Report: Dillon Brooks' Shot Selection Prompted Grizzlies Exit Before Rockets Contract

The Memphis Grizzlies reportedly looked to trade Dillon Brooks for two seasons because of a "shot selection issue," per ESPN's Tim MacMahon on the latest edition of the The Lowe Post.

"I think the reasons the Grizzlies were ready to move on from him are misunderstood," MacMahon said (h/t RealGM Wiretap) regarding Brooks, who left Memphis in free agency to ink a four-year, $80 million deal with the Houston Rockets in a sign-and-trade.

"The nonsense was kind of like at a point where culturally it was time. That was not the primary reason. The primary reason the Grizzlies were trying to replace Dillon Brooks for a full two years, repeatedly going after players that would have replaced him in the trade market, and he probably would have been sent out, was because of the shot selection issue. Dillon did not want to be a fourth or fifth offensive weapon."

News emerged after Memphis' first-round exit to the Los Angeles Lakers that Memphis wouldn't bring Brooks back "under any circumstances," per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium. Brooks was reportedly told in exit meetings that it was best for both sides to start fresh.

Charania then pointed to a series of incidents that had occurred during the Lakers series, which turned out disastrously for Brooks.

"Brooks' first-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers was considered to be a breaking point. In the span of the Grizzlies' series loss in six games, he called LeBron James, the Lakers' best player and a four-time NBA champion, "old," "tired," and suggested he was not as good as he used to be. Brooks punched James in the groin area in Game 3, earning an ejection. He missed a defensive assignment to help on James on the game-tying basket in Game 4, and then gave up a critical basket to James in overtime of that loss. Brooks also chose not to speak to the media after three of the losses in the series, resulting in a $25,000 fine by the NBA."

As for the shot selection concerns, Brooks did have a rough year in 2022-23, shooting just 39.6 percent from the field and 32.6 percent from three-point range. He made a career-low 30.9 percent of his threes the year before.

The former Oregon star and six-year NBA veteran is capable of far better shooting performances, though. He made 35.3 percent of his threes over the first four years of his career and made 48.0 percent of his two-pointers in 2021-22.

Ultimately, the Memphis chapter of Brooks' career is closed. He has now found a new home and a big payday in Houston, where he'll be tasked with helping lead a very young Rockets team that just finished last in the Western Conference standings.