The Draft
Dating back to 2007, the only player the Memphis Grizzlies drafted in the first round to actually stick with the team and have an impact has been Mike Conley. The Grizz have had three lottery picks in that time, selecting Kevin Love and immediately trading him (No. 5 in 2008), draft bust Hasheem Thabeet (No. 2 in 2009) and Xavier Hentry (No. 12 in 2010).
Other than that, it’s been Donte Greene (No. 28), DeMarre Carroll (No. 27), Dominique Jones (No. 25), Greivis Vasquez (No. 28), Tony Wroten (No. 25) and Jordan Adams (No. 22). The verdict is still out on Adams, but you can see the trend: even when the Grizzlies select a useful NBA player near the end of the first round, he doesn’t become useful until going elsewhere.
That trend might not change much with the selection of Jarell Martin at No. 25 in this year’s draft.
In his second and final season at LSU, Martin averaged 16.9 points and 9.2 rebounds per game while displaying his abilities as an athletic, explosive leaper with a terrific motor. Unfortunately, even if he has good size at 6’9″, his lack of length makes him a little bit of a tweener. He may not have enough shooting ability to play the 3 and he’s not quite big enough to play the 4.
The Grizzlies also opted to trade away the seldom used Jon Leuer to the Phoenix Suns for the 44th pick, which turned out to be Kentucky’s Andrew Harrison. He’s projected to be the better prospect of the Kentucky twins, but while his brother Aaron Harrison impressed in NBA Summer League with the Hornets, Andrew only averaged 5.4 points and 3.0 assists per game.
Expectations shouldn’t be high for either Grizzlies rookie next season. In fact, it’ll be hard for them to even crack the rotation at all. Martin’s energy and athleticism could make him an exception in time, but for now, it seems more likely that the unfortunate trend of not being able to internally develop young talent will continue.
Grade: C
Next: The Wright Replacement For Koufos