Dillon Brooks

Brooks was ascending up the ranks for Memphis before a dismal 2022-23 campaign that led to his departure. The Baylor product has always had a flair for the dramatic, but he took things to new heights last year and fell out of favor with the Grizzlies' brass due to his antics. It's unclear how many offers he got this offseason, but he ended up landing a lucrative four-year, $80 million deal with the Rockets, who also added Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson, Aaron Holiday and Cam Whitmore to a backcourt that already featured ball-dominant players in Jalen Green and Kevin Porter. While Brooks was terribly inefficient last season (39.6 FG%), the wing's defensive prowess should allow him to carve out a major role in new head coach Ime Udoka's rotation. But the 27-year-old's usage may be limited compared to previous campaigns. He's attempted at least 13.5 shots per game in four straight seasons, but after posting a career-high 18.4 points per game in 32 appearances (31 starts) in 2021-22, he averaged a career-low 14.3 points across 73 appearances in 2022-23. Brooks has missed more than half a season twice in his six-year career, but he plays through minor injuries more often than not, appearing in at least 67 contests in each of his other four campaigns.

Volume shooting for Brooks has fueled his fantasy upside. Last season, he attempted 16.4 shots per game en route to 18.4 points on 43.2 percent shooting. While that was the best field-goal percentage of Brooks' career, he hit just 30.9 percent of his threes, and he ended on an especially sour note, connecting on just 34.9 percent of his shots in the playoffs. Despite shaky efficiency, it would take sizable growth from Ziaire Williams or 2022 rookies to cut into Brooks' usage. Additionally, Kyle Anderson logged 21.5 minutes per game across 69 appearances last season, but he signed with Minnesota in the offseason. Ultimately, Brooks is a quality defender due for another impactful season. He'll boom and bust at times, but Brooks maintains the ability to shot-chuck his way to fantasy success.

Brooks is coming off his best season as a pro, highlighted by an impressive playoff run. During the regular season, he ranked 126th in fantasy on a per-game basis through averages of 17.2 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.2 steals. During the Grizzlies' postseason run -- for this exercise, including the final regular-season game against the Warriors and the two subsequent play-in games -- Brooks took on the toughest backcourt assignments while averaging 23.1 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.4 steals. While he shot poorly from three (29.0 percent), he doubled his free-throw rate and shot 47.4 percent from the field. Brooks' role should remain similar in 2021-22. He'll start at shooting guard and seeing roughly 30 minutes per game. Fantasy managers have reason to be optimistic about his development following the Grizzlies' playoff run, so drafting him inside the top 100 is defensible. Memphis isn't an especially potent offensive team, so they'll continue to look to Brooks to score 15-25 points regularly. The main steps for him moving forward are being a more consistent three-point shooter and drawing more fouls, as he did in the playoffs. His secondary playmaking has also improved, but the Grizzlies don't need that from him with Ja Morant, Eric Bledsoe and Kyle Anderson around.

Brooks continued his development in 2019-20 -- his third year in the league. He set career highs essentially across the board, averaging 16.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.0 threes in 28.9 minutes and appearing in every contest. As the Grizzlies continue the quick rebuild, Brooks should remain a key piece of the team, playing significant minutes on the wing. The most obvious next step in Brooks' development is scoring more efficiently from inside the arc. He shot just 43.8 percent on two-pointers last season, dragging his field-goal percentage down to 40.7 -- a weak mark for someone taking 14.6 shots per game. As it stands, Brooks will likely be a late-round flier selection in most fantasy leagues considering he ranked 165th last season in per-game, eight-category leagues.

After a promising rookie campaign, Brooks was hit hard by the injury bug this past season. He appeared in the first 11 contests of 2018-19 before suffering a sprained knee that kept him sidelined for over a month, and it took him only seven more games to sustain a season-ending toe injury. Moreover, Brooks earned just 18.3 minutes per matchup through those 18 appearances compared to 28.7 per tilt across 82 games in 2017-18. It remains to be seen if Brooks will win back a spot in the starting five, as he went from starting on an almost full-time basis, with 74 starts as a rookie, to coming off the bench in every bout as a sophomore. Whether or not Andre Iguodala is still on the roster by the time opening night rolls around or not, Kyle Anderson is fairly likely to hold onto his starting gig while Bruno Caboclo and newcomers Jae Crowder, Josh Jackson, De'Anthony Melton and Grayson Allen are also likely to compete with Brooks for minutes along the wing.

Brooks proved to be one of the most valuable second-round picks of the 2017 draft, appearing in all 82 games and averaging a solid 11.0 points on 44.0 percent shooting. The Oregon product also hauled in 3.1 rebounds and dished out 1.6 assists per contest, and he put a fitting cap on his rookie campaign with a 36-point outburst versus the Thunder in the season finale. Brooks also had 22- and 28-point tallies within his last six contests, providing a glimpse at his scoring upside. The offseason acquisition of Kyle Anderson as a restricted free agent from the Spurs presumably slides him into the starting small forward role that Brooks often occupied last season, but the latter now profiles as the Grizzlies’ top shooting guard. Brooks’ offensive proficiency should serve him particularly well at the two-guard spot alongside a presumably healthy Mike Conley, who should draw his fair share of defensive attention. Brooks therefore profiles as a potential valuable source of scoring across all formats, although his production across other categories could stand to see a boost.