Dillon Brooks’ time with the Memphis Grizzlies may come to an end this offseason.
According to NBA reporter Mark Stein, “There is also a growing widespread suspicion about the Grizzlies’ willingness to re-sign Brooks as he heads to free agency.”
While Brooks has become a household name among basketball fans due to his lack of success talking about LeBron James during the playoffs, he has developed into a solid secondary scoring option during his six seasons with the Grizzlies.
He averaged a career best 18.4 points last night after scoring 17.2 points per game the previous season. However, he dropped a step during the 2022-23 campaign.
The Oregon product saw his points per game drop to 14.3 and his field goal percentage from 43.2 to 39.6. It still offers some value on the defensive side, but the efficiency numbers in particular have been a concern for a team that needs better shooters who can take advantage of the distances created by Ja Morant’s engines.
Then the playoffs happened.
Brooks went back and forth with James during Game 2 of Memphis’ first-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers, and he was never one to hold back on the chance of being something of a provocateur on the floor.
However, it was his comments afterwards that turned the most eyes when he was to reporters“I don’t care. He’s old. … I poke bears. I don’t respect anybody until they come over and give me 40.”
Los Angeles went on to win the series in six games, James was typically dominant himself and Brooks didn’t make it through the next game because he was ejected for a blunt 2 foul committed against King.
As if that weren’t enough, the NBA announce Brooks was fined $25,000 for his “failure to participate in the team’s post-game media availability during the first round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs.”
There was a lot of hype for the role-playing player and general manager Zac Kleiman didn’t seem like someone eager to bring the 27-year-old back when He saidsaid, “There have definitely been some self-created distractions in the series and along the way. We’re going to take a different approach (next season).”
He also added that he would “beat Dillon another day” when asked specifically about the attacker.
That other day Brooks might end up looking for another team.