This is a nice bit of work by the Memphis front office — they moved back five spots in the NBA Draft and picked up five second-round picks.
It’s also a little confusing, a multi-step process, all of it broken by Shams Charania of ESPN.
First, Memphis agreed to swap the No. 16 and No. 17 draft picks with Oklahoma City, and the Thunder threw in two second-round picks so they could move up and select Iowa point guard Bennett Stirtz.
Memphis wasn’t done. It then agreed to swap the No. 17 pick with Detroit for the No. 21 pick — and the Pistons gave the Grizzlies three more second-round picks.
Detroit then drafted Stanford point guard Ebuka Okorie, an interesting fit because he is the best driver in this class, and bringing him in off the bench behind Cade Cunningham keeps putting pressure on the rim. That said, Okorie’s finishing and decision-making when he gets into the paint need to improve.
With that No. 21 pick, the Grizzlies selected Karim Lopez, the first Mexico-born player ever taken in the first round, who played professionally in New Zealand last year. He’s a big body and an aggressive rebounder who will come off the bench for the Grizzlies.
Memphis already got its big draft win of the night, selecting Cameron Boozer with the No. 3 pick. The young Grizzlies front line is now Cedric Coward, Boozer and Zach Edey (once healthy), that’s a quality young group to start building around.
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