Memphis Grizzlies: Biggest needs for the 2018 NBA Draft
By Tony East
Athletic players
Simply put, the Grizzlies need athletes. Who is the most athletic player on the team right now? Is it MarShon Brooks? That is embarrassing. The Grizz need someone who can jump out of the gym.
There are really only two guys who fit this mold, so it is easy to jump right in. Those guys are Michael Porter Jr. and Hamidou Diallo.
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Porter is the toughest guy in the draft to analyze. At one point, he was the No. 1 recruit coming out of high school, and the fact that he is still projected to get drafted so high after his back injury should tell you how talented he is.
But that is just the problem — his injury. If it is something chronic and Porter never amounts to anything, the pick will be seen as wasted. Porter is an athletic high flying freak with a solid jumper though, and if his health checks out, he could step into Memphis and immediately raise the teams ceiling both now and in the future.
Without a significant volume of college play to base any stats on, a Porter pick would be made purely on potential. He is boom or bust, but he could be the boom the Memphis Grizzlies need.
The other guy Memphis could look at in the second round is Hamidou Diallo. Diallo was another highly touted prospect out of high school, and he even opted to enter the NBA Draft last year, but did it without an agent.
Ultimately, he returned to Kentucky, but we still got a glimpse of what Diallo could be in the draft combine last year. Draft Express reported that his vertical jump was 44.5 inches, three inches higher than Zach LaVine. Even though Diallo only averaged 10 points per game on pretty mediocre shooting numbers at Kentucky, his athleticism gives him tremendous upside.
Next: Full two-round 2018 NBA Mock Draft
The Memphis Grizzlies have a ton of needs and only two picks to try and address them. Hopefully, they pick two of these guys and start off their rebuild right.