2018 NBA Mock Draft: The standings are set
211. . C. Arizona. Deandre Ayton. 2. player
With rumors coming out from the New York Times’ Marc Stein and others that the Grizzlies are indeed considering retaining interim head coach J.B. Bickerstaff ahead of this summer’s coaching frenzy, taking a look at Bickerstaff’s history with big men to predict whether Ayton would be a good match for Memphis.
He helped develop Al Jefferson and Kevin Love from 2007-11 in Minnesota before moving to Houston. There, Bickerstaff got to work with a more competitive team, but one where developing young players was less of a focus. However, he also coached Dwight Howard when he played for the Rockets, another high-level outcome for Ayton.
None of this is to say Bickerstaff has a reputation with big men or that he will even be the one who makes the biggest impact on Ayton in Memphis. But juggling Ayton and Marc Gasol together, and turning Ayton’s problematic habits into strengths, will require attentiveness and creativity. Ayton has unicorn potential as a jump-shooting, rim-protecting big, but it’s not a given that he will reach that ceiling.
There is an infrastructure, with a long-time assistant potentially as coach, a veteran All-Star in Gasol, and a great fan base for Ayton to develop into a star in Memphis. We’ll see.