Dillon Brooks is playing the most efficient, arguably best basketball of his career to start this season in Houston. He’s taking fewer shots (4.9 fewer a game, or six fewer per 36 minutes), picking his spots and hitting a much higher percentage — 53.3% on 3-pointers and 56.3% inside the arc (up from 45.1% on twos a year ago). He remains an elite point-of-attack defender and is an integral part of why Houston is 6-3 to start the season.
However, the narrative hasn’t caught up with his play yet. The conversation often focuses on his exit from Memphis, which was messy with team executives reportedly saying they didn’t want him back under any circumstances. Brooks told Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated he didn’t want to leave Memphis and wasn’t happy with how things went down, but he’s also not apologizing for any of it.
“It wasn’t what I wanted,” he says. “The whole season was not what I wanted. I feel like we did better when I was a focal point in that organization. They chose a different route. But I’m happy that through all the bulls*** I was able to get what I always deserved.”
“What I didn’t like about Memphis was they allowed that so they can get out of the woodwork, and then I’m the scapegoat of it all,” says Dillon Brooks. “That’s what I didn’t appreciate. And then ultimately they’ll come to me on the low, as men, one on one and tell me something, but then not defend me when everything went down.”
It’s worth reading the full story, which paints a nuanced picture of Brooks.
Brooks isn’t wrong in this sense — the issues in Memphis were a lot larger than him. That has been evident this season with the Grizzlies off to a 2-8 start while Ja Morant serves a 25-game suspension for flashing a gun on social media, and less discussed but also devastating is Steven Adams being out for the season. Brooks did not deserve to be the scapegoat. Adams was out last postseason and the team was still finding its footing after Morant’s first suspension.
Brooks also was part of the problem in Memphis — he did needlessly “poke the bear” with LeBron James during the playoffs last season (as he had done with others too many times), and on offense he wanted a larger role but didn’t earn or deserve it. He is not blameless.
In Houston, he has been the guy the Grizzlies wish they had on offense — a player staying in his lane, being selective with his shots and knocking them down when he had the chance. It’s just a few weeks into a marathon of a season, but the move to Houston appears to be good for Brooks.
Houston has been lucky Memphis was ready to move on.