2019 NBA Mock Draft: March Madness is NBA Draft crazy season
player. 211. . PG. Vanderbilt. Darius Garland. 6
Is Memphis right to keep its pick this year? It gets to keep the pick if it is in the top eight, then it rolls over to top-six protections in 2020. In 2021, the pick is unprotected. However, the Grizzlies have to hope they will be back to competing by then. If Jaren Jackson Jr. develops and Memphis gets a good return for Mike Conley, they should be able to rebuild partially on the fly.
The real goal should be to tank again next year with Garland and Jackson Jr. If they can duck into the top six in 2020 and add another young talent, the unprotected pick they give up in 2021 will likely be pretty low.
Here’s what they would be looking at in that case: Jackson Jr., Garland, a re-signed Delon Wright, Kyle Anderson and hopefully two 2021 first-rounders. That’s a nice team, and Memphis has done incredibly well developing two-way role players over the years.
Garland looks to be an incredible pick-and-roll scorer who has the most important NBA skill for lead playmakers — he can pull up for 3 off screens. He has a patience in the pick-and-roll that rivals that of expected second overall pick Ja Morant, only Garland looks to score rather than pass most of the time.
He’s a perfect partner for Jackson Jr., who is a dependent offensive talent and someone who will be able to clean up a ton defensively for less versatile and athletic defenders like Garland.