Dynasty Update: Dillon Brooks out in Memphis

Draymond Green predicted the fate of Dillon Brooks, the Memphis Grizzlies’ shooting guard/hockey goon, back in March. “The dynasty starts after you, not with you.”

Perhaps the Memphis dynasty Brooks bragged about last year can do better than one series win in three years after he departs, which appears to be the Grizzlies’ plan.

“Under any circumstances” sounds dire. That includes scenarios like Brooks returning to play for the minimum, Ja Morant trying to fight an entire Little League team this summer, or Brooks donating a knee ligament to Steven Adams. Brooks is being run out of town on a rail like a snail oil salesman in the Old West, who also has terrible facial hair.

In what will turn out to be Brooks’ final season in Memphis, he averaged 14.3 points on 39.6% shooting, going 32.6% from three-point range. In the first-round series with the Lakers, Brooks scored 10.5 points per game while shooting 31.2% from the field and 23.8% from three-point range. Eventually the Lakers stopped guarding him on the perimeter entirely, like a modern-day Tony Allen who punched people in the balls all the time.

Brooks is proud of his defense, but even that deserted him in the first round. After holding LeBron James to only 28 points in Game 2, Brooks bragged that he didn’t respect James and declared, “He old.” What happened after that?

First, Brooks was ejected in the first minute of the second half, after hitting James below the belt.

That’s his second ejection in the last two postseasons, which is one more than the number of series the dynastic Grizzlies won.

In Game 4, James made a layup to send the game to overtime on a play where Brooks literally ran away from James as he drove to the hoop.

In overtime, James put the game away by scoring through a Brooks foul.

Brooks also refused to speak to the media after three of the series games, for which he was fined $25,000. That brought his season fine total to roughly $360,000, which includes two suspensions for amassing 18 technical fouls, and one suspension for punching Donovan Mitchell in the groin. Afterward, Mitchell said, “Quite frankly, I’ve been busting his ass for years.”

He also got a $35,000 fine for shoving a cameraman, for no apparent reason. Maybe he didn’t respect the camera guy because he’d never scored 40 points on him?

Klay Thompson said “When he retires, I don’t think anyone will ever talk about Dillon Brooks ever again.” Draymond Green called Brooks a “clown.” Russell Westbrook just told Brooks he was “trash.”

Arguably, Brooks’ career began falling apart the moment he broke Gary Payton II’s elbow with a cheap shot in Game 2 of last year’s playoffs. Memphis is 3-7 in the playoffs since Game 2. Brooks is 45/137 since then, a 32.8% shooting percentage, and he’s 20/70 from three-point range (28.6%). He’s been suspended from four games and ejected from three. Now, he’s no longer welcome back on the team where he’s spent his entire six-year career.

Look, you can be a heel in the NBA, and you can certainly trash talk. But you can’t talk trash and deliver cheap shots and then absolutely suck in the playoffs. We can’t imagine a lucrative free agent market for Brooks, so he might end up seriously regretting that third of a million dollars in fines.

Honestly, the Golden State Warriors might miss Brooks, because his leaving means Memphis might play five guys who can actually shoot.

We’ll let the clairvoyant Green have the last word.

“I hope the next time you speak on me, you’re in a better situation. Where the guys you play with actually enjoying playing with you, because they actually think you’re contributing to winning. ‘Cause it ain’t happening right now, champ.”