Dillon Brooks Rumors: Grizzlies Were Unhappy with 'Scapegoat' Reporting Around SF

Even though the Memphis Grizzlies apparently don't intend to bring back Dillon Brooks, they are taking exception to how that information has been reported.

On the latest episode of Howdy Partners (starts at 1:40 mark), ESPN's Tim MacMahon said the Grizzlies "did not want the messaging out there of basically: 'Dillon Brooks is the scapegoat. We're dumping Dillon Brooks and everything's gonna be fine.'"

This is potentially a reference to the report from Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium on Tuesday when he wrote the Grizzlies told Brooks during their end-of-season exit meetings he "will not be brought back under any circumstances" this summer.

Charania didn't use the term "scapegoat" in reference to Brooks in the report but did cite his actions throughout the team's first-round playoff series loss to the Los Angeles Lakers as a "breaking point" for Memphis.

Brooks didn't do himself any favors against the Lakers. He publicly called LeBron James "old" after a Game 2 win and got ejected in Game 3 after receiving a flagrant-2 foul for hitting James in the groin.

Speaking to reporters after practice on April 23, Brooks blamed the media and fans for helping create the perception of him as a villain that resulted in his ejection.

Brooks didn't fulfill his postgame media obligations after losses in Games 4 and 6, resulting in the NBA fining him $25,000.

While those issues with Brooks garnered a lot of attention, there were several problems for the Grizzlies long before their series against the Lakers.

Ja Morant displayed a gun in an Instagram Live video at a Denver-area nightclub and was suspended by the NBA for eight games for conduct detrimental to the league.

Morant was also accused of punching a teenager multiple times during a pickup basketball game at his house last summer, according to police records obtained by Molly Hensley-Clancy of the Washington Post.

The teenager also told Shelby County Sheriff's Office detectives that Morant went back into his house after hitting him and "reemerged with a gun visible in the waistband of his pants and his hand on the weapon."

Hensley-Clancy noted a few days before the alleged assault, the head of security at a Memphis mall "felt threatened" by the Grizzlies star, and a member of Morant's group shoved him the head.

On the court, the Grizzlies came into the playoffs short-handed with Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke unavailable because of injuries.

Brooks may have been a problem for the Grizzlies by the end of the season, but the organization has several things to sort out before it can live up to its potential.