Third-year man JaMychal Green is the new starting power forward in Memphis. Does he have what it takes to replace a franchise legend?
The Memphis Grizzlies have made six consecutive playoffs, but have otherwise been spinning their wheels in the Western Conference. New head coach David Fizdale comes to town looking to rejuvenate the team in several aspects.
He’s looking to instill some of the championship culture he experienced during his eight years as an assistant in Miami. He’s pushing the team to play an uptempo style more in line with today’s NBA. Fizdale is also establishing firm roles for players moving forward. One player benefitting from a new role is 26-year-old JaMychal Green.
Green — a third-year man out of Alabama — has the unenviable task of replacing Zach Randolph as the Grizzlies’ starting four. They’re big shoes to fill: Randolph logged seven years, 441 starts, 48 win shares, and earned two All-Star appearances at the position. Seeing an established commodity like Z-Bo sent to the bench for a lesser-known player can be jarring. However, there is already precedent for such a move.
Green has started 16 games as a member of the Grizzlies. 12 of them were in place of Randolph. In those 12 games, Green averaged 12.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 30.1 minutes per game. Eight of those starts were double-digit performances. Four of them were double-doubles.
He had a particularly strong March, as Green had three straight games where he picked up his career high in assists at Cleveland, his career high in rebounds at Boston, and a career high in points against New Orleans. He also had a 20-point performance later in the month at his former team (San Antonio).
Green and Randolph have some overlap in skills. Both players are tenacious rebounders. Last season, Green pulled down 13.3 boards per 100 possessions to Randolph’s 13.5. Green swiped 1.6 steals per 100 possessions to Randolph’s 1.1. Their true shooting percentages were also nearly identical. Green shot 52 percent from all ranges, Randolph shot 51.9.
Ultimately, JaMychal is the new starter for Memphis because he brings a change of pace in a number of areas.
“He really complements Marc well with his speed, his versatility, his ability to switch pick-and-rolls, trap pick-and-rolls and make open jump shots,” Coach Fizdale told the Commercial Appeal’s Ronald Tillery.
“He has kind of that Draymond Green versatility. Maybe not off the dribble yet. But from every other aspect, I like what he brings to the table.”
For one, Green (listed at 227 pounds) is slimmer than Zach (260 pounds). He’s also more agile. According to NBA.com/Stats, JaMychal moved at an average speed of 4.2 miles per hour. Randolph clocked in at 3.81 mph, second-slowest on the team. These two differences help Green defend the power and small forward positions. This is useful when teams bring out small lineups to counter Memphis’s advantages in the post.
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Both players share similar true shooting percentages, but there are differences in how they go about getting points. Randolph distributed his shots fairly evenly from 0 to 22 feet out, while JaMychal liked to scrap for his points inside. 51.7 percent of Green’s shots come from under the basket, 17.4 percent of his points come from putbacks and tip-ins, and 13.7 percent of Green’s points came from dunks, while Randolph logged a single slam in 2,016 regular season minutes.
Away from the basket, Green has a mid-range shot that is most potent on the left side of the floor. It needs more development moving forward, as his percentages from this range even out to only 39.9 percent. Green has also developed a three-point shot, shooting best from the left corner and right wing. Zach has been known to pop a trey every so often, but Green knocked down the same amount of threes in 2015-16 (15) that Randolph has made in the last three seasons.
Whenever a veteran is moved to the bench for a younger player, everyone wonders if the older player is okay with the move. In the case of the Memphis Grizzlies and Zach Randolph, the answer is an emphatic “Yes”.
“He’s got heart,” Randolph said to ESPN’s Tim McMahon, “He’s tough. He’s one of those guys that’s hungry, having gone through the struggle. People who have gone through the struggle approach things different than people who ain’t. They go harder, you know? great skill set. Works hard. That’s my young boy”.
Randolph’s support of Green is a huge plus. Having Zach – himself still a solid starter – on the same page as Fizdale goes a long way in aiding the chemistry and development of this new era of Grizzlies basketball. This vote of confidence eases the pressure on JaMychal to perform well, allowing him to simply play his game.
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“It’s just a position. I have to go out there and perform,” Green told the Commercial Appeal, “I’m grateful for the opportunity and I have to perform to keep it. I’m not going to try to be Zach or outplay Zach. I’m going to be myself and be an energy guy for us.”
2015-16 was a season that saw a coaching change and more players employed than a Major League Baseball roster. For that reason, 2017 was slated to be a rebuilding year for the Grizzlies. But by signing Mike Conley to the richest contract in NBA history and adding Chandler Parsons along with several rookies, this team is right back to being a playoff contender.
This time, Fizdale wants to do things differently. Green as starting power forward is a major part of the new blueprint. There may be growing pains along the way, but he absolutely has the tools and confidence to become a starter-level player in the NBA.