This Memphis Grizzlies Rookie is a STEAL…

This Memphis Grizzlies Rookie is a STEAL…

With the 48th overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft, the Memphis Grizzlies selected a guard out of WVU. He’s extremely athletic with very fun shotmaking ability as well as highle playmaking ability and his name is Javon Small. Welcome to Basketball Intuition. I’m your host, Ethan Simon. Today we’re going to be talking about Javon Small and the Memphis Grizzlies. Now, he only played two games in the Vegas summer league, played one in Salt Lake. But overall, from a player that just got drafted deep in the second round, a guy that played all four years of college, though, the Grizzlies guard rotation is fairly deep, I could see a world where he could actually be a contributor. Maybe not this season, maybe not next season, but in the future. The two main reasons I think that is because of his shot creation and shot making ability, as well as the playmaking, because that’s what really caught me off guard and what made me really want to make this video. We’re going to start with this build and then we’re going to go to the playmaking and the shooting and defense and all that stuff. So, let’s not waste any more time. Okay, so we’re going to start with one of the main problems that you can have with Javon Small. It is kind of ironic because it’s his last name, but he is only 6’1 without shoes, but the good thing about his build is he has a 6’4 and 3/4 wingspan to go along with that. And for his height, he does have some pretty solid size. He is 190 lbs. He could definitely use some more strength, but this is a rookie that we’re talking about. I’m sure he’s going to put more on as time goes. And where the athleticism really pops out on paper is he has a 40 and 1/2 in vertical. He is 22 years old, turning 23 in December. Like I mentioned, he played all four years of college. And after his freshman season, he didn’t have a single year where he played under 33 minutes a game. We’re talking about a guy that had an extremely high workload at WVU, especially his speed in the open court and even in the half court is just incredible. He is so fast and so twitchy. And the last thing I’ll say about his build and him being a smaller guard is that the Grizzlies haven’t been mad at smaller guards. Scottie Pippen Jr. isn’t very big. J isn’t very big. He has a long wingspan. And then even if we go back in time, Mike Connley was never a really big guard. And for example, Scottie Pippen Jr. is 6′ flat barefoot. and they found a way to make him a real NBA player. Scottie Pitman Jr. is a real NBA player that plays real impactful minutes. So again, I can really see a world where his size isn’t going to be that much of a problem other than the defense, but we’re going to get to that later. So now let’s get over to the playmaking. And I will say that he is a point guard in my eyes. He’s not a shooting guard, he is a point guard. He can definitely play off the ball and be effective off the ball, but he’s going to be more effective with the ball in his hand. So a realistic role for him in the next couple years would be a backup point guard, and I think he’d be really good there. So, if we pop over to the summer league stats and we look at the top assisting leaders, our top three guys that are averaging seven assists are also averaging almost four turnovers. And you look right below them and you see Javon Small at seven assists with only one turnover a game. He didn’t have more than one turnover in a game. And this was because his ball control was so good. His patience was astounding in the half court, in the pick and roll in any way possible. His decision-making and his patience was what really put him over the top. He’s got great basketball IQ. He can make quick decisions. He’s always keeping his head up serving the court at all times. and he was really good and comfortable in the pick and roll as well as not even in the pick and roll when he’s just trying to create for others. He can hit the cutters, he can hit the bigs on the inside, he can five guys on the perimeter and drive and kick situations as well as good skip passes and he’s incredibly unselfish. And also when we talk about the ball handling, like I mentioned earlier, he is so shifty. He can take ISO possessions at the NBA level and get good shots. He’s got really, really nice hesy moves. His acceleration to deceleration is just also astounding. Like it is incredible. And the last thing I forgot to mention is he takes great angles on bounce passes. So now I just want to go through a couple of these plays with you to kind of just show off the patience and the decision-making. As we can see, he’s getting pressed full court. He’s going to end up picking the ball up in a second, and he’s not going to really have anywhere to go. Now, let’s stop right here. A lot of players would end up forcing a pass to the wing, and a lot of young players in these types of situations would just force a pass. But what does he do? He just waits. And then the cutter, number eight, you can see him flash up to the inside of the defense and he makes a great bounce pass. Here’s some more point guard stuff. He’s getting picked up fullourt. He’s going to get a screen. It’s not going to go anywhere. He gets a switch. He’s not able to go anywhere. So what does he do? He just passes out of it. He’s going to stand there, wait as the point guard. He gets the ball back. He’s going to come up and get another screen and then he’s going to make a great read to the corner. It’s a really great pass. It was just kind of inaccurate, but the vision is there. You can really see it. In another similar situation, this is the stuff that I like a lot. He’s going to get a screen. It’s not going to go anywhere. He’s not able to do anything. So, what’s he going to do? He’s just going to pass out of it and wait. He gets the ball back in a dribble handoff situation. He’s going to hit the cutter and it’s going to be a good shot. He didn’t make the shot, but I mean, he made the right pass. He did what he was supposed to. So, now that you’ve seen the playmaking, let’s talk about the shooting. Like I mentioned earlier in the video, the shot creation is really fun. He’s got a great handle. He’s very twitchy, fast handles, good handles. He’s extremely confident with shooting the basketball. He has very deep range. In college, he was shooting 7.33 threes a game at 35%. Like I mentioned, we’re talking about a high confidence guy, deep shot shooter, and the jump shot is also very nice. It’s fairly consistent. It’s not anything crazy. It’s not like no Klay Thompson jumper, but it does look good. Another indicator that I like that he’s going to be able to shoot the ball at a good clip in the NBA is that he was shooting 88% from the free throw line in college. He’s going to be able to make catch and shoot threes. He’s going to be able to shoot off the dribble. He can even get to the mid-range. Now, we didn’t really get to see that a whole lot in the summer league, but if you watch his college tape, it’s definitely there. And the thing that I really want to highlight for him being a playmaker and a shooter is the fact that whenever you go under a screen in a pick and roll situation, he’s shooting that ball every single time. as a point guard and a guy that’s going to be in the pick and roll a lot. It’s going to be very important for him to be a confident shooter so that teams are going to want to go over on screens on him. So, here’s what I’m talking about. He’s going to get this screen and immediately, no hesitation, he’s shooting a very deep shot. He doesn’t make it, but it’s a good shot. Here’s another one. He’s bringing the ball up the court. Kobe Buffin’s checking him. He goes under the screen. What does he do? No hesitation at all. He’s shooting that. If you’re still here and enjoying the video, make sure to hit that like button. It helps out a lot more than you realize. Now, if we hop over to the defense, this is the most important part about him being able to stay on the floor and get on the floor in the first place. And I will say he’s got that dog in him. He’s got effort, energy, grit. His foot speed is great. He’s got great instincts and IQ. And that’s what’s going to make up for his lack of size as well as his wingspan. Of course, his wingspan isn’t anything crazy. Like, for example, Jaw is like 67 and his is like 6’5. But still, it’s good. It’s positive. He’s not afraid to put his hands on you and be aggressive defensively. He also has really good hands defensively. And one of my favorite things about his defense as a whole is how well he navigated screens. There’s so many possessions through these few games where he’s skinning up around screens. He’s getting set multiple screens on him in a possession. He’s not getting cut up on them. And whenever he does get caught up on a screen, he’s giving energy and he’s hustling back trying to get back in front of his man. Now, another thing I really liked in his senior season in college, he was only fouling 1.5 times a game. If I had to throw any shade, of course, it would be just his lack of size as well as him having some lazy possessions whenever he’s getting tired. And also, I felt like he was getting beat off the dribble a little bit too much for how good his foot speed is. But now, let’s look at some defensive clips together. Okay, he’s starting out on number 42. It’s just an inbounds pass. He skinnies up around the screen. He’s going to anticipate the pass, jump up in the air, does a really good job, sticks with his man, gets back on the ground quickly, and makes a good contest. That’s a tough shot. He misses it. Here’s another one. He’s going to press Kobe Buffkin. He gets around one screen quickly. He gets set an offball screen. He gets around that one. He stays with his man. Here’s the next one. We are picking up fullourt now. 45 is going to set a screen. He gets right under that one. makes a nice jab, gets under another screen, he takes a good shot and he makes this shot, but he contested it well and he did what he was supposed to. Here’s the next one. Kobe Buffkin forces a really, really tough shot. He makes it. So, what does he do? He’s on the ground. He pushes the ball. He sees Cam Spencer trailing on the wing. He makes a really good pass. And that’s a great shot. He doesn’t make it, but again, that’s a great shot. And that’s just some of the stuff that I really like from him defensively. Again, I thought he got around screens really well. That was the main thing that I liked about him. Now, the last thing I want to go through is going to be very short, but the finishing. We’re not really talking about much of the college stuff today. We’re really just talking about what he was doing in the summer league. And we didn’t get to see a whole lot of his finishing ability in the summer league. I’m not going to be able to show you cuz I don’t want to get copyrighted from the court whenever they played in Salt Lake City, but he had a couple really tough floaters in that first game. And he had a really nice floater game in college. That’s something he’s going to need as a smaller guard, taking those tough push shots in the mid-range area, and he did a really good job at doing that. Um, again, we’re talking about a really tough shotmaker. He’s really crafty and fun around the rim. He’s got great hang time. Um, he’s also very physical for him size. He was able to get to the free throw line five times a game in college at 88%. Like I mentioned earlier, that’s something again that I really liked. And I do just want to see him get to the rim more. It’s going to be tough at his size, of course, but with his three level of scoring ability and spacing in the NBA. It’s going to help him out whenever he’s trying to get to the rim. He did miss a few layups pretty badly, but it wasn’t anything I’m worried about. He’s got nice touch at the rim. He shot 58.8% at the rim in the half court, which is really good for his size. He’s really slippery and quick, so he can weave in and out of traffic very well. Again, he’s got really great acceleration and deceleration. Those hesitation moves help out a lot. He’s going to be able to take advantage of switches on the perimeter whenever he gets a big man or a favorable matchup for a forward. And again, he’s very unselfish, so he’s going to be able to tell whenever it’s time for him to go to work and get downhill. And he’s also going to be able to tell whenever to pass to the other person that got the switch instead of just taking it himself. Again, we were really just talking about summer league stuff today. I would have liked to be able to show you more college film, but I would get copyrighted and I don’t want to deal with that because that’s really not fun whenever I have to deal with that. The very last thing that I want to do, I just want to look at this depth chart for a minute. I will say whoever created this depth chart is on some kind of substance. Having GI Jackson listed as the third string power forward and having Cedric Coward listed as the backup shooting guard. I’m not sure how I feel about that. As well as Tai Drone being the backup point guard. A quick look at cleaning the glass will tell you that he mainly played the shooting guard role, but like I mentioned earlier, this is a fairly deep uh guard rotation, so it’s going to be tough for him to get real minutes. Knock on wood, the Grizzlies have had really bad injury history, but there is a real chance where he’s going to be able to get on the floor. You know, when we’re looking at this Grizzlies roster, they’re like 15 people deep. You know, like none of these guys are bad NBA players. But this was the problem that I had with the Grizzlies. And what I mentioned when I made my Grizzlies video last season was that you don’t need 15 solid guys on a roster. You need eight or nine guys that are elite in their roles. So, I would love to see the Grizzlies package two of these people and maybe some picks to go out and get a higher level role player or a wing or a shooter. But in this Western Conference, they’re just going to need a little bit more. But the Grizzlies are still going to be a really fun team. And I will say this about John Mar. He didn’t have a bad season last year, but it wasn’t his best. And if he doesn’t step up and have a really great season next year, there’s going to be some conversations that need to be have about what their future is going to look like. And that’s all I had to talk about for today with Javon Swan, the Memphis Grizzlies. Um, of course, we have the comment of the day that I want to talk about real quick. If you don’t know what the comment of the day is, the last segment of the day. It’s my favorite segment of the day. It’s the best one of the day. It is my favorite comment from the previous video. It can be about anything. I do not care what it’s about. And we do have two comments of the day today. Um, he got comment of the day last episode, but I wanted to give him a shout out again. He was asking me to go over Joon Small. So, shout out to Robotic Venom again. And then also, shout out to Edward Ivy asking me to do the Memphis Grizzlies depth chart video. That’s why I wanted to talk about them for a minute in their depth chart. Um, and we’ll go ahead and just throw one more in here while we’re at it. Shout out to Kendall Allen for the comment of the day. Got the pleasure of watching him in person a couple times in college. His feel for the game is unreal. I couldn’t agree with you more. Conano is I I’m just really impressed with him. I think he’s going to be really good. I’m going to go ahead and wrap this up here. here. If you made it to the end of the video and you enjoyed it, make sure to hit the like, the comment, the sub, the post notifications. If you don’t want to do any of them, you don’t have to, but I would appreciate if you did any of them. Uh, make sure to take care of yourself. It’s very important that you take care of yourself doing things that you enjoy every week, not letting yourself get too down in the dumps of life. It can be tough out here sometimes. So, again, thank you very much for staying to the end of the episode. Your support means the world to me. And uh, yeah, I’m going to see you on the next video, man. Peace out.

Today we talk about Grizzlies Rookie and Summer League Standout Javon Small! I cover things from his playmaking, ball handling, shooting ability, defense, finishing, iq, and more!

Shoutout to @roboticvenom1935 @edwardiv7479 and @kendallallen6618 for comments of the day! Much love ya’ll I appreciate you very much.

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