Memphis Grizzlies: Top 5 offseason questions to answer

Why is Dillon Brooks so inconsistent?

When you ask people about Dillon Brooks the first thing that’s always mentioned in the Marshon Brooks trade… But the second thing that’s always mentioned is his inconsistency as a player.

To show how inconsistent Brooks can be the best example is his per month statistics during the 19-20 regular season, which also are adjoining months. This is how much Brooks effectiveness on the court can fluctuate within a couple of months,

December: Net Rating: -7.8, Effective Field Goal percentage 49.3, Plus/Minus (+/-) 5.1 and a 3-point percentage of 35.0.

January: Net Rating: 6.5, Effective Field Goal percentage 54.7, +/- 5.1 and a 3-point percentage of 45.5.

February: Net rating: 0.6,  Effective Field Goal percentage 25.4, +/- -0.5 and a 3-point percentage of 25.4.

One of the reasons why Brooks is inconsistent is in his shot selection, in the era of Sprawlball the mid-range shot is the ‘break in case of emergency’ tool unless you are actually efficient in taking those shots, Chris Paul, Nikola Jokic and Kawhi Leonard fit in that group, (also note how they are All-Stars and taking these shots in the playoffs as well.)

Brooks takes a lot of mid-range shots, during the 19-20 regular season Brooks took 210 mid-range shots according to Stats.NBA.com shooting splits with making 40.5 percent of them.

When looking at that you may say “that’s actually pretty good”, but when compared to the previously mentioned All-Stars like Chris Paul it shows how fickle the mid-range shot is. Paul shot 291 mid-range shots and made 54 percent of them, Jokic took 228 mid-range shots and made 45.6  percent of them and Leonard took 326 and made 42.9 percent (note that’s 116 more than Brooks but Kawhi shot 2.4  percent better in those situations)

On average the mid-range shot is a bad shot, only the greatest of the great make it an actually worthwhile shot, especially come playoff time.

For Brooks, it is a liability and unlike Paul or Jokic he’s taking them in bad situations where Jokic and Paul often use it in a pick and roll, the best example of this was in the 2018 NBA Playoffs when the Chris Paul dismantled the Utah Jazz’s defence with the mid-range destruction of Rudy Gobert.

The second main reason he’s inconsistent and inefficient is the shot clock, Brooks throughout the regular season Brooks attempted 39.4 percent of his shots between 15 and 24 seconds left on the shot clock, with 16.3 coming between 22-18. When you combine the shot selection and the timing of the shots it’s a recipe for inefficient shots and has led to his up and down season.

There are two main ways he could possibly be a more impactful player, the first being for Brooks to cleaning up his shot selection and possibly becoming exclusively a 3-and-D player, who can drive to the basket. Brooks made 38 percent on catch and shoot threes this season and an impressive 52.9  percent on unassisted shots within five feet of the basket.

Brooks is also a fast and strong guard so he’s been able to convert fast-break opportunities into points or passes in the corners and with Ja Morant throwing lead passes it has been a bright spot.

The second is allowing Brooks to take those shots against lesser capable defenders on second units and allowing him to be the sixth man and bringing Brandon Clarke into the starting line-up as in his rookie season he showed a lot promise as a two-way switchable power forward next to Jaren Jackson Jr. If he takes on the center duties.