This is an Absolute HEIST for the Grizzlies…

This is an Absolute HEIST for the Grizzlies…

the Memphis Grizzlies absolutely just pulled off a heist in the second round when they took Javon Small out of West Virginia University with their first pick in the second round Hi everybody welcome back to Grizzlies Digest I’m Tristan Harland Excited to break down the first second round draft pick of two Starting off with Javon Small the guard out of Western Virginia Reminder everybody if you like what you hear like what you see be sure to click that subscribe button here on Grizzlies Digest 93.8% of you are not clicking that subscribe button versus the 6.2% of you guys that are And hey we’re on the quest to 1,000 subscribers So if we can get the nonsubscribe bar down to where the subscribe bar is and get the subscribe bar is all the way up to the 93.8% 8% will be in great hands moving forward when the season gets ready to be begun begin So yeah the Grizzlies had two second round picks this year in the 2025 NBA draft Uh and to no surprise they took Javon Small out of West Virginia Now who is Javon Small you may ask Well let’s just pull out some of his stats real quick and it will tell you exactly who he is Of course you’re seeing it here He went to three different schools during his collegiate career firstly at Eastern Carolina East Carolina before he moved on to Oklahoma State University then finished out his collegiate career at West Virginia Of course his last season this past collegiate season he averaged 18.6 points a contest And this guy is a scorer Now is he a he’s a guard that can score And listen this guy’s got a lot of talent okay I’m not going to say I’m not going to knock him I really am not gonna knock him because we needed scores and Kimman went out and got scores Now how what does that mean for Cole Anthony Scottie Pippen Jr GG Jackson Vince Williams Jr and all these other abundance of guards that’s on the roster after tonight’s draft We’ll have to wait and see Uh the summer league is just right around the corner starting early next month Uh of course free agency as well starting in July So there’s a lot of unanswered questions that are going to be answered here for the Grizzlies come soon But looking at a comparison for for this guy his NBA comparison is Mario Chmer’s and Miles McBride And of course a lot of people had him going high in the f late in the first round early in the second And you see some of his strengths He’s an efficient volume scorer with some off dribble versatility He’s fast got a He’s a quick lateral mover who can keep quick guards in front of him on the on the ball Of course struggles to create separation and score consistently without a screen or tilt to defense Stiff tight handles limit his space creation ability Sometimes lacks size and vertical explosives explosiveness off to to finish through contact And again you can you could see the the comparison there and the and the and the write up they did for him But let’s talk about what you guys are saying First thing I see on Twitter or ex again I’m going to call it Twitter so just bear with me First thing I see on Twitter when I get on there after the pick was made was a lot of people was comparing him to John Morant A lot of people was cons was saying that his nickname’s going to be Josh Small and you know and and Jaw Jr and stuff like that So it’s going to be interesting to see how those two mesh very well in the season because I mean here’s the thing If Small proves himself to be a reliable backup one or even a backup two and you have Jaw Mor on the floor for 38 minutes and then Small comes in to replace Jaw you got Jaw Morant and you got Jaw Small coming in That’s going to be fun to watch if you ask me Now the big question is is what does this mean for the overabundance of guards Guys like Scotty Hippen Jr GI Jackson’s a forward but we’re going to throw him in this conversation because he possibly could play some guard maybe at the two as an oversized guy Um John Morant he ain’t got nothing to worry about Uh Jaden Wells Contavius Cowell Pope like there’s so many guards on this roster now after the draft So what does that mean Well what the what this means is this The summer league is going to be a proving ground for these younger guys So my honest opinion I say you throw all these young guys on the on the summer league roster let them duke it out See who’s thriving well and those that aren’t cutting it You get rid of them I mean I hate to say it but you can’t have all these players on your roster because you’re going to run out of roster room And if the main priority moving forward with his off seasonason is retaining Jiren Jackson Jr for multiple years moving forward and getting him an extension then you’re going to have to let some guys go Now will a lot of fans be upset with that Yes 100% Will it suck to see some of these guys go to new teams and have new opportunities 100% Because they’re Grizzly players and we don’t want to see them leave but it would be nice to see them thrive in other opportunities and other lands of NBA teams I mean Xavier Telman Senior is a great example He got sent to Boston and I believe he won a championship with Boston Uh not not this this current season but season last when when Boston won it and Jason Tatum had his moment You guys know what I’m talking about If you don’t I’m sure you guys can find it on YouTube if you’re just that curious But here’s the thing about the Grizzlies is they will never let a player leave unless they truly feel that they’re going to a better situation Now the old old owner and old general manager and stuff like that no I mean they they let Tony Allen go the Pelicans and Tony Allen went in the league much longer I mean they let Zack Randolph go to the Kings and Zack Randolph wasn’t in the league much longer and they coincidentally came back to Memphis to live not play but they lived and they’re still doing stuff with the team But anyways back to the main point If you’re going to get rid of the if you’re going to get rid of some of these guys then where do they go Where what in what capacity can they offer Well here’s the biggest thing is the Grizzlies got a guard by the name of Cole Anthony I don’t know if you guys remember this guy but played in Orlando came to the Grizzlies via the Desmond Bane train and he may never see a minute on the floor as a Memphis Grizzly He may not even make it to the media day photo shoot in a Grizzlies uniform So what do you mean by that Tristan What I mean by that is is that in the coming days Memphis could trade Cole Anthony and they could trade Santio S not Santiama but they could move Cole Anthony some future draft capital for big to replace Zagi while Zachi is out or they can get even more draft capital and we’re going to be back here this time next year talking about other prospects that were drafted by the Grizzlies So for the overall standpoint I mean I want to go back and look at look at his stats real quick because Small has if you look at these numbers here you’re going to see that Small has the scoring capability that the Grizzlies have needed for a little bit of little bit of time now Now this is not a knock on Scottie Pippen Jr because Scotty Pippen Jr has proved pretty vital for the Grizzlies when John Morant was suspended and John Morant was hurt and John Morant didn’t play or Desmond Bane didn’t play Pippen Jr was able to pick up these minutes on off the slack and run with it so to speak and he was able to you know add that extra layer of volume to the offense But here’s what this guy brings to the table when I’m looking at it What I’m seeing here is I’m seeing a hungry scoreer that’s not going to give up on off the first missed shot and he’s going to rebound the basketball as you see here with about the four rebounds a game he averaged in his career and he’s going to be able to work it out to find a better second chance look because that’s what the Grizzlies really lacked last season was second chance points because there was times when I was sitting there watching the Grizzlies and I know a lot of people can attest to this but I was watching the Memphis Grizzlies and I’m sitting there saying constantly get a rebound get second chance looks Let’s you know let’s get an offensive rebound Excuse me Let’s you know let’s add extra possessions to our game because you’re running with the OKC’s of the world And they’re going to the free throw line 60 times a game And that’s an overexaggerated number Don’t take that literal but they’re going to the free throw line 60 line 60 times a game And these other teams they’re getting second chance points They’re getting offensive rebounds They’re out rebounding the Grizzlies on the offensive side the defensive side even too So you get a guy like Small who’s going to come in get these second chance looks set your guys up for success at the one position you’re looking at possibly going from an eight seed to possibly a sixth or fifth seed depending on injuries and how Zack Edy is when he comes back and who if Clark can stay healthy the entire season if Jiren can stay out of foul trouble if Jo can stay healthy the entire season But the overall aspect of this and what this means for the future of the Grizzlies is is this in my opinion Now I’m going to say my opinion because I cannot tell you for 100% certain that this is going to happen I just this is my projection It is not a spoiler It is not a for certainty It is a mere prediction or projection some may say Cole Anthony gets traded Okay Cole Anthony great great guard but he doesn’t fail on the Grizzlies roster right now Gigi Jackson he’s going to stay around Vince Williams Jr he’s going to be traded or moved in some aspect He may not he may just get cut Uh but he he’ll probably get traded Salty he’ll probably come back for two years Then they’ll look to move him at the deadline if he’s not playing to the level that the Grizzlies want him to play at But the big question mark is these rookies Cedric Coward Javon Small Maduk I I I think I’m I’m hoping I I’m saying his name right but he’s the he’s the guy we just got out of Tennessee with the with the last pick of the draft If I’m not saying his name right I apologize And we’ll get into him more next video but these rookies are going to come in and they’re going to fight for a spot These rookies are not going to lay over lightly This was a fantastic draft class for the Memphis Grizzlies Now this wasn’t no lackluster Chris Wallace Memphis Grizzlies draft class This is a very hungry healthy established core of guys that could very easily take over maybe a couple starting jobs on other teams in the league not not going to take over the one one of the four with the Grizzlies because John Jer and the cornerstones of the franchise but these guys once they get used to how the league’s tempo is and everything because the college basketball tempo and the NBA tempo in my opinion are two separate things but once these guys get accustomed to that these guys are going to be really good and they’re going to be dogs and you know I’m hoping I’m right on this because especially with Javon Small and and uh Cedric Howard these guys are looking like bonafide stars You give it five years when some of these guys are not on the on the roster no more that you got two starters right there in some capacity now Small probably at the two Cedric at the three Jared at the four Edy at the five That’s kind of some of the things that are going on in my head right now And not even to mention the young guy like Jaden Wells we still have on the roster GG Jackson is still on the roster Those two guys Now again I’m not telling you who’s going to start and who’s going to sit on the bench cuz I don’t know yet But these th this this core that the Grizzlies are putting together ladies and gentlemen we’re talking we’re talking five years off into the future In five years when these guys are potential all their potentials up and John and Jiren are really established veterans in the league We’re talking about a team that could be very dangerous And we’re not even in the free agency yet We don’t the Grizzlies haven’t even made a big splash in free agency yet and signed a big name for a decent chunk of money or resigned Jiren Jackson to an extension or resign job to an extension They This is all just speculation right now So what I’m going to tell you is this and this is what I want you guys to kind of watch over the years is that e even if you know five years time I’m not here to talk about it and somebody else is here to talk about it I want you guys to remember this Javon Small Cedric H Cedric Hawkins that’s a running back for Arkansas State excuse me But Cedric Coward those two guys are going to be stars in the NBA By to what capacity I’m not sure I’m not sure if it’s even on the Grizzlies but in five years the Grizzlies are going to be a contender in the West It may not be this season and it may not be next season but before you know it the Grizzlies are going to be holding up the Larry O’Brien trophy And it starts because of what Zack Kellerman did in the draft tonight Starts because of what the Memphis Grizzlies did in free agency this off seasonason It’s not going to be because of what they did two years ago three years ago or four years ago It’s going to start tonight And so help me God is God is my witness The three people that are going to lead that brigade into the next steps of the Grizzlies becoming the first time NBA champions it’s going to be John Morant It’s going to be Jiren Jackson Jr and if it’s not Javon Small it’s going to be Cedric Coward But but Small he ain’t going to go lightly He’s going to be right there beside him carrying the load when John Morant slacks off Because let me tell you if there’s anything I know about this drive class for the Grizzlies it’s an A plus plus plus three A+es Now I wasn’t that good in school so I didn’t get that grade So but you understand the aspect of it But anyways guys I think that’s going to do it for this episode of Grizzlies Digest Next time I come to you guys I will be going over the other draft prospect that Grizzy’s got with the last pick in the NBA draft So stick around for that Again I’m Tristan Harle Want to remind everybody that 93.8% 8% of you guys are not subscribed versus the 62% that are So if you like what you hear like what you see enjoy talking about the Memphis Grizzlies make sure you’re clicking that subscribe button Make make sure you’re sharing the videos with your friends your families your animals your grandparents your great-grandparents if they’re still if they’re still around your aunts your uncles everybody that loves the Memphis Grizzlies Make sure you’re clicking that subscribe button I’m talking about on Facebook Instagram YouTube uh Twitter MySpace uh LinkedIn all of them Share it everywhere Share it Even if you’re at a family reunion cookout make sure you got Grizzlies Digest subscribe to Grizzlies Digest and you got Grizzlies Digest on the TV while you guys are eating so you guys can hear about the Memphis Grizzlies But anyways guys want to thank you all for tuning in to this episode of Grizzlies Digest Once again I’m Tristan Harland saying so long and goodbye I’ll be back before you know it So just stick around and make sure to click that subscribe button

The second round of the 2025 NBA Draft took place tonight, and the Memphis Grizzlies can walk away knowing they secured their future with the draft picks they made tonight. Tristan Harlen breaks down the first of two draft choices made by the Grizzlies in the second round. As always, make sure to hit the subscribe button for more Grizzlies’ content!