Dillon Brooks free agency demands revealed and they’re completely absurd

The Grizzlies made clear they weren’t bringing Dillon Brooks back under any circumstances. Once you hear his free agency demands, you’ll understand why.

If the Memphis Grizzlies needed reasons for their stated position — not bringing Dillon Brooks back ‘under any circumstances — their first-round series against the Lakers provided more than enough. He antagonized LeBron James, drew a flagrant foul for hitting him below the belt, drew a $25,000 fine for refusing to talk to the media after three losses, all while shooting 31.2 percent from the floor and 23.8 percent from the 3-point line.

All that came after a regular season of similar shenanigans and inefficiency. A league-leading 18 technical fouls, along with two suspensions. Endless beef and whiteboard material for opponents. Oh, and he was third on the team in shot attempts despite shoot under 40 percent from the field.

But that wasn’t all. In the wake of the Grizzlies making clear they don’t want him back, two details about what he’s seeking in free agency were leaked. And they are absolutely ridiculous.

Dillon Brooks wants a lot of money for a role he’s ill-equipped to fill

The first detail came from a Ramona Shelburne ESPN appearance where she dropped that Brooks is seeking a contract in the ballpark of $25 million per year.

To put that in context, that yearly salary is roughly what Jalen Brunson, Andrew Wiggins and DeMar DeRozan make on their current deals.

The second detail is that Brooks wants a much bigger role than the Grizzlies can offer him.

The idea of Brooks being much more successful in a larger offensive role is, honestly, laughable. Especially considering how completely ineffective he was in his current role. Of the 111 players who were on the court for at least 750 minutes last season with a usage rate above 21.0, he ranked 108th in effective field goal percentage. I mean, he was less efficient as a scorer than Russell Westbrook, a hobbled Victor Oladipo or a massively regressed second-year Jalen Green.

He ranked in the 16th percentile in scoring efficiency in transition, the 34th percentile in isolations, the 50th on spot-ups and the 30th as the ball-handler in the pick-and-roll. Setting aside the chaos his over-confidence and trash talk brings, there is no plausible rationale for signing him to play a larger offensive role, let alone paying him $25 million per year to do it.

If Dillon Brooks wants to hold out for that kind of money or that kind of offensive primacy, he better be willing to play in China.

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