizzlies that season and competed in 66 games.
Where is Wade Baldwin now?
Baldwin signed with Portland and competed for the Blazers and their G-League affiliate from 2017-2019. He bounced around various foreign leagues since then, competing for Olympiacos, Bayern Munich and Saski Baskonia in Europe.
Baldwin, still just 26 years old, has reportedly signed with Maccabi Tel Aviv where he’ll be a teammate of former Memphis Grizzlies player Jarell Martin.