Memphis Grizzlies: 2019 NBA Draft grades

The 2019 NBA Draft has come to a close for the Memphis Grizzlies, so here are the grades for their selections of Ja Morant and Brandon Clarke.

The Memphis Grizzlies found themselves in a relatively unknown position in the 2019 NBA Draft. For the first time since 2007, they entered into a draft without Mike Conley or Marc Gasol being on the roster. Memphis traded Gasol to the Toronto Raptors at the 2019 NBA Trade Deadline and finalized a trade on Wednesday to send Conley to the Utah Jazz.

But all is not lost. The Grizz have a bright future ahead of them and they made two selections in Thursday’s draft to further that plan.

The Grizzlies acted as expected and selected Ja Morant, the highly touted point guard from Murray State, with the No. 2 overall pick. Memphis then traded with the Oklahoma City Thunder to move up two spots from No. 23 to No. 21 to take big man Brandon Clarke from Gonzaga. Clarke was projected to be taken in the lottery, but after he slid past the top 20, the Grizzlies made their move to jump up and take him.

Thursday night was an absolute home run for Memphis which was able to address two glaring needs without sacrificing upside. Both Morant and Clarke are elite athletes and project to be major contributors right away.

Bearing all that in mind, here are the Memphis Grizzlies’ 2019 NBA Draft grades.