The Grizzlies picked 20-year old, 6’2″, 183 pound shooting guard Josh Selby with the 49th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.  Selby didn’t play too well in his only year in college.  He played in 26 games for Kansas last year and he averaged 20.4 minutes, 7.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.  Selby only shot 37.3% from the floor last year.  The Grizzlies have a lot of players ahead of Selby at shooting guard, so they should be able to bring him along slowly.

The Memphis Grizzlies might be looking to deal into the first round of the NBA Draft this Thursday.  The Cavaliers are trying to pry Rudy Gay away from the Grizzlies but I don’t think that’s going to work.  I could see the Grizzlies trying to trade into the middle to late first round of the NBA Draft using their #49 pick along with SG O.J. Mayo.  Of the teams at the end of the first round, the Bulls make the most sense.  If the Grizzlies could sweeten the pot a little bit though, they might start to interest the Knicks who are looking for a SG right now.  If the Grizzlies stay pat, I look for them to draft the best available player regardless of position.

The Memphis Grizzlies really turned it up in the second half of the game last night as they outscored the Thunder 51-29 to pull away for a very important win last night.  Zach Randolph led the way for the Grizzlies last night with 30 points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.  O.J. Mayo got the start over Sam Young at shooting guard and he responded with 16 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 steals last night.  Mike Conley only shot 3 of 13 from the floor as he finished up with 11 points, 4 rebounds, 12 assists and 2 steals in this game.  Tony Allen pitched in with 10 points, 5 rebounds and 1 steal in 21 minutes on the floor.  The win last night set up a winner take all Game #7 with the Thunder in Oklahoma City.

The Grizzlies have picked SG/PG Greivis Vasquez with the 28th overall pick of the NBA Draft. The 23-year old Vasquez brings nice size to the court at 6’6″, 200 pounds. He played in 33 games (32 starts) at Maryland last season and he averaged 19.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game. He played in 136 games (123 starts) in his four years in college and he averaged 16.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game. I really like this pick for the Grizzlies as Vasquez can play both guard spots.

The Grizzlies used the #25 overall pick on 21-year old shooting guard Dominique Jones out of South Florida and they then traded him to the Mavericks for cash considerations. Jones played in 95 games (94 starts) in three years at South Florida and he averaged 18.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game. The Grizzlies probably should have kept Jones because he’s the kind of offensive player they need coming off the bench.

The Grizzlies have selected 19-year old shooting guard Xavier Henry out of Kansas with the 12th overall pick of the NBA Draft. Henry played in 36 games (all starts) at Kansas last season and he averaged 13.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Henry will likely back up O.J. Mayo as a rookie but he could easily develop into a starting player down the road.

The Memphis Grizzlies head into tomorrow well equipped to improve their team as they have the #12, #25 and #28 overall picks in the NBA Draft. The Grizzlies would be smart to use one of their picks to draft a point guard to push Mike Conley. The other two picks should probably be for the best player available regardless of position. The Grizzlies could always package a couple picks to move up or trade one of their later picks for a veteran to help the team right now.

The Grizzlies will be without rookie center Hasheem Thabeet indefinately as he fractured his lower jaw when he collided with teammate Zach Randolph. Thabeet has played in 7 games (0 starts) so far this season for the Grizzlies and he is averaging 6.0 minutes, 0.6 points and 1.6 rebounds per game. Hamed Haddadi will likely see a bump in playing time until Thabeet is ready to return to action. Haddadi has played in 4 games (0 starts) so far this season and he is averaging 4.3 minutes, 1.0 point, 1.3 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.

The Grizzlies were stunned to see 24-year old small forward Sam Young available to them at the #36 pick of the NBA Draft last night. Young played in 143 games in four seasons at Pitt and he averaged 13.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. Young improved every season at Pitt and there’s plenty of reasons to believe that he hasn’t played his best basketball quite yet. Young will be a backup this season but I wouldn’t be surprised if he earns a starting job for the Grizzlies in the very near future. This was a outstanding pick for the Grizzlies who had a fine draft.

The Memphis Grizzlies selected 22-year old forward DeMarre Carroll with the 27th pick in the NBA Draft last night. Carroll is a polished player having stayed in school all four seasons. Carroll played in 134 games with Missouri and Vanderbilt in which he averaged 11.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Carroll could develop into a starter down the road for the Grizzlies who would just be happy if he gives them some quality minutes off the bench as a rookie.