Grizzlies set to cash in on two top-16 picks entering this week’s historically deep NBA Draft
NEW YORK – When the Grizzlies exited the last month’s NBA Lottery with the No. 3 overall pick, they were positioned to add one of the most dynamic players in a franchise-altering draft.
Now, as NBA Draft week commences, the selection comes down to one simple reality.
A consensus of national analysts believe Memphis is guaranteed to come away with either the best wing player, the top guard or the premier big man in the 2026 NBA Draft.
Strictly based on the numbers, one of those elite prospects have to land at No. 3 on the board.
In just about any other year if they were not aligned in the same class, Brigham Young University forward AJ Dybansta, Kansas combo guard Darryn Peterson and Duke power forward Cam Boozer would each be considered the presumptive top pick in the draft.
On Tuesday night inside Brooklyn’s Barclays Arena, the Grizzlies can essentially count on being among teams to feel they’ve secured the best of the group. By many accounts, there’s little-to-no drop-off in value between Washington’s first pick, Utah’s second selection and Memphis rounding out the top three.
In this special draft, there’s equality among the elites.
“That’s, to me, why this draft is so fascinating – you have three guys worthy of the No. 1 pick this year,” ESPN’s NBA and College Basketball analyst Jay Bilas believes. “Peterson is the most talented player, Dybansta looks like he was built in a lab to play in the NBA and Boozer is the best pure basketball player. It’s going to be fascinating, the decisions that are made.”
This draft marks a significant step for the Grizzlies amid an offseason retooling process. President of Basketball Operations and general manager Zach Kleiman has described an agenda to reset the foundation, further develop around a young and promising core and to gradually build a winning team that eventually competes at the top of the Western Conference.
The Grizzlies enter this week’s two-day draft as one of the most asset-rich teams in the league. Memphis owns three of the top 32 picks in this draft, with the No. 3 and No. 16 selections in Tuesday’s first round, and the No. 32 choice near the top of Wednesday’s second round.
It’s the third straight year the Grizzlies will draft lottery talent, following last summer when they added swingman Cedric Coward with the eleventh pick and center Zach Edey at No. 9 in 2024.
When the Grizzlies dealt veteran guard Desmond Bane last summer and two-time All-Star forward Jaren Jackson Jr. at the February trade deadline, Kleiman said the franchise would move toward “a younger build.” Now stocked with 13 first-round draft picks spread over seven years, the Grizzlies can potentially fast-track the process of rebuilding a contender.
Memphis has a track record as being one of the NBA’s most active teams when it comes to trades during and around the draft. Kleiman’s front office has made significant deals – most frequently trading to move up higher in recent drafts – almost every season since 2019.
The Grizzlies hold plenty of options, which could include using picks No. 16, No. 32 and future draft capital to potentially secure a second selection within the top 10 of this year’s draft. Memphis, Chicago and Oklahoma City each own two picks among the top 17 on Tuesday.
In addition to Dybansta, Peterson, Boozer and North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson, there is also plenty of intrigue in this draft class around a run of freshman point guards. That list includes Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr., Illinois’ Keaton Wagler and Houston’s Kingston Fleming.
The Grizzlies reportedly have been in league-wide trade discussions centered around two-time NBA All-Star point guard Ja Morant since last February. Depending on how – and when – that situation is resolved, Memphis could look to this draft to also bolster its backcourt.
By already moving off Bane and Jackson, the Grizzlies are thought to have strongly positioned themselves to be one of the more active teams on the trade and draft fronts this week.
“They’re right up there in the top tier based on what they were able to get, not just in the Bane trade, but certainly with Jaren (going to) Utah,” former NBA executive and current ESPN Front-Office Insider Bobby Marks pointed out. “So, they’ve certainly got (assets for potential trades). I think it’s a matter of what the price is going to be and how you look at what you have.”
Marks also believes this type of draft talent and depth doesn’t come around often. Marks has often compared this year’s group to the 1996 Draft that produced Allen Iverson, Ray Allen, Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Stephon Marbury, Ben Wallace and Peja Stojakovic among others.
That 1996 class featured five Hall of Famers, 11 All-Stars and nearly a dozen NBA champions.
That’s a high bar for this year’s crop of incoming talent, but the Grizzlies have options and assets to cash in should they choose.
“I don’t know if I want to put it on a historic level, but this is probably one of the best draft classes we’ve seen from top to bottom in a very long time,” said Marks, who worked in the Nets front office during the 1996 draft. “You can find impact players up top and find guys that can contribute to your roster somewhere in the middle.”
The Grizzlies arrive in New York on the board this week positioned both up top and in the middle.
In this high-yield draft, that’s prime real estate on which to build a solid foundation.