Memphis Grizzlies: Did Brice Johnson show us anything in his debut?

By Tony East | Feb 27, 2018

Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images /

The Memphis Grizzlies’ trade deadline acquisition, Brice Johnson, made his debut for the team against the Miami Heat. Let’s see if he showed us anything significant.

The Memphis Grizzlies have very few assets in the cupboard. They don’t have a surplus of draft picks, they have very few young promising players, and their older players don’t have tradable contracts. That combination makes it challenging to build a team or pivot to a rebuild.

That is why when the Detroit Pistons offered Brice Johnson and a second round pick for James Ennis on the day of the trade deadline, the Grizzlies were happy to accept. The second round compensation is very helpful for a team with minimal picks. Johnson was a throw-in, but for Memphis, he is a young player with a greater than zero chance of being a rotation player someday, and they need as many of those as they can get.

That is why analyzing all of his playing time is so vital. Johnson had his third-year option declined on his rookie scale contract, so the Grizzlies only have about two months to watch Johnson and see what they have with him.

After not getting an opportunity before the All-Star break, the North Carolina graduate finally got his first chance in Grind City. His stats don’t jump off the page at all: five minutes, zero points, three rebounds and one steal. But a closer look at the film shows Johnson actually doing some decent things on the court.

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A place to start is the steal. For everything Brice Johnson isn’t, he is one thing. Occasionally to a fault, he’s aggressive on defense. That culminates on the stat sheet, Johnson has averaged a whopping 6.2 steals per 36 minutes for his career.

This is, of course, an unsustainable number, but it shows that Johnson can take the ball from his opponents with the best of them. The Memphis Grizzlies’ coaching staff and front office have to hope that he can be a high steals player if he ever wants to get significant minutes, so seeing Johnson steal a pass from Justise Winslow had to make everyone happy.

The only other thing on the stat sheet is the three rebounds. At first glance, it is just a “meh” stat; three rebounds. But in just under five minutes, that is an impressive amount of rebounds, and he grabbed them with a force and tenacity that made him look hungry for playing time.

His first defensive rebound caught my eye. You can see him look back and make sure he knows where his matchup is, slides to be in the way in case he needs to box out and explodes into the area for the rebound once it comes flying off the rim. He then rose up into the air and grabbed it over the top of Jordan Mickey:

That kind of effort is what Johnson will need to bring every possession if he wants to get more minutes, or even another contract.

His offensive rebound, and really the whole sequence before it, was Johnson showcasing what he could be. He catches the ball on the wing, far out of his comfort zone. Instead of passing out, he puts the ball on the floor and takes it to the rim.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t get by his man, but he was able to get a floater off. He knew he missed it, so he followed his shot and exploded up to snag a rebound over three Heat players. Unfortunately he missed the tip in too, but the whole body of work on the play was eye-popping for BJ:

The trouble with Johnson, as it always has been, is that those shots didn’t go in, but he put the ball on the floor and created an opportunity for himself, and that is something we haven’t seen from him at the professional level.

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It’s only one game, but Johnson did show at least something in his Memphis Grizzlies debut. It wasn’t a stat or a highlight reel play. Instead, he showed he is going to give tons of effort when he gets on the court. Maybe it will be enough to extend his NBA career.

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