Ex-Grizzlies starter deemed ‘most overrated’ player
By Mark Nilon
As more and more time passes, the decision to not re-up with Dillon Brooks this summer continuously seems to have been the right move made by the Memphis Grizzlies.
Selected 45 overall by the organization back in the 2017 draft, the polarizing wing served as a regular starting option and a high-usage player in Grind City before agreeing to terms on a lucrative sign-and-trade arrangement with the Houston Rockets, inking a new four-year, $86 million deal in the process.
Though the franchise saw some sound success throughout his six-year stint in Memphis, including three trips to the postseason and two second-seeded finishes in the Western Conference standings, Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey suggests that they often were able to accomplish such feats in spite of Brooks’ play, as he recently deemed the forward as the “most overrated” player in the league from over the last five seasons.
"“Over the last five years, he’s dead last in effective field-goal percentage among players with at least as many shot attempts. And that inaccuracy certainly hasn’t made him bashful.Over the same time period, Brooks is 53rd in usage percentage (among 388 players with at least 2,500 minutes). About a quarter of the Memphis Grizzlies’ possessions with Brooks on the floor ended with a shot, turnover or trip to the line for one of the game’s worst shooters,” Bailey wrote."
Bailey would cap off his stance on Brooks by noting that his offensive shortcomings were regularly made up for during his tenure with the Grizzlies due to playing alongside “high-end offensive talents like Ja Morant and Desmond Bane.”
Though the departed forward may believe his highly scrutinized shooting efficiency has an opportunity to now vastly improve with the Rockets considering star guard Fred VanVleet will be running the floor, Bailey, along with sheer advanced statistics, doubt this will wind up being the case.
Dillon Brooks heads to Houston having posted averages of 15.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.0 steals while shooting 41.1 percent from the field, 33.9 percent from distance (5.4 attempts per game), and sports a career true shooting average of 51.2 percent which, based on 2022-23 standards, is roughlyseven pegs below league average.
