Grizzlies' Dillon Brooks Named to NBA's All-Defensive 2nd Team amid Free-Agent Rumors

As he prepares to enter free agency, Dillon Brooks earned some negotiating leverage with the announcement of the NBA's All-Defensive teams Tuesday.

Brooks made the second team, along with Derrick White of the Boston Celtics, Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors, O.G. Anunoby of the Toronto Raptors and Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat.

Tuesday's announcement comes one week after Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported the Memphis Grizzlies informed Brooks they won't re-sign him following a tumultuous end to the season.

Brooks drew a lot of negative attention during the Grizzlies' first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers. He created much of it, such as when he referred to LeBron James as "old" after Game 2 while wearing an outfit that would make a pro wrestling heel envious.

Brooks was ejected from Game 3 after receiving a flagrant-2 foul for hitting James in the groin. He blamed the ejection on media and fans' perception of him as a "villain."

The NBA fined Brooks $25,000 for failing to fulfill his required postgame media obligations after multiple games in the series. He struggled on the floor against the Lakers, shooting 31.2 percent on 12.8 attempts per game.

While those issues changed some of the narrative around Brooks as a player, he's been an essential piece for the Grizzlies over the past six seasons. He often matched up against the opposing team's best perimeter scorer and more than held his own.

ESPN's Tim Keown noted in a March 3 story that Brooks had the best effective field-goal percentage allowed (45.3) on half-court matchups among 91 players with at least 3,000 such matchups.

The biggest problem for Brooks in Memphis was how reliant the team was on him as a scorer and how willing he was to take shots. The 27-year-old is a 41.6 percent career shooter and has averaged at least 13.6 attempts per game in each of the past four seasons.

Brooks' All-Defensive selection is justified for a player who has made himself into one of the best and most versatile defenders in the NBA.