The Grizzlies have consistently found productive players later in the draft with their draft picks during the Zach Kleiman era. His ability to spot talent in the late first round and second round has been a hit more often than not during his five-year run as a general manager.
Furthermore, his ability to locate talent, whether it be players that went undrafted or playing in the G League without a two-way contract, has been impressive throughout his tenure as well. Look no further than the current Grizzlies' roster which houses 12 of its 13 members being drafted or signed as an undrafted free agent by the organization.
Past Later Round Draft Picks
Beginning in the 2019 draft that kicked off the "Grz Nxt Gen" era with the second pick of Ja Morant, the Grizzlies made a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder to move up a couple of spots in the back half of the first round to select reserve big man Brandon Clarke with the 21st pick of the draft. Also, reserve wing John Kochar was signed to a two-way contract as an undrafted free agent in 2019 and worked his way from the G League's Memphis Hustle to the Memphis Grizzlies roster in 2020.
In 2020, the Grizzlies had no first-round pick but traded into the last pick of the first round to select starting shooting guard Desmond Bane. In that same 2020 draft, Kleiman and the Grizzlies traded up to 35 in the second round to select former reserve big man Xavier Tillman.
The 2021 draft saw the Grizzlies trade into the last pick of the first round, again, to select reserve big man Santi Aldama. Then the 2022 draft saw Kleiman, again, trade up to select reserve wing Jake LaRavia with the 19th pick in the first round, and select reserve wing Vince Williams Jr. with the 47th pick of the second round.
With the team only having one draft pick in the 2023 draft, Kleiman finally remained still on the trade front and selected reserve wing GG Jackson with the 45th pick in the second round. All of the players named above have either been or will be a key member of the Grizzlies' rotation.
2024 Roster Movement
With the additions and improvements of two-way wings Vince Williams Jr. and GG Jackson to active roster spots in the middle of last season, Kleiman signed Scotty Pippen Jr. to a two-way contract off the South Bay Lakers G League roster. He has since proved that he deserves a chance to obtain one of the Grizzlies' open roster spots and might be a part of the rotation even while on his active two-way contract.
During the summer, the team not only added Zach Edey with its 9th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, but they drafted wing Jaylen Wells and guard Cam Spencer with the 39th and 54th picks, respectively, in the second round. Cam Spencer looked very promising in Summer League play and Jaylen Wells looks like he can challenge for a rotational spot so far during preseason action.
Two-way center Jay Huff was the last addition to the Grizzlies' offseason and he has looked like a player that has a real chance to challenge for some minutes as a backup big man at some point. Zach Kleiman has pulled some strings with his talent evaluation and it looks promising that the Grizzlies will be able to withstand the early losses of Vince Williams Jr. and GG Jackson for the early part of this upcoming regular season.