NBA Rookie Ladder: Meet the foreign fab five

4. Dillon Brooks, Canada

Unlike Daniel Theis, Dillon Brooks — a Mississauga, Ontario native — had the luxury of playing high school (Findlay Prep) and college (Oregon) basketball at big name American institutions despite not being from the United States. That leg up has been on display through each of Brooks’ recent stops and has helped him earn a spot in the Memphis Grizzlies rotation despite being selected in the second round of the 2017 NBA Draft.

Brooks’ is a versatile swing forward, capable of playing minutes as a small forward in traditional lineups and moving up to power forward in small-ball lineups; Memphis has even used Brooks as a guard in some lineups this season. After getting off to a hot start to begin the year, things have cooled down some for the Canadian. He’s started 20 of the 28 games he has played this season and is averaging 7.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists while playing 28 minutes a night.

Along with Brooks, Canada has seen a rise in the amount of NBA-caliber players it has produced in recent years. Off the strength of back-to-back number one overall picks (Anthony Bennett, 2013, and Andrew Wiggins, 2014) there have been 37 total players from Canada — the most of any foreign country — that have played in the NBA as of the 2015-16 season and there were 11 active Canadians on a roster to start this year.

Memphis is in the midst of a crossroads as a franchise, after firing David “TAKE THAT FOR DATA!” Fizdale the prolonged absence of Mike Conley has left the team sitting near the bottom of the Western Conference standings.

The front office hopes that selections like Brooks will end up panning out and allow them to avoid a full-on rebuild. Going forward, consistency will be the key for Brooks and the Grizzlies. He has over 50 games remaining to fulfill the potential the team and others have seen in him so far.