After a disastrous series against the Lakers, Dillon Brooks has been unceremoniously dropped by the Grizzlies. Draymond Green tried to warn him.
In his short time in the NBA, Dillon Brooks has already built an impressive record of antagonizing better teams and players and collecting beef with almost everyone. After the Grizzlies’ Game 2 win over the Lakers, he called LeBron old and said he didn’t respect anyone who hadn’t scored 40 points against him.
After that interview, the Grizzlies lost three of four games. Brooks scored a total of 36 points and shot 13-of-49 (28.0 percent) from the field and 5-of-27 (22.2 percent) from beyond the arc. He also picked up a $25,000 fine for declining to speak to media after the final loss of the season. Today, Shams Charania announced that the Grizzlies wouldn’t bring the unrestricted free agent back “under any circumstances.”
Draymond Green told Dillon Brooks the Grizzlies would be better without him
Before this series, Brooks had spent most of the season antagonizing the Warriors, giving comments about how much he didn’t like them. Draymond Green responded earlier this spring, prophesizing that the Grizzlies would take off once Brooks was gone.
It’s hard to argue with Draymond considering how things worked out, but all of the evidence was there before. Brooks is a solid defender but a disastrous offensive player and his inefficiency and willingness to shoot was a major problem for the Grizzlies.
Memphis was only slightly better with him on the floor this season, in part because he played so many minutes with the other starters. Lineups with Brooks on the bench and the rest of the Grizzlies’ young core — Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane — outscored opponents by 28.5 points per 100 possessions. Add Brooks and that number drops to plus-9.2.
The Grizzlies have the talent to compete for championships over the next four to five years and, as Draymond Green said, they may have a better chance of doing that with a more versatile two-way threat in place of Brooks.
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